Day 62 - Seoul, South Korea

I was dreading getting off the plane and having to negotiate the underground system between Incheon Airport and Seoul Central but I needn't have worried. The rucksacks were already on the carousel by the time we got through immigration and the train station was a short walk from there. It was all really easy. The trains were virtually empty from the airport, I've no idea where everyone else was and once we changed trains at Gimpo airport on the mainland that train was pretty quiet too. All in all, it was a really easy journey. Phew!

We've done plenty of walking and, as usual, it's a real eye opener. The traffic here is terrible as it is in most cities and that could explain why the underground was so empty. You don't really notice the traffic that much until you try to cross the road and it's then that you can see just how patient the Seoulites are. I guess because jaywalking is illegal here it kind of forces people to follow certain rules or end up being fined, but they'll wait ages for the 'green man' before crossing the road. The little side roads are fascinating and there are little market stalls everywhere selling absolutely everything you need from boxes of rubber bands to dried squid! We walked through a fish market this morning and it's obvious they're not constrained by minimum fish sizes or EU quotas as there was tonnes of the stuff and all sorts of it, too.

Yesterday we did a trip to the DMZ, or Demilitarised Zone which is supposed to be one of the most dangerous places on the planet. It didn't feel like that, though having to board a UN bus and be escorted by a United States UN soldier certainly made it feel authentic! The DMZ is the 4Km strip of land that separates North and South Korea and the name is a bit misleading because it is heavily guarded by the UN and a sort of Korean peace-keeping force made up of Americans and Koreans. The whole place is surrounded by barricades, barbed-wire and mine-fields so I certainly wasn't going to go wandering off anywhere! On the tour we were taken right into the hut where current, day to day negotiations are held and once in there we were quickly surrounded by North Korean soldiers staring through the windows to try and intimidate us. This is apparently an eye-war. It was only when we'd left the hut that the guide told us that they'd undone their holsters, making their guns more accessible to try and intimidate us further. Fortunately I hadn't noticed this, but if I had done I might have had to do a bit more laundry sooner than I'd anticipated! It certainly gets the adrenalin going...

The city is similar to Beijing in that amongst the outrageously modern buildings nestles a real feel for the old world. Temples and shrines are dotted around the city, and since they are all made of wood they've mostly burned down at some point in their history but the Koreans just rebuild them in the same place.

It's a good way of preserving them but the trouble is they all look brand new. There are huge shopping malls here and outside three of them near our hotel there are outdoor stages where kids perform. Last night was a little weird as there was a group of three kids, no older than about seven, dancing around to 'My humps' by the Black Eyed Peas. That just seemed wrong but the crowd seemed to love it. I'm guessing it was their sparkly boob-tubes that got the punters going.

There seems to be a real respect for old people here too. All the young kids on the trains give their seats up for the elderly and the specially reserved seats are left empty until they are filled by who they are meant for. You just wouldn't get that at home which is a real shame but as I get older I realise that my dad was right; a spell of National Service would probably sort out the kids at home. Military service is compulsory here and all young men must do two years before the age of 31 or they face a year and a half in prison. There must be something in that, but that's easy for me to say since I'm 40 next year and starting to reach the age where young people might look at me and wonder if I need help across the road...

Whoever said "time flies when you're having fun" couldn't have put it better, we're flying to Tokyo tomorrow and I just don't know where the time has gone!

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