Although Seoul is a super city, I really enjoyed the fact that most of the downtown area was very walkable. You could walk from one neighborhood to another and see completely different looking parts of the city. You could be in a posh area with lots of bars and coffee shops and 30 minutes later be walking through a street market. I felt like Seoul had something to offer everyone.

One of my favor spots in Seoul was Namdaemun Market (fairly close to Seoul Station). It was a great maze of street stalls and restaurants. I found it a great place to shoot photos and meat locals. Just like everywhere in Korea, everyone was exceptionally nice. The last night I was there I was offered drinks by an older gentleman who use to study Shakespeare. Despite claiming to never have study english outside of Korea, he had a very british accent. Interesting….

Other highlights include renting a bike, taking the cable car up to Seoul tower (which as an awesome view of the city) and getting to see the premier of my friend Tammy Chu’s documentary film Resilience. Its always interesting attending film festivals / events in other countries.

Out of all the big cities I visited in the last 6 weeks (Portland, San Francisco, LA, Chicago, Nagoya, Kyoto, Tokyo and Busan) I have to say Seoul was one of my favorites. The city had a good energy and reminded me in some ways of NYC. If I had to pick one city in either Japan or Korea to live in, I’d pick Seoul!

Looking southwest from the base of Seoul Tower.

Street vendors in Namdaemun.

1) Dumpling Stall = Pink
2) Bar = Green

Making it rain! Actually thats only about 9 bucks!

Namdaemun Market

These two women are respobile for the dish below! So good! Old Korean women are the best!

I lived off of Bibimbap! One of my new favorite dishes!

Cooking in the alleyway in Namdaemun.

Guards in traditional dress at the national fortress.

1) Robert Frank… do you get it?
2) A sax playing, street food serving Korean!

Seoul is not just tiny back alleyways… this neighborhood had lots of posh restaurants and coffee shops!

Serving up some traditional sweets on a posh shopping street!

Shoppers in a posh (how many times can I say posh in one post?) shopping center stop to watch a street performer.

A not so posh shopping street shortly after dusk.

Wondering around at dusk with my camera in hand is my favorite thing to do when traveling!

I dont think she is staring at my camera, I think she is staring at my red hair.

An alleyway with lots of texture.

Dongdaemun Market

Another great looking wall!

That there is a bottle of Makkoli, a very unique Korean drink.

To the left is “Jason” and to the right is his friend. Jason bought me a drink and told me about studying Shakespeare. Seemed like a nice guy, I had to cut out early to make it in time for the film fest, wish I could have stayed longer. Oh well, maybe next time.

The USO runs tours of the JSA and I was really hoping to take one but the lack of planning on my part didn’t allow it to happen. Instead I found a Korea tour company that ran tours. Now I’m not big on guided tours, in fact I hate guided tours, but the only way to visit the DMZ is through a tour, so i sucked it up!

We started heading north out of Seoul and the first stop was the Odusan Observatory, which overlooks the Han River. On the other side of the river is the North Korean town of Gaeseong City. The Odusan Observatory also houses an interesting and almost assuming measure that shows how everyday North Koreans live. They even had a mock classroom and living room.

After this we kept heading north along the river, where you could see lots and lots of barb wire and military watch towers. We hooked a left and headed into the DMZ, where the bus stops and a South Korea Soldier checks all passengers Passports.

When we reached the JSA (Joint Security Area) all the passengers switch to a JSA bus driven by a South Korean soldier. From here the tour visit is very brief but super interesting. We’re allowed in one of the meeting halls where technically half the building is South Korea and the other half is North Korea. This is the highlight of the trip. The bus also takes us around the compound as the tour guide points out other important sights such as the Bridge of No Return.. one of the few bridges that still connects North and South Korea.

Like any typical tour…. it ends in a gift shop. Yup, a gift shop. The only gift shop in a DMZ! All in all i’m glad I did the tour. I think i would have enjoyed it better with the USO because the tour guide I had was okay, but not the best… but hey at least I can say I took a few footsteps into North Korea!

The view of North Korea from the Odusan Observatory.

1) A South Korean guard tower along the Han river.
2) A South Korean solider standing guard inside the North Korea / South Korea conference room (inside the JSA)

The JSA with the North Korea town of Kijong-dong in the background.

Bridge of No Return… one of the only bridges between North and South Korea.

1) Our South Korea bus driver.
2) The only giftshop in a DMZ.

I ended up taking the slow ferry to from Jeju to Mokpo, about 5 hours. I stayed the night in Mokpo and then took the KTX (Korea’s fast trains… not as cool as japanese fast trains but a WHOLE lot cheaper!) to Seoul, about 3 and a half hours. All in all it was pretty simple and fast!

Pushing off from the port in Jeju.

The open sea.

1) One of the many islands between Jeju and Mokpo
2) A shot out the window of the KTX train from Mokpo to Seoul

Well both were true. It was definitely touristy, but geared towards Koreans so that just made it even more interesting to me. The coast was fairly built up, but the minute you turned off the main road, you would hit farm land.

I was hoping to rent a motorcycle but since it was low season I couldn’t find any shops with one ready to go, instead I had to settle for a 125cc scooter. I spent two days just cruising all over the Island. The 125cc could at least hit mid 50s but maxed out at 92 kph.

On the second day I rode around with Mark, an english teacher on break, who had his own 250cc motorcycle. The great thing about riding around Jeju is that it had a lot to offer scenery wise. Jeju is a volcanic island and has the highest peak in Korea. So once you started to ride up in altitude, the landscape would change. All these photos were shot within two days, I think you can probably see the diversity.

Jeju was pretty badass. This may sound silly, but Jeju was my vacation within a vacation. For this reason I didn’t really take all to many photographs, I mostly just rode my 125cc around (I clocked over 300 km in two days!) and drank coffee (just like at home!).

Over looking the island of Udo.

#1 - Climbing to the top of Seongsan Ilchulbaong Peak (north eastern side of the island)
#2 - Beach on the north west coast.

Seongsan Ilchulbaong Peak

Wild flowers near the coast.

My beast… actually it had a sticker on it that said “my bike is a beast”

An island and a horse.

Underground lava tubes, one of the longest in the world.

Continuing along the coast on the second day.

#1 - Wind farm, north west coast.
#2 - Directly behind the wind farm, traditional burial mound.

On the second day the wind got really nasty, so at this point we turned inland.

Shortly after turning inland we can across this farmer co-op.

Climbing up on route 1117, the scenery quickly began to change.

Up at about 700 meters, looking out towards the sea. I would have loved to have kept claiming, but the scooter didnt like the step hills.

A vegetarian restaurant called “the loving hunt” it was great to have a veggie burger, in fact i ate three!

Directly behind “the loving hunt” was a random batting cage right on the street. 500 won (less then 50 cents) for 10 balls! I couldn’t resist. I visited the batting cages a few times.

Sunset at the harbor.

I have never taken an overnight ferry before but it ended up being great! I sprung for the 2nd class 4 person bunk bed room (vs sleeping on the floor with upwards of 30 other people). The latter would have probably been much more interesting but I really wanted a good night of sleep. The cost for the 11 hr ferry ride was 57,000 won (or about 53 bucks).

After catching up on some photo editing and talking to my roommates for the night (two students on there way to Jeju to cycle around the island) I had a good night sleep and woke up at Jeju ferry terminal the next morning!

This was not my ferry, but a ferry adjacent to it. The one I was taking was about the same sizes…. just a lot older.

Passengers boarding.

Busan at dusk.

A worker checking tickets.

A small arcade on the ship.

Oh man, a night club. I cant say I stayed awake long enough to check it out.

There was this weird map highlighting different country with sterotypical pictures… I think this stereotype is “the creepy American pedophilia”

Goodbye Busan!

What do you do when you get off a ferry at 6am, you go take some photos….

Unfortunately I was on the wrong side of the Island to get really great shots.

Then again there is always the local fish market to check out at 6am.

Boats in the harbor.

Loading fish off the boats into trucks.

Fish boxes.

The harbor had a nice raw feel and there didn’t seem to be any parts off limits.

The docks and the market.

Busan street food, an entire alleyway!

These guys approached me and had me take a snapshot of them with one of Busan’s many bridges (which everyone seems super proud of) and the background.

The tough women of the fish market.

Sunset at the fish market.

Buddha by the beach.

The best no smoking sign I have ever seen. This thing much have been 10 feet tall.

I started off my trip in Busan (flying there from Tokyo), the second largest city in Korea. Busan is a really interesting city around the sea and the mountains. Despite the boring highrises, the city was very visually interesting. My first impressions of Korea is that it is a nice half way point between Japan and China. Its more rough around the edges then Japan but not as difficult to travel in as China (mostly due to the fact people here are really really friendly and its some much smaller in size).

After spending time in mostly large cities, I started my trip off in Busan by heading out of town to the Beomeosa Temple, which has many hiking trails around it. I happened to be there after morning rituals and I was offered a free lunch (especially awesome since they only serve vegetarian meals at Buddhist Temples!). After that I climbed up to the fortress wall. The hiking trails were awesome, but due to the time of the year they were pretty icy and dangerous.

After a short hike, I headed to downtown Busan to check out some of the markets. The markets were really interesting and it wasn’t long until i stumbled upon some street partying. After observing for a little while I was offered shots of Soju and given fruit! Did i mention Koreans are friendly?

After that I headed down to the harbor and the fish market for sunset. After shooting photos from a bit I met a nice student named “Coon” who ask if I wanted to have dinner with him. After the famous “Beijing Tea Scam” (pretty much someone posing as a student befriends you and ask if you want to go for tea, then they take you to a super expensive tea house and you get stuck with a super high bill… the only scam i have ever fallen for!!!) I was a bit hesitant but I could tell Coon was sincere. We had a nice dinner and once again the table of old men across from us insisted on giving us shots of Soju and candy (once again did I mention Koreans are the nicest?).

That pretty much just sums up my first day in Korea. The sea, the mountains, the harbor, the merchants and the markets really make for a lot of exploring. If you ever head to Korea, make sure to visit Busan, its worth it.

Busan, Korea

Beomeosa Temple

#1 - Beomeosa Temple
#2 - Fortress Walls, North Gate

A wrong turn took me down this street. All the store fronts looked like this.

Street market festival.

#1 - This guy rocked. I had no idea what he was saying, but he did a little dance for me.
#2 - Lots of fun alleyways to explore.

A guess its not just metal shops that look like these.

#1 - Man watching karaoke at a street festival
#2 - Busan street market.

Busan harbor at night.

Fire at the fish market.

A business man steps out of a fish market restaurant to take a phone call.

#1 - The Busan fish market was very different then Tokyo, most of it was outside….
#2 - …and almost all the stands were run by woman.

Holding an octopus. It made some pretty wild sounds when she plucked it off her gloves.

In addition to the fish market, there are tons of other alleyways in the area. After a helpful local started talking to us, Kristen and I went to a tiny hole-in-the-world tempura restaurant that seat about 8 people. We shared a table with to busy and angry looking businessman… anyway, it was the best tempura I have ever had!

If you ever end up in Tokyo, go check out the fish market, you won’t be disappointed!

The famous Shibuya crossing.

Shibuya neighborhood.

Takadanobaba at night.

Takadanobaba #2

Takadanobaba #3

Takadanobaba #4

Workers at Takadanobaba Station.

Smoker and Lights.

What do you wanna buy from a vending machine?

MASSIVE!!!

Police at the Imperial Palace.

Bike Police!

I’m all for bike culture but when cities regulate bike parking and fine people…. i dunno, makes me like the lawless streets of philly and NYC.

There is a lot of bad English in Japan, but this is boarder line offensive.

I kept walking on the right and getting in people’s way. So tough to break that habit.

Gotta love Neon and bright lights if your gonna love Tokyo.

If you know me, then you know I love trains! Kyoto Station.

Kyoto Station.

The highlight of the first day was checking out Fushimi Inari Shrine, which has thousands of red arches on the way to a mountain peak that over looks Kyoto. This is pretty typical, but I had to grab a shot.

Fushimi Inari Shrine #2

One of the many shires on the way up.

A moss covered walk way at the silver temple… lots of tempes in Kyoto.

#1 - There are tons of small alleyways downtown, which are lots of fun to wonder around. Japan reminds me of Europe, just a lot weirder.
#2 - Man at dusk.

Alleyway in downtown.

The major highlight of the second day was checking out the Bamboo forest.

which also looked like this.

and this.

This was probably about at least 10 inches wide. This spot really reminded me of the Red Woods in CA.

Japan really like putting eggs in / on everything. It supposedly dates back to WWII and if you had eggs, you had money, so its a sign of wealth. But i could be totally wrong.