Asia

It's been since April 1986 since I was in Asia. I was around 37 then and had traveled from the U.S. from San Francisco with my wife and 2 step kids and my son from my first marriage then in December 1985. Then we traveled through Japan, Thailand, Nepal and then India and then returned in April 1986.

This time it is only for 10 days or thereabouts. My wife was originally planning to take this trip with me but realized her knee replacement surgery isn't far enough along for this trip to work as well as she wanted it to. So, she wound up liquidating her 6 years of flying miles so instead of 1 business class ticket costing around 4000 dollars it was only about 300 dollars to travel round trip to South Korea to visit a good friend and his wife and new baby who live here now.

If I had known how amazing Business class can be riding on Korea Air lines I think I would have gone with my wife almost 2 years ago now. It was 11 1/2 hours travel time from San Francisco to Incheon Airport. The chair I had on the plane was more like a lazy boy with all sorts of electronic features like lying down flat with your own personal TV and shows and control of all that and really great service. So, before I knew it I was landing at Incheon Airport on the Island which is just off Seoul, Korea.

When I arrived the 3 of them were waiting for me and because I'm in my late 60s now they had rented two hotel rooms so I wouldn't have to drive another 3 hours to where they live. So, instead we had a quick dinner which by then was about 4 or 5 o'clock in the morning in the middle of the next there and then I went to my room and slept off and on for about 12 hours or more. This is a trick my older daughter taught me in Paris when she went there with my wife and younger daughter and I in I believe in 2009 or 2010 and then we all went with the addition of my older daughter's boyfriend to England and Scotland for 10 days also around this same time of year in October as well in I believe 2011.

So, this is the furthest stretch for me as I usually don't like traveling alone this far. I usually like to have a girlfriend or friend or family traveling with me. (There is sort of a safety in numbers I have found in traveling).

So, this was the longest flight I have ever done alone (even though business class on Korean Air is more like almost having your own room in a hotel that is flying somewhere more than just renting a seat.

This was Hongol weekend so when we took the train from Incheon Airport into Seoul to see the palace there were people there in costumes from around the 1500s with feathers sticking straight up into the air on either sides of their heads and so we walked through the historical grounds where one of the Emperors created the Korean Alphabet in I believe around 1500 or 1600 or thereabouts. One enterprising young Korean (likely junior high student) impressed his friends with his English and talked to me for awhile. I allowed him to gain face by doing this in front of his classmates. So, when I said "Goodbye" they all waved like I did and said, "Have a nice day!" like I did.

There were fish in the pond where one of the palaces was surrounded by water on all sides it seemed. Later, we went to a Mexican Restaurant named Julios not too far away. They had hundreds of green umbrellas hanging above a river through town with a waterfall in memory of all the children (I think about 300 died of drowning) hanging from wires above the waterfall (when the ferry sank). This even is almost like a 9-11 event that these children died when the Ferry capsized.

So, it was very traumatic for the whole nation. Also, children in South Korea aren't usually taught to swim. That is not usually a part of the culture of being Korean. So, this was even more horrific because of this too for them.

The level of politeness is quite amazing and how they honor each other and even foreigners is quite impressive. Imagine a very technological country where if you were driving down a freeway and didn't look too close at the designs of buildings you might think you were in the U.S.

However, motorcycles are not allowed on freeways here like in the U.S.

That was yesterday. Today we took a ferry a short distance across to an island that my friend's wife likes to visit. We wound up at a beach where avant garde artistic statues were. There was a very country feeling about this island that reminded me of some place like Nepenthe down in Big Sur. However, there were a lot more people and civilization around than near Nepenthe near Big Sur.

So, after two days of hotels and trains and driving we drove several hours home to my friend's house. Though my jet laggins is less than I thought it would be I'm still kind of tired because it is now at least 2 am or more where I live in the U.S. so this will be all for now. It  took me about 1/2 hour to make it out to be able to get to my blog so now I'm getting sort of tired. Have a Great Day!