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So this post is coming from a rather crazy Medan, Sumatra. We arrived this eve..... And are heading up to Northern Sumatra for some jungle treking to try and see some Orangatangs!
First we stopped in Busan, S.Korea's 2nd largest city, famed for partying, beaches and seafood, and it did not disappoint!
We also met Ali's friend Kate from Ireland who flew over from Beijing, which was lovely.
On the recommendation from our friend Sung, we went to a local baseball match on fri night, where we left still having no idea who was really playing, or how the game actually worked!! This was mainly due to the fact that most of the action was happening off the pitch!!! Families drinking beer and eating local fried chicken, K-pop music blaring, cheerleaders dancing, kiss cam, infinite chants (including Korean versions of mama mia and oasis' wonderwall) with accompanying well learnt dances by the whole stadium made for amazing viewing!! We managed to join in with some if it by the end...including blowing up orange carrier bags and wearing them on our head??!
I have always been fairly adventurous where food is concerned (apart from anything egg related!) and s.korea has been no exception, although the local delicacy tested my stomach somewhat. In typical Asian style, there was a whole street dedicated to it....Eel street! We walked up and down where tanks full of eels were on display, then when you had picked which one you 'desired' it was swiftly and very skilfully prepared for eating in front of your eyes. This brought a new sense of the meaning 'fresh' as it arrived still wriggling to the table!! While a little disconcerting, was in fact very tasty!!
After a day on the beaches in Busan, we then immersed ourselves in the Korean traditional culture and heritage, visiting a breathtaking Buddhist temple, along with palaces and historic villages in Gyeonju and then the famous folk village in Hahoe, where a small number of people continue a traditional lifestyle (still with wifi!!) in original historic houses.
Here we were most certainly 'the only whites in the village' and rolled in with backpacks on, lonely planet in hand, in search off 'minbak's' the Korean word for one of the traditional houses with rooms to rent. After at least one lap of the village with no luck, other western tourists or English speakers, we decided to dump the bags and I set off to knock on some off the minbak doors, while getting slightly worried we may have to get the bus all the way back to where we had just come from.
With my Korean limited to hello and thank you, in true British style I pointed at the word and mimed sleeping to a little old lady who had a sign outside house, after her initial apparent panic that I was a-on my own and b-had no bags, she quickly saw Ali and our giant bags and started to laugh at us!! After a small mimed conversation she whipped out her mobile phone, and proceeded to chatter away while leading us to a lily pond and signalling for us to follow another old lady who had come to meet us.
It soon transpired that she had a room to rent, and also must have been head of the local WI, as when we arrived there were a whole group of tiny old Korean ladies sat on the floor playing cards!!
We had a lovely evening wandering around the beautiful village, and sampling the local soju, which was 40% and tasted a lot like Brandy, which helped when trying to sleep on the 'traditional' bed, which was ultimately a duvet on the floor. Great adventure though!
As to be sure not to let a week pass without climbing or trekking somewhere, we then headed to Sokcho, to Seoraksan national park, where we climbed Ulsan Bowie mountain. We followed a trail of 'granny hikers' who must be women in the 50/60's that seem instead of having a natter over tea and cake, do it while scaling a mountain...also in there co-ordinating very trendy trekking gear! They were very impressive!!
At the summit we enjoyed beautiful
views and some of the local 'corn wine' which while not entirely enjoyable, did make the way down go a little faster! The only tradition that we didn't partake in was the local spa's, where weary hikers go and soak their muscles...and swimsuits are banned. Sadly (much to Ali's disappointment), the British half of me got the better of me and we went for a dip in the sea instead...with swimwear!
We continued to enjoy amazing local food, with the raw fish market being a highlight, as well as a squid sausage!!
Then it was back to Seoul for a couple of nights for more BBQ's and soju. We also stumbled across a rather moving monument and petition hoping for 10million signatures for justice for the victims of the S. Korean ferry disaster. Even in grief they remain dignified yet still pro-active.
All in all S.Korea has been a perfect start to our travels, amazingly friendly and so safe, with amazing sights and phenomenal food and drink! We now trying to tune ourselves back into S.E. Asia.
Off to search for some Orangatangs now....
Love Shereene and Ali xx
- comments
Jo Haha I am loving this!!! I've gotta say I'm impressed by the wiggling eel story - I don't think I coulda done that! Keep writing Hun, it's awesome! Also can't believe at the summit you didn't fancy a skinny dip! Love you xxx
Cat Loving your posts and photos so far Shereene, looks like your having such an amazing adventure and you've only been gone a few weeks! Keep us up to date, I'm excited to hear about orangutans! Lots of love from me Matt and the cats toooo xx