As our loyal readers know, I often complain about the various ludicrous things that happen to me in this country. Perhaps no one has endured more of my whining than my family. Thus it was with some trepidation that I welcomed my sister to Seoul last weekend, fully expecting her to hate the place. Although I have of course always maintained that there are some good people here, in general I've panned Korea as one would pan an all-autistic production of Cats. (I mean, it compares on so many different levels...)
It would seem that Korea, not content to merely thwart me in everyday life, decided to defy me in my family life too - despite all I'd warned, my sister loved her trip. Furthermore, I too had a great time on my mandatory holiday
The stars were with us from the outset (well, I actually caught a case of explosive diarrhea the night she arrived, but that provided some comedy and didn't greatly detract from our vacation). The weather was gorgeous - perfect for a trip to South Korea's most famous mountain: Seorak-san. We arrived at the oceanside town of Sokcho, just 10 K from the mountain, on Thursday afternoon. From the beginning my sis and her girlfriend Emma were impressed with the Korean transportation system, which included an almost empty bus with enormous seats and a driver who's breakneck pace and blatant disregard for human life managed to get us to the coast in just 3.5 hours. We spent the evening wandering the almost deserted beach and shooting off Roman candles.
On Friday we rose early and headed for the mountain. A bright, sunny, breezy, pollution-free day made the treck up to the peak all the more pleasant. Although the steep steel steps hammered into the side of the cliff detracted somewhat from the experience, they enabled us to reach the top in just 2 hours. Once there the view was spectacular. Of course, it wouldn't be Korea if some effort hadn't been made to demolish the aesthetics of the place. The "peak" itself was not at the top; it was a small rock surrounded by steel rails and inhabited by some asshole with a megaphone attempting to sell cheap jewelry and gold "i made it to the top" medals. (See Photo) But the scenery put us all in such a good mood that we laughed off the silly little man yelling in a megaphone at people penned in 5 feet away from him.
On Saturday we returned to Seoul and again my sister and Emma got a treat: a Buddhist festival in Insadong, complete with parades and an incredibly rare multicultural display - plus a small Tibetan demonstration to boot (my hippie sister loves that stuff). We polished it all off with a delicious meal of some of the biggest dumplings I've ever seen.
Well done Korea. For once you've defied my expectations in a supremely positive way.
2 comments:
With regards to public transportation: the ability to sustain a "breakneck pace" despite local circumstances, and the "blatant disregard for human life" you mentioned appear to be a worldwide phenomenon.
I assume by "dumplings" you mean a shit ton of Mexican food.
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