Busan, flying First Class to Korea's Miami

I was about to embark on my next trip, away from Jeju heading to Busan, the second largest city in Korea. Some of you film enthusiasts might know the Busan Film Festival which is one of the most important festivals in Asia and comparable to the Sundance Film Festival. I really wanted to leave the hostel I was staying at, though not necessarily the beauty and calmness of Jeju. Oh well, I had to leave eventually and I booked a new flight. Since flying is the easiest and comparatively cheapest option, it was not hard to find a flight... or so I thought. When I arrived at the airport and looked at my ticket, I got thunderstruck.. mentally. My ticket was not issued from Jeju to Busan but the other way around from Busan to Jeju. How could I have done such a horribly easy and stupid mistake! I was furious... stomping my feet on the floor and moaning angrily until the small Korean child next to me started crying. I was so angry at myself that I wanted to punch my past me in the face very badly. Well, what is the best thing to do? Queuing up in front of the Air Busan Ticket office at Jeju Airport and hoping the re-booking will not empty my cash account. Of course the day was completely booked out. Well, I was just about to call my hostel again and ask for another night when the miracle happened. I got issued a stand-by ticket, meaning that if a person does not show up for his or her booking, I can jump in so to speak and take the free seat. I got myself some coffee and prepared for a day at the airport but, unbelievably, I got a new fare within 30 minutes. It all happened really fast. I got called to the ticket office, they entered my passport details then I ran to the baggage drop-off where they still accepted my luggage (all in 5 minutes). Then I had 7 Minutes until the gate would close and I still had the security and customs check ahead. Wuuuu, I pushed and elbowed my way through the long queue followed by a lot of 'excuse me's, 'I am so sorry's and 'bjaneyo's (Korean = I am sorry). I jumped down the stairs, sprinting to gate number 7 while Koreans where pointing their finger at the tall German giant who was running as her live depends on it. I must have looked ridiculous with my long black bag, hair flowing in all direction, breathing heavily and coffee spilled on my shirt. Miraculously I made it to the airplane only to discover, I will fly in First Class. Jackpot! When I was brought warm nuts and orange juice I also realized, that I did not had to pay any cancellation or re-booking fee at all. They did not even mention it in the ticket office. This made my day and I arrived in Busan already at 12 a.m. after which I headed to the WOW Guesthouse in Haeundae. This Hostel was just PERFECT! It was recommended by Cristian and Seong-Hwan which I met in Jeju. And it was without question one of the best hostels I have ever stayed in. The owner payed my dinner the first night and we also had some drinks on the second. He is a really cool guy who travels a lot and has a lot of stories to tell. If you ever happen to be in Busan, make sure that you stay at this place!



Haeundae Beach in Busan



Eating Sanakji at the Jagalchi Fish Market!

When in Busan, the Jagalchi and its surrounding markets should not be missed. For me I really like the shopping and strawling through the hidden alleys. Anyway in the new market hall, it is actually possible to buy fresh fish and get it readily sliced into perfect sashimi piece to be eaten on the spot. In Korean Cuisine this is better known as hoe. Hoe refers to eating different types of raw fish like sashimi. One particular from of hoe is sanakji. The moving octopus. Since its suction cups are still active even after being cut freshly, the pieces still move around like little worms. It can also happen that a suction cups sucks itself on your tongue or inner mouth. Wooh! I was kissing a dead octopus, see for yourself:  

In the end I relaxed a lot in Busan, ate awesome seafood, did some shopping and visited a nice jimjilbang  spa (Korean Sauna). Since I had already done most of the touristy things while I was here last summer, I got to spend quality time with goo new friends without stress, stroll on markets and beaches as well as updating my blog and YouTube while doing my laundry. A bit boring for you maybe but REALLY nice for me :).

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The one on Jeju Island

So I am back in Korea and I started my journey with the wonderful island of Jeju in the deep south. Jeju is one of the seven provinces of Korea and one of the most popular vacation spots. Recently also Chinese and Japanese have discoverd the beauty of this island which is also particularly famous among honeymooners. So, this spot of the earth had several highlights, I did not want to miss, like the world's largest lava cave or an art/sex museum for example.

After I left Tokyo, the plane took me to Busan where I hoped into another airplane headed for Jeju. airticktes are really cheap at the moment. Especially with cheap and small airlines like Air Busan or Air Jeju. With a bit of luck and a clear view, you can see Halla mountain from the airplane. Since Jeju is a volcanic island, a huge inacive volcano in the middle of the island is the centre of the magical natural wonders you can find here. At the airport I was picked up by Martin, my new hostelowner. Although I did not particularly liked the hostel and I got the feeling they did not like me either, it did not prevent me from having a fun time.

Instead of writing down every little detail of my stay, I will show you my personal highlights of this week! Otherwise this entry coul go on forever :).

Manjangul Cave and U-do with Johnny and drinking Whisky with Ben

I FORGOT MY CAMERA THAT DAY! Sorry guys! I asked Johnny to send me the pictures but he forgot. Anyway, I'll try to write a vivid story to keep you interested ;). It was my first day on Jeju. I did not sleep that well in my cold room and hard bed, plus I got knocked out of my dreams at 8 a.m. because it was breakfast time and I had to come down. "Hurry Up!"  Martin said through the door... I was about to reply with a frizzled "Yes, mumy!" but I managed to force the angry reply down my throat. I did not had that much of a plan, but I read that the largest lava cave of the world is on Jeju and I wanted to see that. So at 9:30 I got taken to the bus stop together with a vietnamiese girl and an english bloke named Johnny. At the bus stop he didn't know what to do and we ended up on the same bus going to the lava tubes which lie in the eastern part of the island. They are really impressive and over one kilometer long, elumitated with cold blue and green light instalments. The ligt makes you feel as if your are on a different planet or a tardis like space ship. Yet, walking a kilometer is a bit long and we got a bit tired of the whole thing in the end.

As we exited the lava tube and made our way to the bus stop we met Ben from Israel and had lunch together. We both decided to have drinks together in the evening, since Johnny will travel to Seogwipo. Anyway, our next stop was the small offshore island of U-do. It is very famous for its fisherwoman. We rented ATV's and were cruising arround the Island. Stopping at cliffs, deserted beaches and through fields where rape flowers were blooming. Occasionally, I was able to see some of the Haenjo women. Haenjo are women who dive for fish and seafood without any breathing aparatus whatsoever. I heard they can dive up to 8 minutes.

Anyway, after that fun trip Johnny went his way towards Seogwipo (a city in the South) but he said he will come back a day later and I made preparations to meet with Ben. We met and drank a lot of beer and I got introduced into Whisky (again). Actually somebody had already tried to explain the delight of enjoying whisky earlier last year but I must admit that I had forgoten almost everything again.

Hiking on Olle Nr. 7 with a group of Korean Ahjussis & Ajummas




In the middle of my week, I decided to go hiking. Jeju itself is covered in small hiking trails called olle-walks. They are not really exausting but you can view the beautiful scenery on the way. I decided to walk along Olle Nr. 7 which leads along the beautiful waterfalls of Jeju on the southern coast.



hiking through the woods











this kind of reminds me of the Way of Saint James



beautiful scenery!




one of the many waterfalls

    

On my way I met a group of hiking enthusiasts. All were Korean and all were 60 or above, the definition of an ahjussi! Although the hike was not particularly exsausting or dangerous, they were equipped with full hiking gear. Shoes, Jackets from the North Face a hicking stick and a proper backpack. I heard that hicking is considered as one of the cool sports in Korea nowadays. Hence, many people like the idea of proper hiking, even though they only visit the zoo. It took me about 5 hours to walk the whole thing but if you plan to do it, you may need some trainers or comparable sturdy shoes and that's fine. Don't try to walk it in high heals though. The weather was amazing, 20 degrees with a nice seabreeze. Me and the Koreans ended up hiking together and they tried to speak english as best as they could and I made extensive use of my lonely planet Korean survival phrasebook. At the end we had some makkoli and pajoen! A perfect day!

   

 

  



water vs. stone

  

Hiking up Seongsan

Seongsan, also known as sunrise peak, was formed through volcanic activity and is best admired from an aeroplane or helicopter while flying over the island. I am a poor student nontheless and I just did the hike.




Seongsan


When I started hiking it was very nice and smooth. The scenery was beatiful. However, soon I saw all the school classes and chinese tourists. Well, it was a nice spot to visit.

that is what I call a nice hike

SO MANY PEOPLE!

 



a view from the top





a school class wanted to have a picture with me, the tall and weird foreign girl!

Meeting Seong-Hwan and Cristian

One night, I don't remember which one, new guests arrived at the Hostel. Seong-Hwan from Korea and Cristian from Switzerland. They asked me to join them for dinner and drinks and we ended up having a fun time. On my last night in Jeju, we also endded up going out together. I am really glad I met these two funny guys! On Jeju there are several regional food delights you should try when visiting the Island. But as usual, it is difficult to eat them on your own because Korean food is meant to share with your friends or lovers. Popular foods include chocolate, green tea and the famous balck pork belly. The black pigs a raised on Jeju and the meat from the belly is cut into pieces and barbecued on a huge black plate. It is DELICIOUS!!! Even more so when you can enjoy the meal with some good company and soju, as I did ;).

other stuff... (Hallim Park, Cliffs, and Beaches and the Sex Museum)

Of course i did not just sat in my room for the rest of the time. I did lot's of things like the sex museum or the offshore cliffs in the south. The thing with Jeju is, that there is so much to see that inevitabley a car is the most convinient way to travel arround. Although there are busses, they take longer and do not drive every hour.



I WANT THESE CHAIRS! (infront of the Sex Museum)

 

one of the many beautiful beaches



only on jeju! a Buddhist Temple behind an impressive mountain side



cliffs





my mark!





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Cheers!

Korea nowadays.. Why am I back here? (being at the DMZ, Part II)

I am in Jeju-Do! Jeju is an Island in the South of the Korean Peninsula and one of the most beautiful Islands I have been on in my whole life. While I was visiting the longest Lava cave in the world and lovely U-Do island yesterday I met a lot of new friends and had the time of my life all over again.

I will not update you on my Jeju adventures now because there is a more important matter I want to draw our attention to. Serious Switch: ON! Many of you (including my family) might wonder, why is she back in Korea? The political situation seems very critical at the moment and to be honest a bit dangerous. While my flight back is scheduled for the end of April I planned to take my backpack and discover Korea on my own for the last couple of weeks. I can tell that I had a lot of trouble convincing myself as well as my parents and friends on staying here. You have to realize that the average Koreans in the street all seem very calm. They go to work or school, cook dinner and drink Soju just like everybody else. Live goes on. They are used to the threats from the North and usually learned not to bother. As the saying goes, they "keep calm and carry on!". I spoke to a lot of people about my worries including other expats, coffee shop owners, Korean friends and the recent hostel owner. Basically everyone says one thing: "North Korea wants something again!" They use rhetoric and threats to increase their bargain power. Since there exist so many embargoes issued by the UN and other countries it is tough for the DPRK to provide the basic needs for their society. It was like that in 2006 and 2008, so it seems likely to be so this time as well. At least that is what many Koreans think of it. Another indicator for me to stay is that the German embassy has not yet issued a travel warning. So for all of you guys which may worry a little about how reckless I am again. Please be assured, that I evaluated my decision carefully and I have taken preparations to leave the country as soon as possible if necessary.


Since it was a rainy day today and I could not really do anything, I will now post my PART II on visiting the DMZ in February  but, as promised, please find some links for further references about North Korea first.

1. I’ll recommend this super interesting Vice Documentary about their travels to the DPRK to get a somewhat inside view: 

                                         (this is only Part 1, find Part 2 and 3 on YoutTube :))

2. It is nice know how the South Korean attitude looks like with the Eat Your Kimchi video post on North Korea:

                                          

3.       Some interesting Books:

- Nothing to envy by Barbara Demick, telling the stories of North Koreans which escaped to the South and their struggles

- The Aquariums of Pyongyang by Kang Chol-Hwan written by a Korean defector provides rare inside views in the country (I have not yet read that but it was recommended to me in a South Korean Book shop and I must say it does sound intriguing)

So, back to my story! 
As you have read in the previous entrance back in Feburary (here: http://www.lisa-kolumna.blogspot.kr/2013/03/being-in-north-korea-almost.html), I was about to embark on a journey to one of the most dangerous borders with the most dangerous countries on earth. Now that I think back, I was much more worried than necessary. Me and the other members of our small travel group sat in the bus heading for the border. It was so cold that the fogging windows literally force to ice inside the bus. Just outside of Seoul when you drive along the Han River people are cycling or strawling along the river because it is one of the few semi-relaxing areas. However, suddenly there was barbed wire installed at the river bank and no people were around. The guide told us that actually in winter when it can get -20°C or lower the river freezes over and North Korean spies as well as refugees have attempted to get to Seoul by walking over the frozen river. After less than 30 minutes we got to the first border check. Since in Korea military service of at least 2 years for all males is obligatory, a young man not older than 21 stepped into our bus. He was fully equipped with a rifle at the back and knifes on his belt. He checked our passports and bags, so that we did not bring any dangerous goods. Apparently because some tourists attempted to shoot information flyers over the DMZ to the North once but I cannot testify if that’s true.  Anyway after the border check ups we quickly arrived at our first stop.

1. Dorasan Station:

Dorasan Station is a train station build to connect Pyongyang with Seoul. If in the future the borders will open, Seoul could be connected to London via a railway system through China, Mongolia and Siberia (the Trans-Siberian railway). The guide told me in a quiet moment that she thinks this train station could be of great help to the north to improve their infrastructure once in case they will open their borders. The station itself is about 700 m away from the DMZ border itself, so we were not allowed to take pictures in that direction. It all looks really nice and new inside because it was renovated in the early 2000s by the South to show the North their willingness to cooperate. It is considered as a ‘gateway of the north-south exchange’ and a symbol for the division of Korea. Well, the fact that there is a tourist shop inside where I was able to buy a breakfast cookie and some coke was the second best thing for me. You have to pay 500 W extra to receive an ‘imaginary’ ticket which gets you access to the platform. I felt a bit sad for the train officer that was selling his tickets but now train will ever arrive here very soon. Buff military men were standing around everywhere inside we adds to a depressing futuristic atmosphere.

2.       The Dora Observatory

So up we went with our little tour bus. Up the Dorasan hill towards the Dora Observatory. As the title says, it is an observatory on top of a hill were you can look over to the other side and see the propaganda village constructed by the North: Kijong-Dong. They are very strict with taking fotos here but fixed binoculars were installed and I was actually able to see people walking arround on the other side. Whether soldiers or not I could not tell. Althought the propaganda village is a 200 family collective farm with schools and kindergarden according to the DPRK, it seemed rather empty. Due to that some claim otherwise:

"Kijong-dong was built specially in the north area of DMZ. Designed to show the superiority of the communist model, it has no residents except soldiers" (By Mark Tran)

Besides the border with all its bombs and mines buried in the ground it looked like a normal town with farms. Though it looked a bit more like old Soviet Russia with a huge North Korean flag pole and blue roofs. Life seemed to stand still except for one lonely lady, who was walking through a rice field.

3    3.    The 3^rd infiltration Tunnel

Our third stop this day was the third infiltration tunnel. It was discover in October 1978 because a defector from the North gave the South Korean Inteligence a hint. Personally I think it is an idea so stupid, that it might have worked because nobody thought of it. The North started to dig tunnels under the DMZ to invade Seoul more easily. Earlier, other tunnels had been dug already and were discovered by puring water into the holes in the ground and watch it blast into the air like a gysier when TNT detonated underground. The DPRK's army disguised their tunnels as mines when tehy were discovered but it was not hard to deduce they were meant for the army to walk through and attack Seoul. What a wonderful surprise it would have been to suddenly see 30.000 North Korean soldiers walking towards Seoul. Once the tunnel was discovered, the army quickly sprayed some black charcoal on the wall to be able to say it’s a mine. Not that anybody would see fully equipped soldiers rambling through the tunnel or the holes for the dynamite which were drilled in the stone, of course not. The DPRK had to defend themselves as harmless miners. Diplomacy!… Really? Well they did deny to have dug the tunnel in the first place anyway and only later admitted they were mining.

Walking through the tunnel was pure torture for me. It was only 1.50 cm high and I had to duck the whole time. Actually, when I asked the guide, she told me that due to the massive amount of tourists coming to the DMZ, the South actually makes a lot of money with the infiltration tunnel nowadays. I guess that's Karma.

 4.    Imjangack Park

       This was one of the weirdest stops on the whole journey. We were driving up a small hill after the last check point, ever closer towards the actual border. Suddenly, I saw a theme park on the left side. An empty theme park, which I personally think is very creepy. Also when the bus stopped I could not fail to see the Popeye chicken fast food restaurant, a coffee shop, souvenir shop and an observation deck. On the other side were a lot of monuments remembering the fallen soldiers of the Korean war and finally the freedom bridge. Two chinese kids were running arround with toy guns while I was strawling arround the monuments and freedom bridge. It is more like a memorial park where occaisonally even pop concerts and so called 'peace partys' take place. The freedom bridge which crosses the Imjin river and lies just behind the park was used by repatriated POWs/soldiers returning from the north to return after the Korean War. 

DMZ Carnival during the Imjingack Peace Festival, 5 Minutets away from the border (source: ROK Drop, Korea from North to South)

5     5.   Pass by Unification village



a rock soldier



This point on the list was not that fascinating. Basically, we sat in tha bus, while driving by a town, which was far away from us. Again, we were not allowed to take pictures and I could not see much anyway. Bummer!

6.   Bonifaz Camp and Joint Security Area (JSA) Tour



source: Wikipedia



      This was by far the most interesting and exciting bit of the whole journey. I technically stepped over the North Korean border for a moment there. I was within shooting distance and North Korea has a picture of me, visiting the border now. This bit was why we could not wear indecent clothing, make gestures or any other weird movements towards North Korea. At first we arrived at the Camp which was a joined United Nations area untill recently and is now a Military Base. While we got inspected by the soldier in the bus I was getting a bit nervous. In 1976 two American Army officers were killed because they wanted to chop down a tree, one of them was Captain Bonifaz, hence the name. Our small group finally went into the military building and had to attend a lecture on how to behave and what to do. Then we had to sign a statement saying we are here on our own risks, within shooting distance and won't make gestures and finger pointing. They really do a good job in making you nervous. So we went on a tiny military Bus, everybody wearing brand new and huge UN-Guest badges, clearly to see for everybody. Soldiers with sunglasses and in the Teakwondo defense position were standing everywhere. They had sunglasses on even inside. When I asked the guide about this weird feature she told me it is for them and their opponent not to show and see any emotions. Either guilt, anxiety or even mercy... Well, these Rock soldiers are there to protect us as well, so I was glad they were there. We had to line up in a row of two and march up the stairs to the border you see in the picture below. 



The JSA (not my picture)

    We had to stand still for 5 minutes, were not allowed to make any  fast movement bacause a North Korean military officer was zooming in on us and tacking snapshots of all of our faces. Then we calmly entered the blue building and were in the conference room were negotiations take place. A huge flag of the UN was in the middle of the table. After half of the room, North Korea begins. When I returned to the bus I realised that my whole body was fierce. Well, we returned to the Camp and were able to shop in a Souvenir shop again.



  For more footage, check my YouTube Video (Part 2 comming soon)! Comment! And Follow me on Twitter!

Thanks for reading!!! :)

Being in North Korea (almost!)

First of all, it took me REALLY long to finish this entry. I apologize for that, there is just so much to tell, I don’t know where to begin!

If you are more interested in the history of the Korean Peninsula and how the current situation resulted from historical events, make sure to check the additional readings & media list I will post next week! Technically, I was in North Korea! This seems so weird to write considering I am in Seoul and Kim Jong Un’s regime just conducted another underground nuclear test (Feb. 2013). Here in Seoul, everyone keeps on working and the South Koreans I see on the streets seem rather calm. Of course there are news flashes in the subway reporting on emergency meetings ranging from the UN to the national ministry of re-unification. Then again, everyone is always so focused on their smart phone reading news or playing games that not many people actually pay any attention to subway news. At the same time the blue emergency gas-mask boxes in the subway give a dangerous glimmer of their polished surface.

During my first day in Seoul, when I tried to find the way to my workplace I saw them… the blue colored closest. They contain emergency gas masks in case of an attack from the DPRK.

Of course these events are a bit worrisome for me. Who wants to be hit by the atomic missiles or even suffer the more terrifying aftereffects (says my over-exaggerating, worrisome inner-voice). But it was time to educate myself a bit more and to face my fears. When I came to South Korea I decided almost by the minute that I definitely want to go to see North Korea. Or at least try to get as close to it as possible. When you are living in a dazzling and cosmopolitan city such as Seoul, it is hard to realize how fragile cities and their infrastructures are. The border to the North is only 40-50 km out of Seoul and the bus ride there takes less than an hour to be exact. Not to mention nuclear war heads pointed towards Seoul, which can fly this distance easily by just pushing a button.

Although, I was always kind if interested in the mysterious country called The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), I am certain that I do not know a lot about it.
The weird stories I read in the news kept me interested though. For example, when Kim-Jong Un accidentally got elected as 'sexiest man alive' by some American magazine and the Chinese press picked it up and believed (or said) it to be true (http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/nov/27/china-kim-jong-un). This made me laugh so hard, I almost chocked on my coffee that day and I disturbed all of my housemates. We had very thin walls so they would always hear me laugh (I do have a loud laughter though). Anyway, whether you read it in the news, watched a documentary or consumed some other type of media on the topic I am certain that the DPRK is always portrayed rather critically or cynically. According to Amnesty International their Human Rights violations hit the roof every year, not even discussing the food crisis, death penalty, detention or freedom of speech and movement (check Amnesty for more info: http://www.amnesty.org/en/region/north-korea/report-2012)

To be honest I booked the actual tour to the DMZ in the heat of the moment. Although I had already decided that I want to go, booking it was a spontaneous idea. I might got ahead of myself there. It was my first free weekend in 'the Seoul' so should I really go on a tourist tour? I was working all week and had almost no chance to discover and adventure in Seoul itself… Screw it! I am going! If I would have decided otherwise I might have ended up not going at all because I would reschedule it forever. I was so curious what it would be like. I believe that Tourism is actually a good way of getting people interested in issues and topics. Do not get me wrong, I am not a fan of fat American or European tourists visiting slums in Africa to get an idea of the living conditions while sipping champagne afterwards and donating 5 bucks to feel better. Rather it is a subconscious connection you get once you have visited the place instead of seeing only news reports. People become more aware of crises, issues or they connect with the people they have met on the tour and the tension they experienced while being there. I wanted to feel that way, too. Furthermore, I am curious how South Korea is handling the relations with the North. Being German, I know a bit about German reunification and the tough transition that came with it. Reunification cannot be done overnight especially with South Korea as a 21^st century technical wonderland and a communist DPRK stuck with technology from the 1960s. People have to change their attitudes as well, not talking about the economic difficulties reunification implies. So does South-Korea still want to reunify? What are the policies towards the North? What about Northern refugees? Since the DMZ is one of the most popular and most controversial tourist attractions in Korea for foreigners I did not believe it to be extremely dangerous. Yes, there were many regulations, I was not allowed to film everywhere, I had to look ‘appropriate’ and no gestures whatsoever against the North-Korean guards. So, during break time I googled DMZ tour and a lot of options came up. I picked the first good looking advert and booked the long tour (from 8 a.m. till 17 p.m.). Altogether it was 135.000KRW (about 95 €/123 U$).

The whole thing started at 7 am in the morning. The alarm rung and I stepped out of my bed, feeling extremely sleepy and cold. It was f*** freezing in my room because it was so cold in Seoul (-10°C). I did not know that it was about to get even colder that day… So, I got ready and I brushed my teeth properly. After all, one of the regulations was to 'dress appropriately'. (What does that even mean?) I did not want to dress up for Kimy but I wanted to go after all so I put on some decent and plain looking clothes but nothing which has a political statement written on it somewhere.  The cab came at 7:45 and took me to the Lotte Hotel where me and 20 other participants (including: 2 other Germans, a Dutch guy, a Hong Kong couple, a British bloke and plenty of Americans) stepped into a bus.

The Schedule looked like this:

1)      Dorasan station

2)      Dora Observatory

3)      3^rd infiltration Tunnel

4)      Imjangack Park

5)      Pass by Unification village

6)      Bonifaz Camp

7)      JSA Tour

... Keep up for Part 2 next week ;)!

P.S: If you want a teaser, check my videofootage of the DMZ