I had no idea where I was going to stay in Korea, and because I had specifically asked my friendly STA travel agent to organise flights which arrived before late afternoon, she booked my on a flight which touched down in Seoul at 9pm. Anyone reading this, I beg you, NEVER, NEVER use STA Travel! Anyway, it was very lucky that I met Don from my Chinese class on the plane (he booked with STA too). He'd arranged to stay at The Nest, so I tagged along, enjoying a nice documentary about Americans who train pet rats which was screening on the airport bus.
The Nest was by far the best place I've stayed in all of East Asia. Well regimented enough to be clean, quiet etc, but still homely, close to everything and most importantly in the sub zero temperatures, well heated! I ended up staying there twice as long as planned, also because I was a bit daunted with not speaking any of the local language for the first time. Met an interesting bunch of people at the hostel: Nicola, a lesbian prison warden and relief primary school teacher (certainly some synergies between those roles) from the Canadian Northwest Territories; Wei-wei, a language student from Nanjing, who applied to the Chinese Education Board to be an exchange student and was chosen to go to South Korea (that's right, she didn't get to register a preference), whereupon she started studying Korean, rather furiously, I should think; Ben and Britney, two freeloading American brats who had scabbed their way through Southeast Asia and had their eye on the rest of us to provide sufficient money, food, guidebooks and advice to set them up with teaching jobs in China; Eric, a rather spaced-out Hare Krishna (an oxymoron?) from Montreal; Omar, a half-Bornean Arts student from Canberra; and finally a very talkative Portuguese-Canadian retiree whose name I cannot recall, and who managed to turn every conversation back to the relative strengths of the Euro and the US and Canadian dollar.
Saw some nice stuff in Korea, but writing this too long after (a year later now) to remember lots of details. The location of The Nest was just perfect, since it was near most of the main cultural spots in Seoul (temple gardens, the old palace), as well as the Blue House where the current President lives. As a result of the latter, more than half the people passed on the surrounding streets were plain clothed police, who just paced back and forth in the -5 degree air. Went to an awesome drinking house with one of the guys who worked at the Nest. Entrance was in a tiny backstreet, covered with a yakskin rug to keep in the noise and warmth I guess. Their specialty was soju (sweet potato liquor, tastes like vodka), which we enjoyed served in a jug of chopped pears which infused it with a nice fruity flavour. Lots of yummy nibblies as well. The only problem was that our Korean host got soused (he had a bottle of soju all to himself), then got into a fight with one of the long-term Nest residents. But until then it was good. Planned an easy hiking trip around Bukhansan National Park, which had a nice mountain temple - all very pleasant except for the whining Americans, who drank most of my water and ate half of my food because they 'forgot' to bring any of their own (for a day long hike!).
Later, went to the Korean Folk Village in Suwon, south of Seoul. It was quite nice, but getting there and back was a major hassle (nobody told me it was 2 hours each way, a long way to go for a collection of thatched huts. But the horsies made it all worthwhile.
About 7 of us organised a trip down to Geongju, the old capital (Korean equivalent of Nara), which was interesting if not spectacular. The main Bulguksa Temple was nice, with interesting patterns on the beams inside. The city also has collections of Burial Mounds scattered around, where the various kings were interred with their loot.
Stay tuned for my night in a love-hotel with Mr Kim.
