Palaces, drums and a quiet night in.

So today was a bit of a late start. We finally dragged our carcasses out of the sketchy hotel around noon, made for the coffee joint round the corner for a wee bit of real coffee. I've been somewhat nonplussed about the coffee I've so far encountered here. It tastes like someone's spiked it with powdered marshmallow. Fortunately though, Starbucks has been globalizing good coffee. I know it's kind of the same thing as Coca-cola, but it won't rot your teeth, it keeps people in poorish regions in cash, some more than others, and it makes mornings the world over just that much more comfortable. I really ought to buy stock in them... If only I could care enough.

Anyway, after we scalded ourselves and my companions devoured various baked goods as a somewhat imbalanced breakfast, not that mine was exactly balanced, consisting entirely of coffee and milk, we hit the subway intent on a royal palace or two. We popped up a mere hundred metres from the inner gateway in a plaza reminiscent of Tiannamen Square, in that there was a gate that looked remarkably like Qianmen opening onto a jeezly great big square. It was unlike Tiannamen in that there were no beggars, you could see mountains in the background and there were no "undercover" police waiting to bundle away meditators, zealots or people displaying backbone. I find I'm developing a bit of a tolerance to old/traditional palaces. I don't know what it is exactly, but I'm far less fascinated by them than I think I should be. I may simply be palaced-out like I got templed-out in Kyoto after seeing so many. I think for me, watching the people and seeing how they live now, their civic buildings, museums, shops and institutions holds more interest for me. If the palaces were still used, I'm sure I'd find them more interesting, but realistically, they're just full of tourists. That's not to say they're not beautiful, but more that one oughtn't to come just for the palaces and temples.

I give you colour!

Within the palace we dressed up in traditional Korean garb and had our pics taken.

Shortly after the Korean garb pic, we ran into a woman doing a masters in international law at one of the women's universities in Seoul. I can't believe how many universities there are here! Anyway, she was almost fluent in English, though she claimed to have never studied it in school. She said she'd done her undergraduate in the history of criminal law, and was proceeding with the appropriate masters. She also spoke Mandarin fluently as well as speaking some Japanese and a bit of French. Impressed we all were. I perhaps moreso as she was fully 5 years my junior. We talked with her for about 40 minutes in the middle of the palace. I thought it the height of peculiarity that we were having an English, Mandarin, French and Japanese conversation with a Seoul native in the middle of a building that would surely have stunned anyone back home. Just sitting there, on the step of the building next to the one where King Jeong-jo created the Hangul alphabet, having a conversation that might occur anywhere.
Anyway, Nigel's friend Tori had to go back to Jeonju, so Nigel, Steve and I decided to wander around the neighbourhood. We happened into a drum concert set in an old more palace much more muted in colour than the royal one. It didn't actually seem much like a palace to me, but more of a nobles house or something. Lovely it was though, with it's peonies, wooden architecture and tiled roof.
The day didn't get much more lively after that. We tucked into a steak, we'd all eaten enough spicy food for a few days, and turned in early. Nice day of walking though.

Lost for Words

What a place...
Today was our DMZ tour. We woke up bright and early and caught a taxi half-way across the city to the USO which stands for something I never learned, but probably includes United States and something else. It was stinkin' hot by 7:00 in the morning, but we boarded the bus with all the other folks keen for a bit of cold-war reality. Most people didn't seem to have any idea what they were really getting into and treated the trip like some kind of Disney ride. Although they all made me ill with their amazing je ne sais quoi, I managed to keep my temper and my tongue. Inane is how I'd describe about 1/3 of the people on that tour. We got to the DMZ about 8:30 or so, and were briefed on protocol for entering the Joint Commission village. We got to have a look inside building 2 where talks are held between the north and south. We were actually able to step into the North within the building, which was slightly creepy. The Republic of Korea soldiers, known as ROK soldiers stationed around the building and within it I first took for mannequins. They stood so incredibly still for the entire time we were there. I could only see them breathing. There were no other motions.

The rest of the tour included the site where two American officers were viciously murdered in what's known as the "Axe murder incident". What struck me most about the area was the profoundly undisturbed appearance of the wildlife. There were hundreds of manchurian cranes nesting in a colony near the axe murder site. It was definitely the biggest colony I'd ever seen. It left me in awe and wanting the bus to stop so I could watch... of course that would have been incredibly dangerous, but I couldn't help but hope.

We also saw one of the four tunnels the North had dug through the granite into the South. It was so far down, it's a wonder anyone was able to find it. The whole tour left me feeling pretty sad, a little scared and deeply philosophical. Korea is a very damaged nation.

Anyway, when we got back to Seoul, we managed to find new lodging at a hotel where the owner sleeps in his office. Ok, maybe he just works out of his bedroom... I dunno, but he's been in there, sitting on his futon, watching his 30-something inch screen TV in his pjs and taking people's money who want to stay in his slightly dodgy place. In Japan, for roughly 30 bucks I could stay in a capsule hotel. It's a little, little room or rather closet, but it's clean, clean, clean and the bathrooms aren't at all sketchy. My room's bathroom at this dodgy hotel was "ok". Mildew, yellowed tile, but ok. I actually managed to have a good sleep which I was a bit worried about, given the area. Itaewon is the area within Seoul where this place was. We originally tried to get into a place we found in the LP that was noted as a little dodgy in the book, but cheap. That was full though, which was just as well as it was smack dab in the middle of well over a dozen brothels. I couldn't believe it! I suppose prostitution must be legal here, but it was still a pretty big shock to see bar after bar full of women showing way too much leg for the hour and venue, just sitting there, looking a little bored, but lascivious. The whole area kind of made me feel just a little bit dirty, but there weren't really any other viable places to stay and we were all tired and wanted to dump our stuff. After that we hit a steakhouse and a few expat bars Nigel's friend Victoria recommended. Nice places all.
Ok, gettin' tired of typing so that's all for today.