China 6 - Return from Korea

Friday, July 21

Peter/JunYeup had planned another full day.

First we toured an old palace and its beautiful, extensive gardens built in the mid 1300’s and occupied until the 1900’s.

After that we went to a market place. I thoroughly enjoyed seeing all the sights and smells. We shared a stack of potato pancakes at in a tiny corner of the market, and noticed on the wall that Tim Burton once ate there; there’s pictures of him eating. I took some videos of the activities in the market that I can show you later.

It was very hot and humid so we took some rest time for the afternoon, then went to another busy shopping area that was very crowded with street sales. Cosmetics, especially are very popular. Sonny said the Chinese will come to Korea to get a suitcase full of cosmetics. I bought myself an anti-aging masque made of snail slime.

Next we took an inclined rail car part way up a mountain and then a gondola the rest of the way and then an elevator to the top of the “N” Tower, which is similar to our CN.  Jun Yeop is again very disappointed with the sights he wanted to show me, because it was so overcast there was not much of a view of the city. However, we stayed there for a buffet dinner, and as it got darker the city light were a beautiful sight.  Sunny told me I should use the restroom. I thought that meant we were leaving, but it was so I could enjoy the bizarre experience of using a toilet in front of a huge picture window overlooking the city, and the wall in front of me was a mirror to add to the effect.

We also got a picture taken in the traditional dress. JunYeop’s robe was for royalty.

The weather forecast was for rain all day Saturday, so the plan was to go to Peter/JunYeop’s home with my laptop and look at pictures. He wanted to see Vicky’s wedding pictures, and show me his wedding album. Sonny made lunch, but they said most of the time they order out. You can get just about anything you want delivered in Seoul. There are perhaps thousands of small motorbike delivery vehicles around the city.

The final trip JunYeop planned was to take me to a nearby lake known for its beautiful sunsets. The weather forecast had been wrong; it had not rained and we even had some intermittent sunshine  during the day, but just as we got to the lake, it started to rain! None of Peter’s plans had worked out for him! I didn’t mind, of course, I wasn’t there for the weather!

The ‘sunset’ is almost visible!

That was my final day in Korea. Peter was exhausted, and surprised that I wasn’t. But I was just a passenger! Not only was he doing all the planning, organizing and leading, he was translating, and that’s a lot of brain work, especially when you’re not used to it!  I tried to convince them I would take a taxi to the airport in the morning, and they could stay in bed, but they insisted on picking me up at 6:00 on Sunday morning to take me. He said he was very glad I came, partly because it gave him a reason to finally see some places he’d never seen either!

At the gates to the airport I noticed a sign that said, “World’s Best Airport –  for 12 years!”.

I think I may be right. Here’s a couple of pictures - from the LADIES ROOM!

I’m back in China again, but just for a couple of days, then I’m off to Taiwan!