south korea
Will Faught
May 2015
Jackass Further Destabilizes The Korean Region
Biggest dumbass in the world: I thought that my entrance [into North Korea]… illegally, I acknowledge… [could lead to] some great event happening… Hopefully that event could have a good effect in the relations between the North and South [Koreas].
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April 2012
I stayed at the Chocolate Box Backpackers hostel for five more days. I was so tired and burned out that I kept mostly to myself and stayed inside. The weather was still wet and dreary, so I wasn’t missing out on much outside. I read the web, watched some movies, and otherwise relaxed. On Friday, March 2, I flew from Taipei to Seoul, and then a couple hours later I flew to Seattle, Washington.
grass valley sacramento seattle seoul south korea taipei taiwan travel usa
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October 2011
It feels (and is) very safe. I’ve been wearing my money belt only for practice for Southeast Asia. The subway system is the best I’ve ever seen (but I haven’t seen many). It’s incredibly easy to use: to know where you are, which direction you’re going, what the next stops are, which exit to take, and which side of the tracks to be on. English is on almost all signs, and most trains have announcements in English.
observations south korea travel
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I decided to post my camera pictures to Facebook instead of Flickr. You can view them here: Set 1 Set 2 Set 3 Set 4 Of course, if you’re friend or family, you can friend me on Facebook and be up to date on all my pictures.
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South Korea: Seeing The Countryside
For Monday, October 24, 2011 Busan I packed my things and chatted for a few minutes with the beautiful Mina, the Korean girl who worked the front desk. Her English was really good. She had taken the job there to practice speaking English because she was engaged to a Welsh man who was teaching English in Busan. I was flying to Japan the next day, so I had bought a train ticket the day before from Busan to Seoul, and had booked a hostel in Incheon, since I was flying out of the airport there.
busan incheon seoul south korea travel
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For Sunday, October 23, 2011 Busan I walked to Haeundae Beach, the most renowned beach in South Korea, with Jin to watch the Gumi Bears practice their frisbee throws and say goodbye. We got a spare frisbee and Aaron, Fenton, Jin, and I tossed it around on the beach for twenty minutes. Jin and I took the metro to the Jagalchi Market, where we perused the various kinds of fresh (and live!
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For Saturday, October 22, 2011 Busan I rode the bus to see the Haedong Yonggung Temple. Of course, I didn’t hear the stop name clearly when it was announced on the bus, so I overshot by a kilometer or two, so I had to backtrack on foot. On the way, I saw a shrine on a rock in the sea by the shore, so I diverted down a side road to check it out.
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South Korea: So Close, Yet So Far
For Friday, October 21, 2011 Busan I rode the bus to the Jeju airport and flew to Busan. During take off, the cockpit door swung open, and the flight attendant tried several times to prop it closed. Finally, she had to hold it closed by hand until we leveled off. Terrorists: Here’s your chance! I rode the bus from the Busan airport to the neighborhood of my hostel and spent the next hour walking around completely lost in a heavy rain.
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South Korea: Lost And Found In Pyeoson
For Wednesday, October 19, 2011 Jeju City I rode the bus to Pyeoson in the southeast corner of Jeju island to visit the Jeju Folk Village Museum. I wasn’t sure if I had gotten off on the right stop, and after walking around for a half hour, I gave up and took a taxi straight there, which had been in the direction opposite that I had been walking. I spent a couple hours walking around the outdoor museum with a headset that spoke English descriptions.
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South Korea: Hawaii, Eat Your Heart Out
For Tuesday, October 18, 2011 Jeju City I rode a bus from the bus station in downtown Seogwipo to Joseph Tree Guesthouse in the northeastern part of the island, I think technically part of Jeju City. I met Joseph, a Korean, and check in, then talked with him about my plans and he helped me figure out how to get there and back. I rode a bus to Seongsan Ilchulbong on the east coast and hiked the short distance to the top of the crater.
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South Korea: All About The Love(in)
For Monday, October 17, 2011 Seogwipo I walked to Cheonjiyeon falls, near my hostel, about a ten minute walk. I learned you can just look for bunches of tour buses to locate the good tourist attractions. The falls were beautiful. The water looked nice and cool, a deep greenish-blue color. Signs said that a freshwater eel could only be found in those waters, but I couldn’t see any from the paths.
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For Sunday, October 16, 2011 Seoul This day I had a flight to Jeju, a subtropical island off the southern coast of South Korea. I woke up at 9:30 AM, packed up my things, and was out the door by 10:30 AM, although I almost forgot my drying clothes and my toiletries. I just need a few more times to practice packing before it comes naturally. Keren (from Australia) was heading to Jeju as well, so we traveled to the airport together (we ended up on the same flight as well).
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For Friday, October 14, 2011 Seoul I had heard good things about Jeju, an island off the southern shore, and Busan, a port city on the southern shore, so I decided to spend some time there. I had about ten days left, which would be enough time to do both, so I decided to spend part of the day planning those trips. I bought flights from Seoul to Jeju on Sunday, October 16, and Jeju to Busan on Friday, October 21.
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A short video of the highlights from the Korean cultural event that I went to. There are shots of the crowd, but I didn’t see myself. Maybe you can spot me? I was sitting center stage. The signs the people make with their thumb and forefinger or forefinger and middle finger are the letter ‘V’ for victory (I presume from the Korean War). It’s a common pose for pictures.
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South Korea: Glimpse Of Korean Culture
For Saturday, October 15, 2011 Seoul For several days prior, I had been approached by various people my age on the street and told about a cultural event for foreigners to learn about Korean culture. Mia (the hostel owner) had told all her guests about it as well, so I had decided to go. This day was the day, so I did some laundry and blogged until it was time to leave for the cultural event.
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South Korea: Reunification With North Korea Is Imminent!
For Thursday, October 13, 2011 Seoul They told me so on the DMZ tour. I had asked Mia (the hostel owner) to book me a Korean DMZ tour. Keren (from Australia) was going as well, so we both left at about 8 AM and were picked up by the tour company. We met another couple along the way, Lexi (from New York) and Graeme (from England), whom we chatted with along the way.
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South Korea: Schoolchild Celebrity
For Wednesday, October 12, 2011 Seoul The night before I had planned to go to Gyeongbokgung palace the next day, since my last attempt hadn’t worked out. As I was preparing for my day out, I met Henry from Australia, who was departing Seoul that afternoon and also wanted to see Gyeongbokgung. I asked him if he wanted to join me, and he did, so off we went. Gyeongbokgung is the most impressive palace that I’ve seen.
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South Korea: Thighs Of Steel (to Come)
For Tuesday, October 11, 2011 Seoul I ran into Charles (from Singapore) in the morning at the hostel and he invited me to join him hiking the Bukhansan mountain that borders Seoul. Not having a plan of my own yet, and since it sounded like something I wouldn’t otherwise consider, I agreed, and we set out. Charles had researched the directions, so I was just tagging along mostly. We took the subway to the right station, exited at the right exit, but the bus we needed to take to Bukhansan wasn’t listed at the nearby bus stop.
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For Monday, October 10, 2011 Seoul Having stayed up until 5 AM the night before, I got a late start in the morning. Mia was pretty hung over and stayed inside all day to recover. I left the hostel at 4:30 PM and headed for Gyeongbokgung Palace. I emerged from the subway station and couldn’t see the palace. It could have been two blocks in any direction. For the second time since arriving in Seoul, I realized that my map wasn’t up to the task of orienting me based on street names.
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South Korea: Venturing Out And Night Life
For Sunday, October 9, 2011 Seoul At the start of my first full day in Seoul, I got some lunch at a restaurant down the street with another hostel guest, Charles. I ordered a very tasty kimchi and pork meal. Afterward, we split up, and I looked for a world ATM in the neighborhood and withdrew some more cash, since I had had to pay for my entire stay at the hostel up front in cash.
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For Saturday, October 8, 2011 Seoul I arrived in Seoul on Saturday at 5:40 PM. I got through customs and immigration without a problem. It took a few minutes of looking to find a world ATM to withdraw 200,000 in the local currency, the wan. (I love being a millionaire!) I had wanted to look at the options for renting a smart phone and get some touring information, but I was concerned about being late to check into my hostel, so I took the express train from the Incheon airport to Hongik University in Seoul.
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