We took the KTX train from Seoul to Ulsan bright and early Friday morning (evident by the large percentage of sleepers on the train, myself included). I actually preferred the train to the plane we took back. I don't know what it is, but I can virtually never sleep on planes. Yet somehow, I slept like a baby on the train. Interesting.
You know you get off at a city known for car manufacturing when you get off the train and the first thing in the station you see is this:
A new car! (Rich Fields would've been proud...maybe...)
Anyway. About that whole car manufacturing thing. We got to see the Hyundai Heavy Industries Shipyard and Auto Plant. Was a little funny to me, seeing as I was thinking about getting an Elantra earlier in the year. Didn't happen, although one of these days, Hyundai. One of these days. That Elantra will. Be. Mine. (If my TPIR check still is holding up by then and if I win big on Wheel, sure.)
After getting our fill of business propaganda (complete with scale model of a Hyundai Genesis), we rested up and made our way to Seokguram Grotto, a tiny Buddhist temple nestled in the mountains. Or was Seokguram first? I can't remember. Anyway. It was a bit of a hike, but eventually the view looked something like this:
Hey! Who told that guy he could get in the way of my picture?! Let's try this again...
Ah. That's better.
I don't care what anyone says: it's impossible to hate anything after being in or around a Buddhist temple. Especially one like this. We were also mesmerized by various paper lanterns hanging on some poles, with what appeared to be prayer tags hanging from those. Why, you ask? If you saw a bazillion colors all of a sudden, you would be too! See?
After feeling enlightened (slightly), we found our way to the Cheomsongdae Observatory...and then that's when it started raining cats and dogs. The pathway to Cheomsongdae isn't exactly paved, so getting back to the bus was a challenge as we were all sloshing around wet sand. Not to mention all the puddles we probably found...my tennis shoes were soaked for the next day or two.
I had to tough out sopping wet sneakers and socks when visiting the UN Cemetery, though...and really, I forgot about them when I was walking through there. Even though it was still raining, it was actually relatively fitting weather for visiting a cemetery. Of course, it's also fitting that my camera battery dies...in the cemetery.
This was before the downpour. Kinda eerie-looking, if you think about it.
The rest is a little fuzzy, due to not having a camera to document much. I do remember, though, making our way down to Busan after that, and finding the fish market later. It was rather hilarious watching some of the more squeamish members of our group try to stomach chopped-up octopus that's still squirming on the plate, or watch as the salesman butchers live fish. (Then it's really not live fish anymore, I guess.) I've been desensitized to the butchery a bit, having seen such things on the original Iron Chef, but the rest of the group wasn't exactly privy to watching it. I only wish I had a couple of pictures of this myself...
What was even more amusing at the fish market: Matt, our sole white guy in our group, was getting invites left and right from market regulars to come eat with them! And apparently they thought I was Japanese, Julie (who's actually part-Japanese) was Taiwanese, and God-knows-what-else...
Sunday we had all to ourselves to do whatever the heck we wanted. Naturally, we take a day at the beach--Haeundae, to be exact. Not exactly the prettiest beach I've been to, as all the high rises surrounding the area kinda killed the atmosphere. Not to mention the sand stuck to you, even if you tried washing it off. But in the end, it was good innocent fun...even if the water was insanely cold. I felt my feet going numb, for crying out loud!
The last notable bit from the weekend? Bath house trip. Quite amusing going in with a bunch of people who didn't know what exactly was going on (and frankly, neither did I until one of the attendants refreshed my memory). Although--and I'm going to keep teasing him about this--my roommate didn't want to go into the bath itself, just the sauna (where they gave us robes to wear into the sauna area). I guess he was a little weirded out at the prospect of completely disrobing to go in.
Wasn't going to stop me. Screw it, I thought, I'm going in there by myself. After the initial shock wore off, I found myself in a myriad of different baths...although whoever said a bath house was supposed to be relaxing was crazy. So many little kids running around shooting their water guns and splashing around...I mean, I know it's a little early for me to be acting like a crotchety old man, but I couldn't relax with all that going on. Maybe I was just cranky from a long day earlier on, but still...it wasn't exactly my idea of a relaxing end to the trip.
Oh heck, at least my camera's back in action.
sweet josh. seems like your having an amazing experience
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