If I were to tell you that the original plan for part of my Asia journey was to visit North Korea, you would probably laugh at me – After all, North Korea seems to be a really dangerous place after the Warmbier incident, recent tension between North Korea and the US, and Trump’s travel ban to the country for US passport holders.
But if you think about it, visiting North Korea is really not that big of a deal (up until recently): I personally know quite a few US passport holders who visited North Korea in the past 5 years for marathons / golf tournaments and came back to the US sound and safe. And if you read travel blogs, you might know that visiting North Korea is even more doable if you are a holder of certain Asian passports – You cannot travel to North Korea as a solo traveler, but you can join a tour group in China. There are tour groups every week going into Pyeongyang.
My original plan was to fly into Beijing, leave my US passport behind, then join a local Chinese tour in Beijing and visit North Korea with my HKSAR passport. But due to some logistical challenges and the uncertainty of what Trump’s travel ban entails to US passport holders even if a US passport is not used to enter North Korea, I have to cancel my trip to North Korea at this time.
#SouthKorea
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Gyeongbokgung Palace, built by the Joseon dynasty in 1395.
@Seoul
Gyeongbokgung Palace, built by the Joseon dynasty in 1395.
@Seoul
Gyeongbokgung Palace, built by the Joseon dynasty in 1395.
@Seoul
Gyeongbokgung Palace, built by the Joseon dynasty in 1395.
@Seoul
Dorasan Station, the northernmost railway station in South Korea, close to the North Korea border. There used to be a train that departs Dorasan once a day to Pyeongyang, the capital of North Korea. However, this border-crossing train has stopped operating since 2008. Theoretically you can still buy a train ticket and put a stamp on it – But don’t hold your breathe for it as the train will most likely never leave.
@Dorasan
My Korean brother, a law student who lives in Seoul. Previously served in the bomb-searching team as part of the 2-year mandatory military service. We ran into each other at our hostel in Switzerland one night and decided to head out at 2am to look for cheap Swiss beer. Good old time.
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Thanks for letting me crash at your house after drinking too much soju + beer + makkoli out of a bowl, introducing me to your pro-golfer sister (= more beer), and taking me all over Seoul after your exam.
@Seoul
My Korean brother, a law student who lives in Seoul. Previously served in the bomb-searching team as part of the 2-year mandatory military service. We ran into each other at our hostel in Switzerland one night and decided to head out at 2am to look for cheap Swiss beer. Good old time.
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Thanks for letting me crash at your house after drinking too much soju + beer + makkoli out of a bowl, introducing me to your pro-golfer sister (= more beer), and taking me all over Seoul after your exam.
@Seoul
Emperor Gojong, the 1st king of Korean Empire.
@Seoul
The Hymns of Dragon Lake in the National Museum of Korea. I don’t know how to read Korean but I know how to read Chinese. Since this hymn was written in Hangeul (Korean alphabet), I can understand maybe 10-15% of this hymn as some of the Hangeul characters are identical to Chinese characters.
@Seoul
Chinese characters arrived in Korea before 57 BC, were adapted for Korean to become known as hanja, before it was later replaced by the standard Korean language. This world map found in the National Museum of Korea was written entirely in hanja; this portion of the map shows Northern California, in which San Francisco was written as 聖才西斯哥 – It makes linguistic sense but is quite different from how San Francisco is called nowadays (三藩市).
@Seoul
The DMZ (Korean Demilitarized Zone) is 2-mile buffer zone between North Korea and South Korea. It was created by agreement between North Korea, China, and the UN in 1953 – 3 years after the Korean War started where North Korea invaded South Korea.
@DMZ
Within the DMZ, North Korea and South Korea is being separated by a river, with a flagpole of the respective country on each side.
@DMZ
The North Korea side, with a North Korea flagpole to the left. This place might not be scenic but it is a good place to take a glimpse of how people live their lives in North Korea.
@DMZ
The South Korea side, with a South Korea flagpole to the right.
@DMZ
My flight from Bangkok landed in Seoul at 2am. I didn’t have a hostel reservation for that night. After taking an overnight airport bus to the Seoul station, I walked to Siloam Sauna – A large, gender-segregated public bathhouse popular among Koreans. Visitors to the bathhouse are probably 95% Korean. For $10 a night, you have access to many types of baths and fomentations (ice, salt, loess, mugwort, charcoal, etc.). Koreans are used to using public bathhouse and are very comfortable being totally naked in front of each other. After shower you can grab a mattress and spend a night in the common room.
@Seoul
Dumplings and traditional rice punch.
@Seoul
Gwangjang Market.
@Seoul
Rice. Noodles. Soju.
@Busan
Dwaeji Gukbap (pork and rice soup).
@Busan
The Seomyeon area where young Koreans hang out.
@Busan
Sungnyemun Gate.
@Seoul
Sungnyemun Gate.
@Seoul
Dorasan Station, the northernmost railway station in South Korea, close to the North Korea border. There used to be a train that departs Dorasan once a day to Pyeongyang, the capital of North Korea. However, this border-crossing train has stopped operating since 2008. Theoretically you can still buy a train ticket and put a stamp on it – But don’t hold your breathe for it as the train will most likely never leave.
@Dorasan
Dorasan Station, the northernmost railway station in South Korea, close to the North Korea border. There used to be a train that departs Dorasan once a day to Pyeongyang, the capital of North Korea. However, this border-crossing train has stopped operating since 2008. Theoretically you can still buy a train ticket and put a stamp on it – But don’t hold your breathe for it as the train will most likely never leave.
@Dorasan
A steam train that got derailed by bombs and bullets during the Korean War.
@DMZ
Hostel roommates from Taiwan and Singapore.
@Busan
Gamcheon Culture Village.
@Busan
View of Seoul from Namsan Seoul Tower.
@Seoul