National War Museum

Hi all,

Went to the national war museum yesterday. That was increadible. Took us about 2-3 hours to explore it properly. Heres a photo of the outside:
This place was massive. Around the outside is a list of name of those who have died in service of the Korean army. There are a lot of names there. Not sure exactly how many, but I'm not sure
I want to know...
This is a monument out the front of the place. Again, this place was huge. They had a whole bunch of planes, tanks, artillery, etc. on display both inside and outside. Well worth a look if you are in the neigbourhood.

The view from North Korea

Hi all,

We went to Padmunjom today, which is the Joint Security Area where South Korean officials and North Korean officials meet. Its a very interesting and intimidating place. We had a military escort for the trip and had some strict rules about what we can and can't do while in the area.

A couple of photos:
I'm standing in North Korea when I'm taking this photo. See those microphones on the table? That's the border. Tanti is back in the relative safety of South Korea at this point.

This guy is a South Korean army guy. It's his job to stand there and look menacing. He does a very good job. :-)

Sigh! We are back in Melbourne soon. Will try to post more photos before we leave of stuff... Not sure what we have planned for our last 2 days...

Photos part 3

Part 3: Last one for now!

Busan train station. Our hotel was nearby. This is how Spencer st. shouldbe done. See? Its actually finished...

This was the view from our hotel in Sokcho. Actually, the hotel was about 10km out of Sokcho near Seoraksan national park. Not a bad view to wakeup to, is it?

This is actually North Korea. Photo taken from the Unification observatory about 40km north of Sokcho. Its the northern-most point of South Korea. Very weird place, really. Noone around except military and tourists. Interesting mix, no? Also, the beaches are gorgeous if you ignore the barbed wire, after all noone goes on them (you get shot at if you do...)

Now this is an interesting one. Its a wine from North Korea. Assuming I'm able to get this through customs, this will be an interesting thing to try. I believe its made from Bilberries and 'tis about 16% alcohol, if the label is to be believed. I will wait 'til a few of you guys are back from your European jaunts before opening this.

So that's it. Sorry for the long post. I've been building up some photos for a week or so. We are in Seoul now until the end of our trip, so I shouldpost a little more regularly... Anyway, catch you all later!

Photos part 2

And now for part 2!
This is Gyeongbokgong palace, which was up until recently inhabited by the Korean royal family. I'm not sure why they don't still live there, but apparently the princess lived there until a few years back. Absolutely massive place. Story goes that the North Koreans were going to loot the place during the Korean war until the princess came outscreaming at them to stop. It sounded to me that they stopped more out of confusion about what they should be doing than anything else.

This is some of the many seafood restaurants in Jeju island. If you likeseafood, come here. Lots of seafood, quite cheap. Jeju island is also a honeymooners favourite, which brings me to the next photo...
Apparently honeymooners all come to this spot for a photo oppertunity. There is nothing here except some rocks, but hey. I think the tour group we were with thought we were honeymooning... Ah well, maybe next time. ;-)

This was the first falling snow we saw. It was in Jeju, and it fell for about 2 days straight. We didn't get much at our hotel, as it was close to the water, I think. Much more fell inland, where there is a mountain and is a lot cooler.

Part 3 coming shortly!

Photo time (Part 1)

Hey guys!
Spent the last couple of days in a remote area up in the northeast corner of South Korea, which is why I haven't updated. There was internet access, but it was a bit expensive, so I figured I would wait until back in Seoul.

Anyway, as promised: Photos from South Korea!

This one is from Itaewon in Seoul. Apparently the steps behind me are used in lots of Korean films. Usually involving chases (I belive often using motorcycles and other entertaining stunts)

This one is of a weird concoction the Koreans eat. Take a hot dog, skewer it onto a stick, then some bread-like substance. Fairly standard so far? Well, then the fries are stuck to the edge and its all held together with batter before being deep fried. Do you feel your arteries hardening just thinking about it?
This was where a lot of Koreans were new years eve. There is a bell on the second level that rings 33 times. 33 apparently beinga lucky number. They got 33 different people to ring the bell.Unfortunately, we didn't get there for new years, but was stillgood to see it...
Koreans take Christmas quite seriously. This thing was about 10 metres tall and was about 40 metres in diameter. Around Christmasthere was a whole mass of stuff like this that makes the Australian decorations look positively pathetic.

More in part 2!

Jeju - Somewhat warmer than Seoul

Hey guys,

We arrived in Jeju yesterday... Was considerably warmer than Seoul... 1 hour flight
costs 70,000 won (~720 won to the $A1) , so quite cheap to get around here.

I know I promised photos, but there is no USB connection on this PC (deliberate, they
don't want people like me using the PC for useful things. ;-) I will find one that allows this
tomorrow if I can... Then we will get some photos... ;-) That is assuming I can figure out
how to get this blogger interface to read in English, rather than the Korean it currently
displays... Makes like entertaining when the delete button is as unreadable as the submit
button. ;-)

Anyway, we went around to a few places today in a Korean-only speaking tour group.
Oh that was fun. The tour guide was quite entertaining, I believe. I'm sure if I was able
to understand more than 2 words of Korean that I would have found her entertaining.
Ah well.... We went to some bunch of rocks that apparently all Korean couples on their
honeymoons come to have their photos taken. Then to a Chinese circus thingie. I have a
couple of short quicktime movies of that. Very cool. Those guys are crazy. Then to a
minature world kinda thing, with scale models of buildings, etc. Not bad. Then on to a couple
of other bits and pieces, none that exciting.

Tomorrow is more of the same, but in eastern Jeju (today was all on the western side...)
Then over to Busan... Not sure how long we will be there yet... Might only be overnight...
We want to head back to Seoul to shop more. ;-)

Anyway, catch you all later!