Blazing Around South Korea - A Road Trip

Blazing Around South Korea - A Road Trip

So here i was in Seoul at last spent a few days with Hyun and did some sight seeing of the city . But i had to cover the country and see the country as a whole . I figured out that the best way to do it would be to take a road trip around the country . I went on googol and bang got a list of the top 50 places to visit in Korea as per the CNN Travel guide . I approached a local tabour operator and said i wanted to cover at least 20 of these places in the next ten days . Wallah by the evening an itinerary was prepared . I did some haggling and we fixed price of 4070000 won for the whole trip .It was to be a private tour with my own van and driver , motel charges were included . I had to pay for my food and entry tickets to all the places i was to visit . The tour would start at 9:00 am every morning and end at 4:00 pm .The motels were a bit cheap around 50 dollars a night but who was complaining i got the opportunity to cover a lot of Korean cities . Like Busan , Namwon , Bosung , Suncheon and Syreyange.

I strolled around Nami Island a utopian island full of wild flowers , Ostrich and a music hall which played popular korean songs and exhibited the best of korean popular music culture . I trekked up Juknokwon Bamboo garden and explored it’s wild beauty . Here i got myself a portrait made , the artist was of course korean and he made me look like a oriental rather then an indian . I framed the photo and kept it as a souvenir . I tasted the amazing korean ice cream green , pink and purple in colour all exotic flavours .

Then their was Naganeupseone Folk village , where i saw folk dances and flute play in the authentic korean style . For lunch i tried Kimchi the korean dish made from noodles soup and vegetables . Language is a bit of a barrier outside seoul but one can get by . I was sitting at a french caffe in Busan when i abruptly murmured the words konichiwa to the waitress . A young korean walked unto me and said in an heavy american accent “ Hey thats Japanese mate , i don't mean to be rude mate , but you should try the new google translate app , you can speak to it and it will translate into any language you want .” I was wiser now and will use this app for my further travels. I tried roast beef Korean style with wine at the garden of morning calm.

Korean’s are an interesting lot their culture is a mix of American Japanes and Chinese . The buddhist faith prevails and dominates this country and they are for ever in battle with North Korea . I went to the Haeundae Beach where i took off most of my clothes to jump into the sea . I was asked to wear beach wear if i wanted to swim , it is a special transparent t shirt with shorts , koreans are a bit shy taking of their clothes . But i could not care less and jumped in just with my underwear on.

The beauty of the Han River the wild mountains of the suburbs and the many bridges and highways of the country made me feel tizzy at times as our van moved from one city to another . A road trip indeed is the best way to get a good idea of a country and it’s culture and i will do this again during my travelthon to other nations.

The people and society is very cultured people bow their heads to say yellow , the month of August has been very hot though and many use umbrella’s and paper fan;s yo escape the heat . korea is also the most weird country internet and wi fi is available very where and the access is easy and fast . My road trip ends in three days but the Korean people have left a mark on me . I have enjoyed their hospitality and taken a peek into their way of living.