Seoul Train
Asia continues to be one of my favorite regions to visit. I love how it always feels so different from home in the U.S. The people, the food, the language, the architecture - it’s all constantly reminding you that you are (really) far from home, and that’s one of the best parts of traveling. That feeling of otherness isn’t something you get in your everyday life, at least I don’t, and it’s one of the things I’ve come to love about international travel. That being said, South Korea in winter, despite having oodles of ‘otherness’, was a tough sell when I started mulling over destinations for a quick trip. It’s bitterly cold, and not exactly cheap or easy to travel to. And, of course, there’s the specter of war with the nuclear-armed neighbor to the north. You know, the one who’s leader has a penchant for bad haircuts and ill-fitting suits. But, having been to most of the countries around it, and badly in need of some time away - and airline points – I packed up my bag and hopped a flight to the countries capital, Seoul, for a week of avoiding frost bite by drinking too much hot rice wine, er, I mean exploration and cultural enrichment.
National Museum
Seoul sits perhaps a little too close to its grumpy northern neighbor, but as a visitor, you don’t really feel any tension. It’s partly the size, I think. It’s sprawling, divided by a meandering river, and reminds me very much of a more serious, scruffier, Tokyo. It’s easy to get lost in the day to day of life’s minutia and vagaries when you are surrounded by a pressing sea of everything humanity has to offer. And one can only stay on high alert for so long - eventually life just has to go on. I suppose the Korean bbq (or is it just bbq here?) helps too.
This was a quick weeklong trip but I did the usual site seeing routine, checked out various temples, restaurants and cafes (including a sheep café because CUTE), but the highlight was easily a trip to the DMZ. The Demilitarized Zone is a liminal space between the two Koreas, which are technically still in a state of war. It may seem a bit morbid or reckless to want to visit here, but it’s more educational than dangerous. That’s one reason why these tours take place, to help inform and educate the populous on the looming threat that is very real, even though it may not be felt day to day. My tour group was guided by an active duty South Korean major who was a liaison with the military and helped to orchestrate the thousands of tours that take place every year. Riding north from Seoul, passing through escalating levels of security checkpoints while a couple of German tourist chatted nonchalantly about western pop music in the seat behind me was bit surreal. The actual DMZ area, where you look out through telescopes into North Korea (DPRK, formally) felt quite serious though, even if you don’t see anything other than fake prop-towns and gps signal jamming towers. On the way back, most tours will stop by the Dorasan train station. The southern side is complete, sleek and modern, but it’s more of a gesture of hope that reunification will happen one day and unite the two countries once again. It has the potential to connect the two countries, and for a short while it actually carried freight back and forth. Now it feels a bit like seeing the Berlin wall, a relic from the past, this one still in place.
View from the DMZ
Our final stop was at a government owned ginseng ‘factory’ where you learned about the various semi-magical properties that this little root has. Do you have gout? Diabetes? Cancer? Webbed feet? A lack of confidence? Well, good news! There isn’t anything this plant can help cure (so they claim), and they have a slick marketing and product arrangement to make sure you get it in whatever form or fashion you want (powdered, pill form, candies, noodles, aerosolized, you name it).
My time in Korea wrapped up pretty quickly. I’m going to miss the Korean bbq and rice wine, but not the freezing cold weather. And I certainly won’t miss hearing my rowdy airbnb neighbors alternate between scream-singing KPOP songs and having very loud sex. This was the one trip I forget to bring ear plugs, and I paid for it dearly.
Jook breakfast porridge (aka congee)
Sheep Cafe
How I got here: United Airlines roundtrip ticket $1387 from Chicago to Seoul. I booked a cheap round trip ticket on a no-name airline from Boston to Chicago to save money.
Where I stayed: Airbnb in Myeong-dong - popular area, tons of shops, easy to get around to places.
What I did: Froze, mainly, but also:
National Museum of Korea
Shopping in Insadong
DMV tour with Holiday Tours and Travel Korea LTD.
Gyeongbokgung - The Palace of Shining Happiness
Dined on way too much Korean porridge
Drank way too much soju - a clear Korean liquor made from rice.
Sheep Cafe
