การผจญภัยในประเทศไทย- A Thai Adventure!

Sometimes, living in the Korea, it is easy to forget just how far away from home I am. Everything is so modern and built up, that most streets in Bucheon or Seoul could just as easily be a street in Boston or Hartford.

The street outside my apartment

However, as soon as you step off the plane in Bangkok, you know you are somewhere new and different. The heat was the first thing that hit me. During the summer, 90-degree days are nothing special, but after months of heavy coats, scarves and mittens, it is easy to forget what heat and humidity feel like. But, oh how quickly you are reminded!

Everything in Bangkok is different: the food, the people, the weather, the buildings- EVERYTHING. On the cab ride to my hotel, I caught my first glimpse of the spectacles to come.

On my first night, I arrived just in time to get to my hotel, take a look around and have some amazing Thai street food. I had Pad Thai and a spring roll. It cost me just under 1.50 USD and it was amazing! (Full disclosure- I had this for dinner every night)

I ate my dinner walking up and down Khaosan Rd, which is the local backpacker hotspot. My hotel was on this street, and while usually I try to stay away from night life when I am traveling alone- in hindsight I am glad I chose this location because it is very well known centrally located, making it a good spot to call home base.

Khaosan Road at Dusk

Stay tuned for the recap of the rest of the trip!

Tourist Saturday: A Trip to the North..Almost

When one is in South Korea, one of the (many) interesting things to do is take a trip to the border between North and South Korea for a tour of the DeMilitarized Zone or, as most people call it, the DMZ. 


It just so happened that a group of people was heading up north on Saturday- so it was the perfect opportunity to get my butt out of my apartment and see the most heavily militarized border in the world. 

Lunch

 After lunch, the tour began, and we started with a trip into the 3rd tunnel. No photos were allowed inside, but I can tell you- it was interesting and unsettling. So far, the South has found 4 tunnels that the North has built as possible attack routes South. Each tunnel leads straight to Seoul and are large enough for about 100,000 troops to go through in an hour. And, in addition to the 4 tunnels already found, the South thinks there might be as many as 15 tunnels that have not been discovered yet. Like I said, interesting and unsettling.

The best picture of North Korea I could get

After the 3rd tunnel, we watched a documentary, and looked at through a brief museum about the DMZ and the probable construction of the tunnels, and then we headed to the observatory. Just beyond those viewers is North Korea. You can see the North Korean flag flying high (literally, it is very high- the flag pole was purposely built so the flag would fly higher than the South Korean flag that is adjacent) and at the base of the pole is a little town. However, it is not really a town- we were told that the buildings we can see from the south side are all vacant- built to portray the image of a thriving and growing population. Not so.

Anyway, the reason you can't see all this in the picture is because visitors are not allowed to take pictures any closer to the edge than this one is. The southern military is afraid that some defense secrets will get captured on film and all will be lost, so no one can take photos where you can actually see anything. However, I am an American tourist, so naturally, I tried to take a picture where we weren't supposed to. There was only one guard watching us, so I thought it would be easy! I waited until he turned around, snapped my picture, and thought all was well. But, when I turned around, there he was! He took my camera, deleted my picture, and handed it back to me. Rats. I swear the man had eyes in the back of his head. 

I told you- I'm a tourist. It's fine.

Next stop: North Korea

All in all, it was a very interesting trip. Although, there is another tour you can pay for that takes you deeper into the DMZ- to the Joint Security Area, or JSA. This is where the actual border is, and there are buildings used for inter nation talks that are technically on both North and South Korean soil. This tour is more expensive, but it's on the list nonetheless.

Now, I must retire as I have a flight to BANGKOK in the morning. I live a tough life. Don't feel too sorry for me.

Kristmas in Korea

So, I was actually trying to stay away from the Christmas spirit a little bit this year. Don’t get me wrong- I love me some good carols and a well decked hall, but being so far away from home and traditions and a crackling fire was making me a little bit blue.  Korea is not nearly as Christmas Crazy as the states, so it was actually pretty easy to avoid the Christmas countdown and focus on getting acclimated to my new surroundings. However, Christmas Eve and Christmas Day just happened to fall on the weekend this year, so I turned Christmas Day into a tourist Sunday/ make new friends day/ help those who go without day (read: my new friend planned the whole day and I followed her around).

I started the day by taking the train into Seoul to go ice-skating in Seoul Square. The square happens to be right next to one of the palaces, and again, when I got off the train, I was treated to a guard changing ceremony! Except this time I saw the whole thing, not just the end. 

I watched while I waited, and then the skating began! It was great to get these feet into skates again, I even did a twirl or two. (My friend has also worked at a special needs summer camp- so I was only able to fit the twirls in when I was not gabbing my mouth off about Camp Huntington. Sorry friend! When I get going I just can’t stop…)

Then we ventured to a place called Myeongdong, which is a big shopping area in Seoul (complete with a Forever 21, Gap, and Uniqlo). Let me tell you, if you ever have a desire to feel like part of a herd of cattle, go to Myeongdong on Christmas day. Christams is something of a couple’s holiday here in Korea, and it seems that  Myeongdong is THE PLACE to take your significant other. I don’t know why, but its what happens. It was very, very crowded, but still fun since we had a great meal and did some great people watching (and people pushing).

Then we headed to the main event: giving back to those who go without. My friend is active in a local volunteer group and was nice enough to invite me along to help spread the cheer. We worked with a local church, going door-to-door to pass out boxes of food and toiletries to people living in the flop houses of Seoul. The buildings consist of dozens of 3 meter by 3 meter rooms, each inhabited by one person. There is a communal bathroom, and very little heat or ventilation.  That being said, the people that we saw all were all in high spirits and seemed to be glad to get a knock on the door. We went around in small groups, and in my group there was one other American girl and two Koreans (handy for translation purposes).

From elderly couples to young professionals, middle-aged housewives and even young children- people from all walks of life came out to deliver the merriment. Everyone was great- but the kids were amazing! The houses we were visiting were not nice, and I thought that some of the people we met looked a little scary (poor hygiene so bad teeth etc) but these kids had no fear! They walked up to each door and delivered the packages like champions. If they are our future leaders, then I say things are looking up.

So, all in all, I had a great Kristmas. A little bit of winter, a great meal, remembering the important things in life, and of course, continuing to spread my wings and explore in this little place called South Korea.