Rocking around the non-existent Christmas tree.

So, Christmas has been and gone in the blink of an eye. The celebration seems even quicker than usual as there are no twelve days of Christmas here so the festivities do not linger. We have a five day break for the Christmas period, which has also gone very quickly. We go back to work tomorrow.

Christmas has been lots of fun though. The day itself involved a fairly relaxed morning of opening presents and preparing the vegetables for the main event later on. We decided to have steak as we only have hobs which obviously don't facilitate any roasting or baking. Eveybody came round to the house for about 3pm where we cracked open the bubbly, started cooking the food, opened more presents, played charades, sang along to Christmas songs and watched 'A Christmas Story.' It was a small gathering with about ten of us, but it was nice to keep it intimate and we really liked all the people that came. Fun was had by all.

On December 26th we took Korea's fast train, the KTX, to Seoul. Travelling at speeds of up to 298km/h, it was definitely very fast and we arrived in Seoul in about 2 1/2 hours. The train was really comfortable, pretty similar to the National Rail trains of the UK with a little less leg room, but a whole lot more efficient. Yes, Korea's trains actually run on time.

We reached Seoul Station at about 5.30pm and it was cold. In fact, it was freezing- the difference in temperature between Gimhae and Seoul was remarkable, at least 4 or 5 degrees cooler (even in daylight the temperature was always under zero). We went and grabbed some food immediately and then headed to Insa-dong which is where we had decided to base ourselves for the next couple of days. The underground train system in Seoul was a baffling experience. There are fourteen different lines with 436 different stations and therefore the map looks like a piece of post-modern art with wiggles and different coloured lines darting all over the place. Five of the lines are marked in different shades of blue, which adds to the confusion and some lines have different routes. Anyway, we figured it out and as the sun was disappearing behind the towering apartments and glitzy department stores we went in search of accommodation.

Insadong is a 'dong' or a neighbourhood in the Jongno-gu district of Seoul. It used to be a very wealthy area but during the Japanese occupation its residents were forced to move and sell all their valuable belongings. Due to this, Insadong became a place for antique trading. Now it is a great destination to find traditional arts and crafts and if you wonder off the main street down one of the alleys you will come across shops selling all sorts of beautiful artistic work. The following day we spent the morning wandering through these alleys and browsing all the wares and wonderful creations that were on offer: traditional Korean fabrics, Chinese silk, delicate paper crafts, Korean scrolls, wood carvings, jewellery and quaint tea sets. For me, this was very exciting as I was beginning to think that Korea did not have arts and crafts markets. I was wondering if artistic talent did not exist as it is so prominent in the rest of Asia but I had seen very little on offer in Korea. But, thankfully, it did exist in Seoul and the originality of the goods on offer and the friendliness of the people selling them enabled me to forgive Korea for not having these markets scattered in abundance elsewhere.

And I must emphasise that the people we spoke to in Seoul were really friendly and helpful- not just the ones providing a service but everyday people in the street. When we looked lost (a common occurrence) people asked us if we needed directions and people smiled at us out of goodwill. We had been told that Seoul was full of selfish, surly people- but I entirely disagree. It helped that, generally speaking, people had a good grasp of English. The times when I tried to use my pathetic knowledge of Korean... “Outa- backa- udin- ju-seo?” I was greeted with a chuckle and “Hey, where d’ya wanna go? Outback steakhouse- just head down the street!” I’d forgotten how much easier life is when you can communicate with those around you.

In the afternoon we took the metro to Yongsang where Asia’s largest electronics market is located. We only saw a very small section of this market but it was phenomenal. The market is made up of 20 buildings (all about eight stories high) and there is a grand total of 5,000 stores selling everything from MP3 players to washing machines. It was ridiculous! We were interested in Camera lenses so we darted to the first ‘camera market’ that we saw. It was basically a massive department store dedicated entirely to cameras and camera accessories with pushy salesmen trying to sell you a billion things that you don’t want. I was glad I had done my research and before walking into the store I knew exactly which lenses I wanted and how much I was prepared to pay for them. So, when they tried to sell me inferior lenses I was quickly able to dismiss them. We spent a good few hours in the store- intent on getting the best deal possible. I walked away with two superb brand new Canon lenses complete with international warranty and Hoya filters and I paid the equivalent of £550 less than the UK Amazon.com price. I was a happy bunny.

Stepping outside of the electronics megastore we realised that snow had been falling for the last couple of hours and there was at least an inch or two of the white stuff covering the ground. Despite the feeling of frostbitten feet, it was really quite beautiful and something about snow makes me feel all fuzzy inside. After a steak dinner we headed back to Insadong where we had already chosen our accommodation for the night. ‘Tomgi Hotel’ was recommended in the Lonely Planet guide for being luxurious so we followed its pink neon lights as if they were a guiding star. Opting for the VIP suite, we were not disappointed, the room was extravagantly decadent! Stepping inside we were ecstatic to find a king size bed complete with heated mattress, memory foam and controls to elevate and recline either end. At the foot of the bed stood a 50” flat screen TV and to the right was the bathroom. The bathroom consisted of black marble floor with a huge two person whirlpool bath, a separate steam and shower room and a separate toilet with a heated seat (it doesn’t get better than that.) At the other end of the room was the lounge area and beyond that was our own private mini DVD bang (mini cinema.) All this for £60...what would you get in England for that price?!

After an evening of luxury we awoke to find that the streets were thick with snow. We took a treacherous walk to the nearest subway station and stopped at a charming little park en route which was covered in a layer of snow. Then we took the metro to Namdaemun market. ‘Namdaemun’ means ‘Great South Gate as this was the original gate to the old city. The market is huge and pedestrianised which meant we could amble around without worrying about the crazy taxi drivers. From what I saw the goods on sale were mainly clothing, but the selection was huge- everything from real fur coats to children’s clogs. We managed to purchase some winter jumpers and I got a black onyx ring and a jade bracelet which are very pretty. After a few hours of browsing we warmed ourselves with a much needed coffee. I cannot reiterate how cold it was- after being outside for 20 minutes my feet had turned numb and blue (this was not helped by having worn boots that were not waterproof.)

We jumped on the KTX at about 4.00pm and got into Gimhae about three hours later.

We both had a great time in Seoul though. It gave me a much needed buzz as I was starting to tire of life in Gimhae where variety is pretty uncommon. Although some areas of Seoul are just a mass of corporate feeding, there are some wonderful parks, beautiful tea houses and the arts and crafts on offer give the place a bit of depth to its character. I can cope with the ridiculousness of electronic superstores because they are on such an extreme level that they feel pretty bizarre. In Gimhae there are just lots of crappy shops and the markets only sell Kimchi and dried fish. So, in conclusion, I am a fan of Seoul and would definitely like to return before we head out of South Korea.

Below are some photos of the last few days. Please click on the images to see the full size version as some of the ones shown here are cropped.

The countdown begins (plus a rough itinerary of the upcoming trip...)

I can't quite believe that we only have just over four months left in Korea before our trip begins. Our visa here expires on April 24th so we assume that we'll be catching a flight on that day, though the procedure hasn't been explained to us yet. Four months will fly past in no time, I am sure of it. And when we are ambling through the jungles of Malaysia or diving in the Indonesian waters we will realise why we spent a year of our lives working in Korea. We couldn't have saved so much money in such a short amount of time doing a similar job anywhere else in the world. And despite the woes of my last blog update, this isn't an experience that either of us regret. It has been insightful and we have gained valuable teaching experience. It hasn't been particularly challenging or eye-opening, but we have had fun exploring some parts of Korea (even though our lack of holiday time has meant that we haven't been able to go too far from Gimhae.) And we've really enjoyed spending time with our friends here and being able to go out for dinner three times a week without worrying about how much it will cost.

Yesterday we took a trip to Busan with Sarah and Jake to see if the city was dressed in Christmas lights. We were pleasantly surprised, Nampo dong (my favourite shopping district) looked really pretty with Christmas lights lining the streets and popular Christmas songs being played and outside one of the huge department stores was a gigantic Christmas tree (not real) that towered above us. It was quite impressive. Lee and I decided that our Christmas presents to each other would be essentials for our trip and we came home kitted out with awesome rucksacks, torches and hiking boots. Or at least I came home with hiking boots- Lee couldn't find boots to fit his enormous feet. We went into every shop to ask for his size and the assistants just looked at him in shock/horror when he told them the size he needed! We are going to take a trip to Seoul over Christmas, so hopefully they might cater for Western sized feet in the bigger hiking stores there.

Anyway, having bought most of the essentials, we are beginning to feel that this trip is actually going to happen and it's not just some fantasy that might occur in the very distant future. We have done tons and tons of research and have planned our route so I thought I would give you an update on the itinerary as it stands now. We have figured out all the different ways we could do this trip and have eventually come up with something that we are both happy with that still sticks to our original budget. When we first starting thinking about this trip we thought we would cover a few more countries than we are actually going to manage to do. What we have realised though, is that we would rather spend more time exploring a few countries in depth than rushing to fit in as many countries as possible and spending more time on a bus/train/ferry than actually seeing what the country has to offer. For this reason we are no longer travelling through China and Tibet and are focusing our time on SE Asia and Nepal.

MAY 1-14, Bali (Indonesia)
We aim to fly to Jakarta or Denpasar in Indonesia from South Korea. Here we will spend two weeks on Bali. A few days will be spent sipping cocktails on a hammock in the sun and cleansing ourselves of Korea before heading to Ubud which is the cultural centre of the island. I am quite excited because one of my favourite theatre practitioners, Antonin Artaud, was heavily influenced by Balinese dance and performances are held all over the place. Ubud is supposed to be superb for seeing traditional Bali and here you can see people working on different crafts such as weaving, puppet making and wood carving. As well as this there a whole host of temples to visit. Bali is the only predominately Hindu island in Indonesia so it should be pretty interesting. I can see us basing ourselves here for at least a week as it's not too far from the coast and it's easy and cheap to hire a jeep for the day to explore outside Ubud itself.

May 15 - June 14, Sulawesi (Indonesia)
We will either take a ferry or a cheap flight from Bali to Sulawesi which is the weird 'K' shaped island North-east of Bali. Sulawesi looks phenomenal. We will mainly base ourselves in Tana Toraja which is surrounded by mountains on all sides and home to the unique culture of the people that inhabit it. The Torajans live in houses called 'tongkonan' which have roofs shaped like vast boats. Some people say that the Torajans build their houses to look like the boats that their ancestors arrived in when they first came to Tana Toraja- the photographs looks exquisite. The Torajans are also renowned for their elaborate funeral ceremonies that involve great processions; tribal dances, animal sacrifice and huge feasts, and we are hoping that we might be around to see some of this take place. It will be a pretty eye-opening experience. As well as all the cultural side of things, there is heaps of hiking to do in the surrounding mountains and many cave graves to visit. After our stay in this part of Sulawesi we are going to head to the Togean Islands which, quite simply, looks like paradise on earth. Lee is thinking of doing his PADI scuba diving certificate here so that we can both go diving together and investigate life under the sea.

June 15-July 14, Singapore and Malaysia
So, somehow (plane or ferry) we will get to Singapore and spend a few days indulging in city life, ordering a Singapore Sling from Raffles and taking a trip to the world-renowned Singapore zoo. It looks awesome! From here we will head North taking the 'Jungle' train line/bus up towards the Thai border. Various places that we will stop en route include: Melaka- one of Malaysia's most historic cities with an abundance of Dutch, Portuguese, Islamic and Chinese influence; Cherating, a pretty seaside town; Taman Negara, at 130 million years old this is one of the world’s oldest jungles and here we can spend a few days and nights jungle trekking or embarking on river safaris with a local guide; Off the North East coast of Malaysia lie the Perhentian Islands where we hope to do some more scuba diving and unwind on the tropical beaches.

July 15-August 14, Thailand & LaosIn Thailand we will visit some of the more obvious sights such as Kanchanaburi and the Death railway, Bangkok and Chang Mai. We’re hoping to take part in some Thai cooking classes, elephant safaris and get as many massages as possible. We are also quite keen on seeing some of Eastern Thailand which is far less touristy and a lot poorer than the more popular destinations. It’s home to lots of 12th century Khmer temples and ruins as well as the Khoa Yai National Park where there is a decent chance of some wildlife spotting (including elephants and tigers.)
In Laos we will take a river trip along the mighty Mekong towards Louang Phabang which is a quaint little French influenced town. I fell in love with it the last time I visited and I can’t wait to go back. We’re not entirely sure where else we will visit in Laos yet, but we need to head from Laos into the North of Vietnam.

August 15 – September 21, VietnamIn Vietnam we will be travelling from Halong Bay in the North all the way down the coastal road to Ho Chi Minh (Saigon) and the Mekong Delta in the South. I won’t list all the places we hope to stop but we will definitely be spending time getting clothes tailor made in Hoi An, taking a four day motorcycle tour between Hoi An and Da Lat and exploring the lakes, rice paddies and walled citadel of Hue.

September 22 – October 10, Cambodia & BangkokFrom Vietnam we will cross the border into Cambodia where the highlight will be the magnificent temples of Angkor Watt. However there are other temples off the beaten track that we would like to try and get to. As well as this we are keen to learn about Cambodia’s recent history when spending time in Phnom Penh.

October 11 – Mid December, Nepal
Nepal is the destination that we are probably most excited about. The day walks to the temples around Kathmandu look incredible and the lakeside town of Pokhara is really picturesque. There are a whole host of little villages full of crafts that we want to visit as well as Lumbini, Buddha’s birthplace. We will spend three weeks trekking the Annapurna circuit which looks challenging and beautiful. After this we will head to Chitwan national park where we will spend a good few days on elephant/jeep/walking safaris and our last few nights spent in a jungle lodge.

So, despite any issues we may have faced whilst being in Korea, the end result will be the trip of lifetime. One which we are both looking forward to a great deal. We hope to keep a blog of some description during these travels so everyone back home can see what we're up to. All we have to do now is see out the winter in Korea and get some hiking boots for Lee!