Hallo, I'm still in Korea - but this is my last night here. Tomorrow its on to the ferry and just under 24 hours later I'll be in Russia. Feeling a bit nervous but more expectant than anything, a lot of thought, dreaming and a little bit of planning has gone into this stage of getting myself there (and possibly not enough on what to do once I've actually arrived - but I'm sure I'll work it out). Korea has been a lovely interlude on the way there and part of me wishes I had planned an extra week here. I enjoyed what I saw of Seoul, but that was very little - I scraped the surface wandering the streets but saw few of the tourist sites. What I did see emphasised how the centre of gravity of the world is shifting to the Asian region; there is a feeling of continuous change combined with an energy and a dymanism, as well as an obvious struggle for survival for many, that just isn't apparent in our more established societies. I'm sure "Industrial Revolution" Britain and late 19th, early 20th century America felt the same.
[caption id="attachment_87" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="Koreans love their neon"]
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Today, with still no news of my missing bag I left Seoul and moved on to Dong Hae. the journey there was a straight forward mix of subway (which thoughtfully has English on all its signs) followed by a 3 hour bus ride. After causing some confusion and amusement when trying to buy the bus ticket I found Donghae is not pronounced as you might think from its spelling, but Tong Hei. The Korean express bus system was a model of efficiency and reasonable luxury - only three seats across the bus width, all reclining etc.- and all this for only $20. I shared the back row of the bus with three middle age Korean ladies who decided I was looking hungry and insisted on sharing their lunch with me - and this will be part of my memory of Korea, everyone really friendly and helpful.
The route itself was pretty uninspiring, in many ways the most interesting scenery you could see were the masses of apartment high rise around each city; I'm always perplexed why this style of housing has succeeded in much of Asia and Europe but was a dismal failure in post war Britain. Something to ponder on. Many of these blocks have an inspiring name such as "Paradise View" (obviously no advertising standards rules apply) painted large on their side and more prosaically a similarly large set of numerals so you can work out which is your block.
[caption id="attachment_88" align="alignleft" width="225" caption="Outskirts of Seoul"]
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At Donghae, where my first concern was to check on and uncrate my bike, a taxi driver dropped me at a gate of the port and insisted it was the right one. All I could see was a locked gate; after standing bemused for 5 minutes two sailors wandered up and then disappeared through what I thought was a locked side door so I followed them in. Inside I found three well armed Korean policemen thoroughly checking their passports and documents before grudgingly admitting them. After they'd moved on I explained what I wanted and I'm sure they didn't understand anything other than the ferry company name but they waved me through and pointed me at an office a few hundred metres away. I offered to show them my passport but that was waved away. You have to picture that throughout this I'm carrying two large bags that might contain anything; I love security checks they are consistent in their inconsistency and general illogicality throughout the world. Anyway once inside I found the ferry company people and they couldn't have been nicer. One spoke good English and was waiting for me to turn up (forewarned by my very efficient Korean agent) and promptly drove me over to my bike and left me to uncrate. I found I was one of three bikes but as far as I could understand the others are going on pallets as freight and not on their wheels, maybe I'll find out more tomorrow.
[caption id="attachment_89" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="Mines the one in the middle"]
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Uncrating went well and when I needed a little extra muscle a port worker willingly leant a hand. Any way after an hours work I nervously put the key in the ignition and with little encouragement she fired up.
I didn't have a hotel arranged as I could not find a cheap one on the internet so that was my next challenge - not that it proved hard, the guy at the ferry company simply phoned up the hotel they use and got me the company rate - about $40 and about half what I would pay. I felt at that point the day had gone quite well but the icing on the cake then followed, the airline phoned they had found my missing bag and it was now in Korea. After a few phone calls it is arranged it will be delivered to the hotel before 9am tomorrow morning, so fingers crossed I will have it in time.
So as I type this message I'm celebrating all this with a couple of bottles of beer as a I sit in my hotel room with a Korean sub-titled Hollywood war movie on in the background. Life's good.
[caption id="attachment_90" align="alignnone" width="264" caption="A happy (and slightly apprehensive) man."]
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