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Sant Jordi @ South Korea

Anna had to leave Taiwan for visa reasons, so we arranged an extended weekend trip to Seoul during Sant Jordi. South Korean stamp was missing on our passports :)

Seoul

We did not have much expectations about our visit to Seoul, as almost nobody in Taipei made a single positive comment about Seoul, Korea or Koreans in general.

Seoul is, indeed, yet another big Asian megalopolis (more than 10 million in the city and almost 24.5 million in the metropolitan area) with no major tourist attractions, yet another metro system with a contact less card, massive shopping center, a ghetto for expatriates, a business district with huge buildings and a hill with the communications tower where you can see the city from above.

I must say that at the end we enjoyed the visit quite a lot :) I assume that the nice weather (just little bit cold for Taiwanese standards) and the perfect local guide (Carles Rabassa, who we met via Couchsurfing) helped a lot to enjoy and get a feeling of the city and South Korea. Being alone in the city on a cold rainy (or snowy) day would not have been than enjoyable.

Korean food is know to be spicy and obsessed with kimchi, this is quite true but it was less spicy than we anticipated. Koreans also love Korean BBQ and to eat deep fried chicken while drinking cold beer (or any other local liquor, like soju). Korean food is not our favorite among the Asian cuisines but it was interesting to get a taste of it.

Under my perspective, Seoul could be defined as a less international, more chaotic and noisy version of Tokyo. I have actually prepared a little comparison between Taiwan, Korea and Japan at the end of the post.

Enjoy the selection of pictures and look for the roses of Sant Jordi :)

22-Apr-2011 11:55, NIKON CORPORATION NIKON D5000, 5.0, 38.0mm, 0.01 sec, ISO 400

22-Apr-2011 15:18, NIKON CORPORATION NIKON D5000, 5.0, 18.0mm, 0.01 sec, ISO 400

500000 Korean Won (315€ aprox)

500000 Korean Won (315€ aprox)22-Apr-2011 11:53, NIKON CORPORATION NIKON D5000, 5.6, 55.0mm, 0.033 sec, ISO 900

Portal de l'Àngel x 25

Portal de l'Àngel x 2522-Apr-2011 20:05, NIKON CORPORATION NIKON D5000, 4.0, 20.0mm, 0.017 sec, ISO 400

22-Apr-2011 20:54, NIKON CORPORATION NIKON D5000, 3.5, 18.0mm, 0.025 sec, ISO 1600

Tot esperant el sopar
Waiting for the dinner

Tot esperant el sopar
Waiting for the dinner22-Apr-2011 20:20, NIKON CORPORATION NIKON D5000, 3.5, 18.0mm, 0.04 sec, ISO 1600

La màquina de jugar amb les fotos (i les noies que ens van ajudar)
Machine to play with the pictures (and the ladies that helped us)

La màquina de jugar amb les fotos (i les noies que ens van ajudar)
Machine to play with the pictures (and the ladies that helped us)22-Apr-2011 21:17, NIKON CORPORATION NIKON D5000, 3.5, 18.0mm, 0.033 sec, ISO 1600

 
2 anys de servei militar obligatori
2 years of mandatory military service

2 anys de servei militar obligatori
2 years of mandatory military service22-Apr-2011 21:24, NIKON CORPORATION NIKON D5000, 4.5, 29.0mm, 0.02 sec, ISO 1600

Cocoon Club @ Hongdae area

Cocoon Club @ Hongdae area22-Apr-2011 22:07, NIKON CORPORATION NIKON D5000, 4.5, 18.0mm, 0.017 sec, ISO 800

22-Apr-2011 22:09, NIKON CORPORATION NIKON D5000, 4.0, 20.0mm, 0.017 sec, ISO 640

En plan més relaxat
A more relaxed plan

En plan més relaxat
A more relaxed plan22-Apr-2011 22:40, NIKON CORPORATION NIKON D5000, 2.8, 35.0mm, 0.033 sec, ISO 800

Carles, el nostre guia. Gràcies!
Carles, our guide. Thank you!

Carles, el nostre guia. Gràcies!
Carles, our guide. Thank you!23-Apr-2011 11:44, NIKON CORPORATION NIKON D5000, 10.0, 22.0mm, 0.003 sec, ISO 200

Escriure en coreà no és massa complicat
Writing Korean is not too hard

Escriure en coreà no és massa complicat
Writing Korean is not too hard23-Apr-2011 11:57, NIKON CORPORATION NIKON D5000, 4.0, 24.0mm, 0.033 sec, ISO 1600

23-Apr-2011 11:57, NIKON CORPORATION NIKON D5000, 5.3, 40.0mm, 0.1 sec, ISO 1600

Guàrdia (pels turistes)
Guard (for tourists only)

Guàrdia (pels turistes)
Guard (for tourists only)23-Apr-2011 12:21, NIKON CORPORATION NIKON D5000, 8.0, 32.0mm, 0.004 sec, ISO 200

 

23-Apr-2011 12:27, NIKON CORPORATION NIKON D5000, 8.0, 20.0mm, 0.004 sec, ISO 200

Més barreja de colors que als temples del Japó o Taiwan
More mix of colors than at the temples from Japan or Taiwan

Més barreja de colors que als temples del Japó o Taiwan
More mix of colors than at the temples from Japan or Taiwan23-Apr-2011 12:38, NIKON CORPORATION NIKON D5000, 5.6, 50.0mm, 0.025 sec, ISO 800

 

It was easy to meet some drunk people on the street. Here below a video of our “conversation” with and old man in a park at the sunset. By the way, bull fighting is still the main cultural reference about Spain in this area of the world.

Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) tour

When visiting Korea for the first time you are obviously interested to know more about the South-North Korean conflict. The first surprise is that it was not very visible on the street (we only found a small group of people from Justice4NK in a centric pedestrian street) and nobody talked to us about the conflict. Carles explained that, from his experience, the average korean citizen is not much interested on this subject. What was interesting to learn is that it is mandatory to join the military service for 2 years and we could see (from time to time) young soldiers that spent the weekend at Seoul to visit their girlfriends.

Anyway, after some doubts we decided to visit the DMZ by joining an organized tour (the only available option to get into the DMZ). We are not used to join organized tours and the experience was not that enjoyable. The guide did not provide too much information about the Korean conflict, we just visited a couple of “must see” places that could easily be integrated on any amusement park and ended up in a duty-free shop for 40 minutes. The tour took us to Dorasan, a train station that is not active since late 2008. Dorasan is the last train station in South Korea and it should connect with North Korea. The most interesting moment was when a volunteer from the information point talked to us and ask to report back to our countries about the Korean conflict. Nevertheless we could “see” North Korea (from an observatory using binoculars) and Pulpito took some interesting pictures here and there.

Tour buses

Tour buses24-Apr-2011 09:41, NIKON CORPORATION NIKON D5000, 10.0, 20.0mm, 0.003 sec, ISO 200

24-Apr-2011 09:44, NIKON CORPORATION NIKON D5000, 9.0, 20.0mm, 0.003 sec, ISO 200

Terra de ningú (de fet dels EEUU)
No man's land (in fact USA)

Terra de ningú (de fet dels EEUU)
No man's land (in fact USA)24-Apr-2011 08:58, NIKON CORPORATION NIKON D5000, 4.2, 26.0mm, 0.02 sec, ISO 800

Els de Corea del Nord han fet diversos túnels cap al sud
North Korea has attempted to build tunnels to the south

Els de Corea del Nord han fet diversos túnels cap al sud
North Korea has attempted to build tunnels to the south24-Apr-2011 08:57, NIKON CORPORATION NIKON D5000, 4.2, 26.0mm, 0.017 sec, ISO 800

24-Apr-2011 08:52, NIKON CORPORATION NIKON D5000, 4.0, 24.0mm, 0.017 sec, ISO 800

24-Apr-2011 10:29, NIKON CORPORATION NIKON D5000, 5.6, 22.0mm, 0.017 sec, ISO 640

10 Kg d'arròs de la DMZ?
10Kg of rice from DMZ?

10 Kg d'arròs de la DMZ?
10Kg of rice from DMZ?24-Apr-2011 09:34, NIKON CORPORATION NIKON D5000, 4.2, 26.0mm, 0.017 sec, ISO 500

24-Apr-2011 09:36, NIKON CORPORATION NIKON D5000, 5.6, 20.0mm, 0.017 sec, ISO 640

 
Pulpito prenent riscos innecessaris
Pulpito taking unnecessary risks

Pulpito prenent riscos innecessaris
Pulpito taking unnecessary risks24-Apr-2011 09:39, NIKON CORPORATION NIKON D5000, 8.0, 36.0mm, 0.004 sec, ISO 200

Turistes xinesos (recomenació: evitar-los)
Chinese tourists (recommendation: avoid them)

Turistes xinesos (recomenació: evitar-los)
Chinese tourists (recommendation: avoid them)24-Apr-2011 08:21, NIKON CORPORATION NIKON D5000, 9.0, 42.0mm, 0.003 sec, ISO 200

Mirador cap a Corea del Nord. No es poden fer fotos més enllà de la línia groga
North Korea observatory. Can not take pictures after the yellow line

Mirador cap a Corea del Nord. No es poden fer fotos més enllà de la línia groga
North Korea observatory. Can not take pictures after the yellow line24-Apr-2011 09:57, NIKON CORPORATION NIKON D5000, 10.0, 18.0mm, 0.003 sec, ISO 200

Vies cap a la capital de Corea del Nord
Tracks towards North Korea capital

Vies cap a la capital de Corea del Nord
Tracks towards North Korea capital24-Apr-2011 10:24, NIKON CORPORATION NIKON D5000, 5.3, 44.0mm, 0.013 sec, ISO 400

Esperant el tren (nota: l'estació no funciona)
Waiting for the train (note: train station is not operative)

Esperant el tren (nota: l'estació no funciona)
Waiting for the train (note: train station is not operative)24-Apr-2011 10:32, NIKON CORPORATION NIKON D5000, 8.0, 18.0mm, 0.017 sec, ISO 400

24-Apr-2011 10:33, NIKON CORPORATION NIKON D5000, 5.6, 26.0mm, 0.017 sec, ISO 400

Només 205Km per Pyongyang
Only 205Km for Pyongyang

Només 205Km per Pyongyang
Only 205Km for Pyongyang24-Apr-2011 10:36, NIKON CORPORATION NIKON D5000, 5.6, 20.0mm, 0.008 sec, ISO 360

Corea del Sud està aïllada per terra
South Korea can not be entered by land

Corea del Sud està aïllada per terra
South Korea can not be entered by land24-Apr-2011 10:25, NIKON CORPORATION NIKON D5000, 5.6, 36.0mm, 0.008 sec, ISO 200

 
 

There is a more expensive tour that in addition to the DMZ takes the tourists to the Joint-Security-Area (JSA) but we are glad we did not pay the extra money for it. If you have interest on the subject you can watch the Joint-Security-Area movie

Korea vs. Japan vs. Taiwan

After visiting the three countries, we can now get a better score at AllLookSame website tests :)

vs

Koreans are more direct than other Asians cultures and the culture of drinking/going out is a lot more established than in Taipei or even Tokyo. Koreans are the most obsessed with screens and they are always using one: TV on mobile phone or tablets, information screens everywhere, huge screens on the street, etc. One surprising fact is that the Korean is not that hard to write or read!

And back to Taipei

3 Comments

    Oh! My God!!! You took the photo sticker!!!
    I can’t believe it!!!

  • Ni a Corea podia faltar una rosa de S.Jordi per a una moreneta catalana.

  • …i el pròxim país quin serà??

    Molt bé rodamons estimats!!