From East to West and back again. There is something about Asia that has always held my attention, Somthing here that draws me in and captures my imagination. I feel trapped in my journey sometimes, like I am being carried by some unseen force that I have no comprehention of nor any clue as to its intentions for me. The journey started that way and it will likely end that way, if it ends at all. For now, I am quite happy to let it carry me along, and along the way I will experience all that life has to offer.
As well as the journal, please check out the photo site, I would also love input on that. I will update the photo site as much as I possibly can.
Photography
This journal puts the twenty latest entries on the main page, now that I have been at it for a while, older entries are on the right hand side under the link that says Archived posts. Ya the one right there -->
Currently I am in Thailand. Below are flags of the other countries I have visited and hopfully more will be added very soon.
This last weekend, Eric, Kerri and I had planned a trip to Soraksan National park in the North Eastern most part of Korea. Nothing was to go as planned. The lonley planet Korea, clearly states that the trip from Chonju to Sokcho is a three and a half hour bus ride and from there Soraksan national park can be easily accessed. We had to pick up Eris's girlfriend Kerri in Wonju which was the same distance to Sokcho so we figured that the time on the bus would be roughly the same. What we did not take into account was that it was the weekend of Chosok, the largest and most highly celebrated holiday in Korea. Think Christmas but instead of toys, Santa brings large boxes of Spam. The traffic to Wonju was bumper to bumper all the way and that part of the trip alone took two and a half hours. From Wonju the bus to Sokcho took another four and a half hours. We arrived in Sokcho after the sun had set and figured we would try to find the camp ground. Asking a lady in an info booth about where the camp ground was located she gave me a strange look and called an English translation service, the lady on the phone calmly explained to me that "you have to understand, Korean people don't go camping in October" and that there was no camping to be had anywhere within any kind of easy access. So we decided to stay in Sokcho for the evening and set out to find a camp site the next day. The next morning arrived and we set out to Soraksan national park in no particular hurry. We decided that with three of us it would be just as expensive to just take a cab up to the park seeing as the Lonely Planet stated that it was an easy 4Km bus ride from Sokcho....
Well an easy bus ride turned into a $20 cab ride with bumper to bumper traffic all the way to the park. The only up side to the situation was a very funny cab driver with no regard for authority. Multiple times park officials said he had to wait in line like every one else and multiple times he just sped away from them cackling something in Korean. When we finally arrived at the park we discovered that everyone else in Korea was also there and that we were just very late getting in. Seriously if you have never been to a National park in Korea it is hard to explain how many people are out for the day. A busy hike in Canada you will see about 150 people that day, in Korea a busy day means about 3500 people will be out using the same one person trail going in both directions. It was going to be an adventure finding somewhere to camp.
We hiked for about four hours before the sun started to go down and we were forced to find a camp spot. We had a nice little flat piece of ground on the trail side picked out, but decided to go for another twenty minutes so see if there was anything better. We finally came to a flat spot at the top of a hill slightly off the trail and set up tent there. We were pretty sure that we were not supposed to be camping there so we tried to keep as low a profile as we could possibly muster, turning out our head lamps when people would pass on the trail.
Ever time a group would pass, I would wake up wondering if it was a park ranger come to kick us out of the camp site for the night. Turns out every time some one passed, was about every hour, all night long. I guess the only thing Koreans like better than drinking soju all night is to go hiking all night on the night of a full moon.
At about one in the morning a group started to pass and someone came crashing through the bush up to our camp. I was sleeping out under the stars and had my sleeping bag pulled up over my head to fight of the Autumn chill when he came into the camp. Shining his head lamp into the tent and onto me, using my korean language skills. I was able to decipher some of his conversation with what mush have been his wife. It went like this.
Man: There are people camping up here. (this part is an embellishment and must have been somewhat close to what he said but I don't really know as my korean skills are not that good).
Wife: Really?
Man: Yes.
Wife: Where?
Man: There
Wife: Where?
Man: There.
Wife: Where?
Man: There.
Me: Shut the hell up can't you see I am trying to sleep here? (In reality I just hid under the sleeping bag till the man got bored and crashed off through the bush again.)
At five in the morning people started hiking on the path pretty much not stop till seven am. I think about a hundred and fifty people passed our camp before the sun was up. So much for getting a good nights sleep.
We decided that being out of food and water was a good sign that we should head back to town early and get on a bus back home. We arrived back in town at about eleven and figured that was a good sign for getting back to Cheong-ju and my own bed that night. All I needed to do was stop by a bank machine and get some cash for the bus...
And here it starts. After about ten minutes of walking we found the first bank machine. It would not give us money. Nor would the next one. Or the next one and so on down the line for about 15 bank machines until we finally went to a continence store to get some cash from an atm there. The lady woking the convenience store looked at our cards and said "no, bank closed. Tomorrow." We finally found a bank of the branch that we use and wouldn't you know it, it was all closed up with huge posters on the door saying what I assumed to be, "hope you took enough cash out to get through the weekend because were closed for four days and you won't even be able to get money of of the machines."
We went back to the bus station in hopes that they would take credit cards. Of course they don't, every where here takes credit cards except the bus station in the "number one tourist spot" in Korea. So there we were, tired, sore, dirty and with 22 buck between the three of us. With no hope to get cash from anywhere. Eric called our boss who said that the bank was indeed closed and would not be open till Monday and we were pretty much screwed till then. It was then that our boss suggested that we go to the police station and with no other options, Eric set out to find the police leaving me to watch over the bags in the bus station. About two hours later Eric shows up with $100 buck cash and bails us out. Figuratively speaking. I'll let you read all about what he had to go through to get the cash which I am sure will be up on his blog later this week. He will tell it much better than I ever could not being there and all. So do check it out, it is the second half to this story that I just can't tell. www.soundbot.blogspot.com
So here I am back home a day late, but just happy not to have had to sleep on the streets of Sokcho and eat Mr. Noodles for two and a half days till the bank opened. So much for carrying a credit card to bail me out of situations such as this...And damn good thing I am leaving Korea with nothing but happy memories of how smoothly things work here.
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