T-Minus 21

Recently I was musing about the less-than-stellar jobs backpackers often do to keep our travel funds topped up. I concluded by saying that although the work isn't always fun, it's worth it, and it is (the proof is in the pudding turtle-filled ocean!) But after an epic week of gallivanting around Queensland it's back to the grind (on my own for the time being, as Ben's visa is up whereas mine's valid for another month) and I'm already counting down the days until my next bout of travelling begins (21 days to be exact.)

Here's what's happening:

- Working in Manly for the next three weeks (living in a new flat with four new housemates: an Italian guy and three girls from Finland/Germany/England) and saving up as many dollars as possible
- Flying to Siem Reap, Cambodia on May 3, where I'll be riding in tuktuks and visiting friends for a week

- Flying to Paris on May 11, where I'll meet up with Ben and spend a few days eating baguettes and drinking wine under the Eiffel Tower, or something equally as stereotypical
- Taking the train to London and meeting my family, who fly in on May 16
- Travelling around England/Scotland/Italy with my family for three weeks

- Spending the rest of the summer in Ben's hometown of Shrewsbury (he has to be home this summer to be in his friend's wedding!) with a little Euro travel/visiting friends thrown in as well hopefully!
- After that, who knows? Teaching in Korea perhaps... 

Needless to say I'm beyond excited for these upcoming plans and to get back into 'travel mode' for a longer period of time. But I need to make a couple more coffees and clear a few more tables before then... T-minus 21 days until it all begins!

Adios Asia!

After seven months, eight countries and approximately 180 servings of rice, the sun has set on my time in Asia. 

Traveling in this part of the world has been a completely eye opening experience. I had no idea just how different everything, from toilets to modes of transportation, would be! There are many things that I love about Asia and am definitely going to miss...

Beautiful beaches

Riding on the back of motos

Visiting temples and pagodas

Eating cheap and delicious food

Befriending monks

Tuk tuk rides

'Interesting' fashion statements

 ... and some things that I got used to, but will not miss in the slightest

Enough said

Crazy traffic and way too much honking

In addition to adjusting to new norms, I've also learned a great deal about countries I previously knew very little about. The genocide in Cambodia, the use of Agent Orange in Vietnam, the Secret War in Laos, the oppression in Myanmar... while I could have read about these events from home, for me it's no substitute to visiting these places and meeting people who've experienced things first hand.

Killing fields in Cambodia

Bomb crater in Laos

While I'm sad that this chapter of my trip has come to a close, I'm also very much looking forward to the next one. It's time to explore the land down 'unda, where new people, experiences and sunsets await. Bring it on Australia!

Connecting In Cambodia

While I was in Korea I posted about a really nice Korean girl I met. When she told me she would be traveling to Thailand in November, I had suggested she also visit Siem Reap. I made this suggestion not expecting her to actually come (not because she's flaky but Bangkok isn't exactly down the street) but lo and behold, she arrived at my guesthouse on Thursday night! Although I was pretty busy teaching, she dropped in on one of my morning classes at school and we went for drinks on Friday night.

We are from different countries and we don't speak the same language but as I wrote before, it really doesn't matter because we somehow have lots in common as well. 

She's already back in Thailand but I hope to meet Maggi again one day. The way traveling goes, I have a feeling I will.

Maggi & I

Visiting the DMZ

One of the main reasons I wanted to visit Seoul was to take a tour of the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ), which is the neutral/buffer zone between North and South Korea. 

The Korean flag at the DMZ

Although I was only in Seoul for a few days, I really got the sense that the Korean War is far from being regarded as a major historical event of the past; It appears to be very much a part of current politics and even everyday life. Realistically this makes sense as the war is technically still ongoing and violent skirmishes continue to occur (including this incident which happened just yesterday).

The DMZ

For me the most interesting part of the tour was walking through the "Third Tunnel", one of several tunnels that North Korea had been digging but were discovered by the South in the 1970s. (It is believed that these tunnels were part of a plan to attack the South but North Korea denies this tooth and nail and maintains they were strictly for mining purposes.) The tunnel, which is almost 100m underground and only 2m high x 2m wide, takes you underneath the heart of the DMZ and leads right up to the Military Demarcation Line (MDL), which is the official border line between the two nations. This part of the tour was especially moving: Our guide explained that because we were visiting so close to a Korean holiday (their equivalent of Thanksgiving) many Koreans were coming to send prayers and wishes to their family members in North Korea, with whom they are not able to have any kind of contact. Walking underground through a dark and drippy tunnel is the closest they can get to their family.

You can't actually take a train to North Korea (the
sign is for show!) but hopefully one day you will be able to...

Taking this tour also showed me that there seems to be a lot of hope for reunification one day. Many Koreans view the North and South not as two countries but as one country divided. It may not be for a while, but I hope that one day Koreans need not walk through a tunnel to feel close to their families.

We're Not So Different, You and I

I spent most of last night wondering around the streets of Hongdae, a district filled with university students and known for its countless streets of shops, restaurants, bars and cafes. I happened upon a really funky looking little boutique where a Korean girl around my age was working. I complimented her on the beautiful clothes in the store (which it turned out she owned) and from there I somehow ended up staying for over an hour, sitting and talking and eating chocolates.

She didn't speak much English but it really didn't matter. She showed me some notes with sentences she'd written from an old English class. She had written things like "I wanted to open a clothing store so I could share my style with others", "Money is not the most important thing to me" and "My dream is to travel around the world". I told her of my travel plans and she told me how she hoped she could do the same one day. She is traveling to Thailand next month she said, her first solo trip, and she expressed great interest in coming to Cambodia as well. She told me she thought I was cool, which coming from an uber-trendy Korean I took as a huge compliment.

This little anecdote just goes to show that even in a country completely different from your own where at times it may seem like you can't relate to anything, you can meet people with whom you are able to share so much, even if you don't share a common language. This is just one of many reasons why I love to travel.

Pure Bliss: The Korean Spa

Korea is well known for its luxurious spas and saunas so it was high on my list of things to do here.

The Dragon Hill Spa

Approximately $10 CAD gains you admission to a series of pools, each with a different temperature and its own list of healing properties. (One even claimed to promote weight loss; I didn't know you could lose weight by sitting in water but I'll take it!) There was also a wide array of treatments you could get for an additional fee, ranging from about $25 for a body scrub (I opted for this one, it was incredible) to about $300 for a full spa package. On top of all this most spas have a common area where you'll find things like an arcade or a restaurant. There's even a room with mats and pillows where you can sleep! Needless to say I left feeling relaxed and revitalized, not to mention super duper clean! It was a lovely (and affordable) experience that I would highly recommend.

The Hills Are Alive...

...with the sound of Korean music?

The most intense set of stairs I've ever seen

I thought duckies were for kids, who knew?

The VonTrapp kids sure have changed since I last saw them!

These are only a few examples of things I saw in the streets of Seoul today that I found a bit funny. I don't really "get" a lot of the things I see going on here but it sure has been giving me a lot to look at!