Category: Travelogs

The Suwon Fortress also known as the Hwaseong Fortress is a must see tourist site for anyone visiting Korea. The impressive fortress walls surround the entire old city of Suwon and are registered UNESCO World Heritage site. The fortress is not only impressive to look at but also features an interesting history.

The idea to build the fortress was first conceived by the Korea’s King Jeongjo (1776-1800). This period of Korean history featured much intrigue within the ruling yangban class which ultimately caused King Jeongjo’s father to be murdered. King Jeongjo felt that creating a new, well fortified capitol would strengthen the monarchy and dillute the power of the yangban class. He chose the city of Suwon just south of Seoul to be his new capitol. He moved the tomb of his father to Suwon and began construction of his great fortress in 1794.

The fortress was designed by Jeong Yakyong (1762-1836) who was known nationally as one of Korea’s greatest scholars. He envisioned a fortress that balanced the needs of commerce, the welfare of the people, and military defense. The work force he employed to build the fortress was quite extensive. 642 masons, 335 carpenters, 295 plasterers and 11,820 painters and tilers were used. In total an average of 70,000 laborers were used to work on the fortress every year until completion. Jeong also did something that was unusual for this period, he actually payed his workers for their work instead of conscripting forced laborers to build the fortress.

When construction was completed, the walls averaged a height of nine meters and featured many watch towers, cannons, secret gates, and other fortifications. The total length of the walls is 5 kilometers long. The fortress was the first construction project in Korea to use advanced technology such as cranes to move dirt and blocks into place. It took a total of over 2 years to build the fortress.

Over the years more improvements were made to the fortress but even these great walls couldn’t save Korea from the bickering and ineffective leadership of the yangban class that would ultimately lead to the annexation of Korea by Japan nearly a hundred years later. Due to the aftermath of the Japanese colonial period and the Korean War, the walls were heavily damaged. In the 1970’s the Korean government decided to restore the walls to their past glory.

The outer wall that sticks out like a claw around the main entrance gate allows defenders to attack anyone trying to breach the gate from their rear.

Over the past weekend I attended the Imjingak Peace Festival located near the Korean Demilitarized Zone just outside the small city of Imjingak along the Imjin River:

Here is what I learned during the Imjingak Peace Festival that is an English translation of one of the poems on display at the festival:

I still rise, you can record me with severe force, lies in the history, I don’t care if you trample over me with slander, I still rise… It is a form of a video poem with the background poem of America’s representative hostess, Maya Angelou who gave a congratulatory speech at US President Bill Clinton’s inauguration. This poem is dedicated to the children that went through pain and died from the chemical weapons that was used by the US Army at the US & Iraq war.

The poem doesn’t translate very well into English but the last part about the US Army using chemical weapons on the Iraqis I found absurd. Even at a Peace Festival there has got to be a cheap shot taken at America. I wonder how many kids there read this and went home thinking those horrible Americans used chemical weapons on Iraqi kids. Absurd. However, as absurd as this is, the Imjingak Peace Festival really isn’t all the bad of an event to check out.

Imjimgak Peace Park with train station in the background.

The Peace Festival is being held in the city of Imjingak which is located on the south side of the Imjin River near the Korean War truce village of Panmunjom and the border with North Korea. Imjingak is actually closer to Kaeseong, North Korea than to Seoul. From the park that the festival is located at you can still see the current reality of the tensions on the border. The military presence is heavy in the area with regular guard points and lots of barb wired fencing along the river banks. However, it did feel odd to have such a nice park and also a carnival sitting so close to the heavily militarized DMZ. But this is reality in the modern day Korea.

Guard post along the Imjim River.

One of the first exhibits you will see is located in large white circus tent that included the before mentioned poetry which I found very boring, some videos about North-South relations which were all in Korean, African art display, and pictures from East Timor. I found all of these displays uninteresting.

From there it was on to the Paju Soybean Museum. I didn’t know what it was at first. I was hoping it was some kind of DMZ display. That is what I came here to look at. It may not have been a DMZ display but I did learn about all the wonders of the Paju Soybean. The Paju Soybean at the museum is referred to as a “world famous” soybean product. I must be out of touch because this is the first time I have heard of the “world famous” Paju Soybean.

Next I got to see a performance from a Nigerian dance troupe:

They actually were entertaining watch. However, the first thing that popped into mind was if they were the ones kicked out of the Hollywood Bar last week. Also for some of my commenters that say all Nigerians are here in Korea to sell drugs; none of the Nigerian performers tried to sell me drugs.

Anyway from there I proceeded to find the photography display of Yann Arthus-Bertrand I had seen an article in the Chosun Ilbo about his display of aerial DMZ pictures and I really wanted to go check it out. I was not disappointed by the display. In fact the display featured more of his international photos then his Korea photos. His international photos I found to be more intriguing than the DMZ photos. I really wasn’t to impressed by his DMZ photos when compared to his other works. There was a few good DMZ pictures that I liked but most of his pictures were taken during the winter which is Korea’s most unphotogenic time of year because everything is very gray and brown. Here is a picture that was in the Chosun I liked:

This is a picture of the old North Korean Worker’s Party building in old Chorwon. Chorwon for those who haven’t been there is an interesting tour to see the DMZ infiltration tunnel and the old city of Chorwon which features many old abandoned buildings such as the Worker’s Party building destroyed during the Korean War.

There are books available for sale of Arthus-Bertrand’s work. There is a large picture book that costs 58,000 won and a smaller book for 25,000 won. I was impressed enough with his photography to buy the smaller book. The books are all in Korean unfortunately but I can read enough Hangul to read where the pictures are taken. The ajushi selling the books told me that major bookstores in Seoul carry the English version of the book.

Click Here to check out more of Arthus-Bertrand’s international pictures. Unfortunately he doesn’t have pictures from Korea posted yet. He is a very talented photographer and I recommend anyone interested in photography to check out his work.

International Pictures

Korea Pictures

The final thing I did at the festival was check out Freedom Bridge where the South Korean POW’s crossed over after being released from North Korea at the conclusion of the Korean War.

Old Freedom Bridge

Freedom Bridge

The bridge has since been turned into a well maintained park. The far end of the bridge facing North Korea has been sealed and is covered with unification messages.

Unification messages left on the end of Freedom Bridge

New Unification Bridge across the Imjin River used today.

If a DMZ history lesson is not what your looking for at the Peace Festival you can always just go to have fun at the amusement park.

DMZ Carnival

Yes that is right there is an amusement park adjacent to the DMZ. I don’t know if this makes this the World’s Most Dangerous Amusement Park, but a novelty none the less.

So if you have time and live in the Seoul area the Peace Festival is worth a visit if you are interested in DMZ history and photography. Plus the ride out to Imjimgak is a scenic one through the Korean country side which is something I always enjoy. Plenty of fresh air and the crowds are manageable. Beats hanging out in the city all weekend, so if you are in the area go check it out.

To get to Imjimgak just take highway 1 North from Seoul by car or take a train to Imjimgak from the Uijongbu train station. The Imjimgak train station is located adjacent to the Peace Festival, you can’t miss it.

The government plans to spend 8.8 billion won to repair Naksan Temple in Gangwon province that was heavily damaged from last month’s forest fire, according to the Korea Times:

Brian from Gangwon Notes provides his insights on this issue here.

I actually had a chance to visit Naksan Temple last weekend and was generally amazed first by the devastation of the forest fire. The fire really was quite large and destroyed civilian buildings could be seen, along with scorched cars, not to mention the thousands of acres of blackened trees.

Secondly I was amazed more damaged wasn’t caused by the fire in the Naksan area in general. The civilian community in the Naksan area seemed to fare pretty well considering the cicumstances. I saw many homes, restaurants, and hotels that had scorched trees right along the sides of the buildings but the structures never caught fire. I don’t know if that is due to the firefighters or property owners protecting there own property, but the damage could have been worse. The Naksan Temple on the other hand was heavily damaged:

The Korea Times article made mention about deforesting 20-30 meters around Buddhist Temples in the future to create a fire break. You can see in the below picture workers have already begun deforesting some areas of the temple:

Brian disagrees with the deforestation idea and I tend to agree with him. The Naksan Temple already had a large fire break in place, Highway 7, but that didn’t help protect the temple as the flames obviously were able to jump over the highway. I tend to like the trees around the temples here and it would be a shame if all the temples in Korea have to be deforested because of this one incident.

I for one however couldn’t understand how this fire got so out of hand to begin with. With the amount of available water to fight the fire, along with the Highway 7 fire break you would think the temple could of have been protected. Especially since the home and business owners near the temple were able to protect their properties. Maybe man power was an issue but with the heavy military presence man power shouldn’t have been issue. It was probably inexperience in dealing with a large forest fire. Large forest fires are not very common in Korea so hopefully this was a wake up call that maybe the fire fighters and the soldiers need more training on how to contain these types of fires. I’m confident the appropriate Korean authorities will learn from this incident to improve in the future.

The good news is that the reconstruction at the temple is moving quickly:

Many of the buildings at Naksan Temple have already been reconstructed and workers are moving really fast to clean up debris and dead trees. With the quick pace the workers are moving to repair the temple, I estimate that the temple’s structures will all be fully repaired before the end of the year from what I saw.

Not all of the temple is scorched however, and is worth visiting now:

The monks at Naksan Temple are extremely friendly. Usually when visiting the various temples in Korea the monks are usually quiet and keep to themselves. For whatever reason various monks came up to me while at Naksan Temple and thanked me in broken English for visiting the temple and tried to explain different areas of the temple to me. So please visit the temple and support the reconstruction work going on because Naksan Temple was a really beautiful site before the fire and I am confident it will be that way again in the future.

This weekend I decided to spend it at Soraksan National Park. I am an avid hiker so I was looking forward to hitting the trails. I really like hiking here in Korea not just because of the scenic mountains but also because I always seem to run into interesting people. This hike would be no different.

I started my day at 0430 in the morning and began hiking towards the summit of Sorak mountain, Daecheong Peak, from the Osaek Hot Springs trail head located in the south of the park and from Daecheong Peak I would head to the Sorak-dong Village to meet up with my wife there. She can’t hike big mountains like this because she has a bad knee. The owner of the hotel I stay at everytime I go to Soraksan, the Hyundai Hotel in Osaek drove me to the trailhead that morning. The owner is really nice guy who runs an older hotel but the rooms are clean and only 25,000 won. Plus every room has a tub which can be filled with Osaek’s famous hotspring water. The owner will drive you to the nearby trailheads and give you hiking recommendations and advice if you ask. So if in Osaek I recommend staying at his place.

The trail to Daecheong Peak had just recently reopened due to the fire danger and the damage to the environment by people leaving litter everywhere. The park authorities have put up banners, signs, and flags everywhere around the park warning people not to smoke, cook, or litter while in the park.

It was really good to see the park trying to do something about the littering and smoking problems in the park because it would be a shame to see this great park end up like the Naksan Park and temple located nearby that received heavy forest fire damage due to probably someone throwing a cigarette butt out of their car.

Soraksan Mountain in the background ringed with clouds.

However, once I proceeded up the trail I found out the awareness campaign has had little effect. About an hour and half into the hike I reached Sorak Falls. At the falls I found evidence that some hikers had camped at the falls the night before even though the trail was supposed to be closed until opening on Saturday morning. They left trash, two soju bottles, and cigarette butts everywhere. I saw one area where you can tell somebody’s batteries died so they threw the old batteries on the ground and then the packaging for the new batteries was tossed right next to it. What lazy pieces of crap would just throw stuff like this on the ground in Korea’s most beautiful park?

Unfortunately many people in Korea do just what these campers did every day in Korea’s parks. This is what frustrates me the most about Koreans. Pack up the trash you take into the park! Don’t leave it on the ground for someone else to pick up! I couldn’t tell you how much trash I have picked up in Korea’s parks but I was on a 15km hike and didn’t have enough room in my bag or time in the day to pick up all the trash laying around like I usually try and do.

The view from Daecheong Peak.

Anyway I proceeded up the trail and an hour and a half later I reached Daecheong Peak which stands at an elevation of 1708 meters and is the third highest mountain in Korea. The view was great, you can see all areas of the park, plus Sokcho, Yangyang, and other areas along the East Coast. There was still some fog covering some areas but all in all a great view.

Marker on top of Soraksan Mountain.

On the top of the mountain I ran into a group of about 15 hikers who were very friendly and offered me some kimbab and oranges to eat with them. They were surprised to see a foreigner especially a GI up here on the mountain. They were even further surprised that I could speak some very basic Korean. These hikers were on a company bonding trip to the park. These types of trips are common in Korea. They were all employees of some pharmaceutical company in Ansan. They ranged in age from the late 20’s to 50’s. What was surprising was that the top manager on this bonding trip was a guy that was only 29 years old and was younger than 2/3 of his employees. This is an odd thing in Korea.

Descending from the summit towards a cabin that hikers can pay to sleep in overnight.

View looking towards the summit with the cabin in the foreground.

The hikers huddled around me and led by the top manager they gave me the usual interogation one receives when first meeting Koreans. How old are you? Are you married? Do you have a baby? Where are you from? How much do you make? Etc. Etc. I then asked the manager what time they left to reach the summit since they beat me here and I saw nobody else hiking up the trail. He told me they camped at the Sorak Falls and headed up from there. Aha! I found my litter bugs! He then said that they were going to camp at another location at the park Saturday night no doubt to litter that area too before heading down the mountain Sunday to go home to Ansan. Then one of the guys in the group threw the orange peels on the ground. I picked them up and put them in a plastic bag I had in my pack. He asked why I was picking up the orange peels. I told them that it is not right to litter a national park. Then I brought up the fact about all the trash at Sorak Falls. They said it was there before they ever got there, but they were clearly embarrassed and soon left. I think it is safe to say I didn’t win in friends in Ansan on this trip but maybe they will think twice before leaving their trash lying around on the mountain that night.

I then proceeded down the peak, but before I left a group of ajummas came up the mountain wearing those huge visors that look like something you would see at a Donald Duck convention. Anyway the wind suddenly picked up and blew their visors off and they went flying off the side of the mountain. I think that is a sign that mother nature doesn’t like those visors either.

Trail descending down the mountain towards the east.

Anyway I went past Dinosaur Ridge down into the beautiful Cheongbuldong Valley. In the valley you begin to see more of your day trippers dressed in their hiking finest. People wearing the funny socks, expensive hiking suits, rucksacks with every accessory imaginable attached to it. One guy I saw had an ice pick! Another guy had snow cleats. There is no snow left on that mountain.

Cheonbuldong Valley in Outer Soraksan National Park.

However, many of the day trippers were very nice and friendly when I stopped at the mountain huts to sit down and drink some water before moving on. Some of them were amazed that I was hiking from Osaek to Sorak-dong in one day with such a small backpack. If I was wearing as much crap as some of those people were I probably couldn’t make it in one day.

Anyway I did meet a really nice ajushi who was about 60 years old. He offered me some tomatoes and we talked for a little while. He gave me the usual interogation and then told me that he was from Pocheon which is a city here in the 2ID area I know well, he was also retired from a semiconductor company, and was taking his grandson who was the over weight teenager with him on a hike of Soraksan. This was the first time he had met a GI before even though he lives in the 2ID area. He always just saw us driving by in our tanks and trucks all the time.

He then asked me if I liked Bush or Clinton better. I told him I liked Bush and he said he liked Clinton. He told me Clinton didn’t want war with North Korea and Bush does. Ironically Clinton was actually prepared to go to war with North Korea in 1994 when Jimmy Carter without White House permission went to Pyongyang and negotiated a settlement that Pyongyang would never live up to but got plenty of free booty anyway.

I told him Bush doesn’t want war in Korea especially with so much of the military tied up in Iraq, but he doesn’t want to give free stuff to Kim Jong Il either. I told him I don’t want to see my tax money going to Kim Jong Il either. If South Korea wants to give him free money that is there choice. He then asked me about the Osan Security Squadron Scandal. I told him that 1LT involved will more than likely go to jail. He thought he should be tried in a Korean court. He was on duty during the offenses so under the SOFA he will be tried in a military court. He didn’t like that so we agreed to disagree.

However, it is embarrassing to have to defend the military here all the time when I get quized by Koreans I meet due to the yearly incident that seems to arise here. 3 years ago was the armored vehicle accident, 2 years ago we had the drunk driving staff sergeant that killed a Korean woman, then last year we had the Shinchon Chain Saw Massacre, and now this year we have the Osan Scandal. Maybe I should start quizing every Korean I see about what they think about the ROK Army’s scandals?

Chosen Era Calligraphy Carved in the Rock at Biseondae.

I hiked a while with him and he moved really fast for being an older ajushi. His grandson started to fall behind. I started to slow down but the ajushi kept going and said his grandson needed to lose weight. We then passed a group of hikers who were having a picnic on a rock in the creek. The ajushi stopped and yelled at them because they were not supposed to picnic because the picnickers leave trash plus they were smoking in the park. I was beginning to really like this guy even if he is a Clinton fan. Maybe there is hope to protect the environment here after all. We reached Biseondae mountain hut and parted from there because he told me his grandson wanted to watch the women there. I’m sure he probably wanted to check them out too.

Biseondae is only a 2km walk from the park entrance so here you have all the Seoul weekenders. The place was packed with Kangnam beauties in high heels and designer dresses with their equally dressed up boyfriends. I couldn’t tell who wore more makeup the girls or the guys. Was I in the wilderness or at the club? We just needed some techno tunes and a dance floor.

I quickly made my way out of there and had a heck of a scare when I nearly stepped on a snake. Yes that is right a snake! Korea does in fact have snakes. It was sitting in the path warming itself in the sun. It was about 10 inches long and a greenish color. I remember hearing before that the small snakes in Korea are poisonous but I don’t know. So I quickly jumped back and skirted that area since I didn’t want to mess with him. I he slithered off before I could unpack my camera. I can’t stand snakes.

Wore out I finally made it to Sorak-dong at about 1PM and linked up with my wife. I covered approximately 15km of mountain trails in 8.5 hours, met lots of people along the way, saw some ugly visors get blown of the mountain, got to see everyone dressed in their expensive hiking outfits, saw my first snake in Korea, plus got to laugh at all the dressed of metrosexuals. If that isn’t a fun day I don’t know what is.

However, I didn’t see any other fellow foreigners the whole day until I got to the Sorak-dong area where there was many foreigners. If you are going to the park the Sorak-dong area provides some nice scenery but it is overly crowded and you should really hike into the back country to get a real appreciation of Soraksan. If you are planning a trip to Soraksan and need some advice let me know. I know the mountain really well and should be able to make you an itinerary to fit your time and fitness level. More foreigners should try to get into the back country it really is worth it.

My final installment of my Focus on Incheon series is about the historical Wolmi-do island. Wolmi-do island was made famous due to General MacArthur’s Incheon Landing Operation during the Korean War. Wolmi-do is where the first American Marines landed at Green Beach on Wolmi-do to begin the critical operation to liberate the port city of Incheon from the North Korean communist agressors. Today Wolmi-do is not even an island due to land reclamation that has now connected the island to Incheon proper. You can in fact take a bus now to reach the “island”.

Wolmi-do island is viewable from just about anywhere in Incheon due to the large round hill that rises from the island. Radar Hill due to the large naval radar located on the top of the hill is a popular place for locals to hike up and get some fresh air and views of the island and the Incheon harbor below.

Wolmi-do is also popular for the nice upscale boardwalk that is built exactly where the Marines landed that day in 1950. The boardwalk includes many trendy coffee shops and seafood restaurants. Outside on the weekends there is usually a cultural event of some kind taking place, plus fortune tellers and artists who will service you for a price. For the adventurous there is always the amusement park on the island to check out. It has many high flying rides and games to try. If that isn’t enough you can just sit and watch the sunset and the boats going by. You can also catch a boat at the ferry terminal to tour the numerous islands located in the Incheon Bay. They even have special tour packages to view some of the island made famous in Korean dramas and movies such as Silmi-do island. All tours can be arranged through the tour information office located outside the Incheon train station.

No trip to Incheon would be complete without a stop over at Wolmi-do. Hiking up radar hill, eating seafood at one of the restaurants, and watching the sunset from the pier is enough to fill anyone’s afternoon. Definitely worth checking out.

Basic Information

• Name: Incheon Landing Operation Memorial Hall (인천상륙작전기념관)
• Where: Incheon, Gyeongi Province
• Cost: Free
• Hours: 0900-1800 (Closed for holidays)
• More Info: Visit Korea website

Narrative

For those who want to learn more about the Incheon landing operation or about the Korean War in general I recommend you visit the Incheon Landing Memorial Monument Hall in the Songdo area of Incheon. The memorial is fairly new and houses a nice collection of artifacts and memorabilia from the landing operation and the Korean War. The best part is that admission into the museum is free.

The entrance to the memorial features a large archway adorned with the flags of the 16 countries that participated in the Korean War. Climbing up the stairs to the second outside level of the memorial you can see a static display of aircraft and equipment used during the Korean War. Most notably the landing crafts used during the invasion.

The third level of the memorial houses a large statue that honors the soldiers that fought at Incheon Harbor on September 15, 1950. The statue is detailed and quite impressive. Near the statue is a bronze plaque in tribute of the 1st Marine Division that spearheaded the Incheon Landing Operation. Like the Marine heroes in action at Incheon that fateful day, today’s 1st Marine Division was called on to lead the November 2004 successful assault to retake the terrorist held city of Fallujah in Iraq.

From here head back down to the first level of the memorial to enter the museum. The museum is actually put together quite nicely with events of the Korean War and the Incheon Landing Operation presented in chronological order complete with explanations of the exhibits presented in Korean, English, and Japanese by the push of a button.

Conclusion

If in Incheon make sure you visit the Incheon Landing Memorial. It is free and really well put together and worthy of a visit. It is open on Tues-Sun from 9:30-18:30. To reach it just get off at the Incheon train station and have a taxi taking you to Songdo where the Memorial is located.

I finally escaped Ullong-do Island today after spending four extra days on the island waiting for a boat to show up due to poor weather. After a while I was becoming convinced this was some kind of conspiracy to keep me on the island to teach at the island’s one English hagwon or something.

Dodong is the largest city on Ulleung-do, and where the ferry docks at. 

However, I did escape today but it was by no means uneventful. The day prior the clerk at the boat terminal told me to show up 30 minutes early for the boat to make sure I get on since I really wanted to get off the island. So I show up early and waited in line with a bunch of other people waiting to board the boat.

Boat that travels to and from Ulleungdo-do Island.

People began to board the boat at the designated time and the line was moving along nice and orderly. Then a mob of about 50 old ajummas who showed up at the last minute ran down to the pier and just bum rushed the nice orderly line we had going to board the boat. Mass chaos ensued because of this mass wave of line cutting ajummas. The line fell apart and everybody just started pushing and shoving to get on the boat like some kind of rugby match.

Waiting in line to board the boat off of Ulleung-do.

Needless to say I got pushed towards the back not because I can’t play rugby but because I will not bring myself to act the way these people were behaving. I slowly worked my way forward and I talked to one of the five policemen who were just standing there doing nothing. If you are wondering why the policemen aren’t doing anything about the chaos it could be because of the Confucian culture in Korea where they differ to somebody senior to them like 50 some odd line cutting ajummas. So I complained to him about the chaos and all he did was ask to see my passport and check my bags and treated me like I was the one causing trouble here, completely oblivious to the chaos around him. Needless to say more people just cut in front of me.

After my interrogation was complete and the policeman was convinced he allowed me to advance forward. By this time I’m told they overbooked the boat and there are no seats left even though the ticket I have has a seat number on it. I’m really pissed off now and complain to one of the boat workers. He leaves comes back and was able to get me on the boat. I thanked the guy who was really helpful.

So finally I am on my way.  I’m thinking great I can sit back get some sleep and I’ll be back on the main land in no time. How wrong I was. The sea was really rough due to poor weather again so the boat bounced around alot. Within 15 minutes of leaving people were puking. So for over 3 hours I had to listen to people puke up all the soju they drank the night before. The smell was even worse. There was old ajushis drinking soju on the boat and then they would puke it up 30 minutes later. Plus with all the drunk people on the boat they would get into drunken arguements, scream and yell, and then some of them would begin to break out into impromptu karaoke performances. It was the most miserable ride I have ever taken here in Korea.

Leaving Ulleung-do island.

Finally the boat arrives at Mukho harbor and I just wait for everyone to get off the boat before I depart because I don’t want to participate in the mass pushing contest to exit the boat. I just don’t understand why the boat company doesn’t have an orderly system of having passengers exit the boat? It might because of the whole Confucian thing again. You have young people working on the boat and they don’t feel comfortable bossing around all the older ajushis and ajummas and the ajushis and ajummas know it, so mass chaos ensues.

I finally get off the boat and I’m thinking I’m home free, but I get grabbed by the customs agent and interrogated once again to make sure I’m not a terrorist. I guess they just weren’t buying my story that I am an American soldier who just read about Ulleong-do in my Lonely Planet travel guide and took some time off to go check it out because I thought it would be a pretty cool place to go and see. I suppose they thought such a story was pretty suspicious and I was obviously up to something sinister so they checked my back pack yet again. Still no bomb in it. The whole interogation thing wouldn’t be so bad if it wasn’t for the fact that I am the only one getting interogatted. How many American terrorists have struck Korea compared to North Korean terrorists? I’m know I don’t look like a North Korean but everyone else on the boat did yet none of them was interogatted. I’ll blame it all on that damn Confucious guy again.

Well I finally pass customs and I just want to go to the bathroom. I see the bathroom and head towards it but I’m beaten to it by the huge mob ajummas again. The mob was so huge it blocked the entrance to the male latrine. So I had to push my way through this pile of humanity because I really needed to piss. I eventually made it through and into the latrine where the ajushis were waiting in an orderly line. For whatever reason it seems ajushis seem to stay in line fairly well until all the ajummas come and then it is every man for themselves and mass chaos from there.

Anyway, you have no idea how happy I was to get to the bus station and get a bus back to Seoul. I really like Ullong-do because it is an incredible place but I never ever want to go through the hell I went through first all getting there and then even worse getting back.

What is it with the line cutting in Korea? I have had people cut in front me at Burger King and E-Mart before but that didn’t bother me as much as today when about 50 of them cut into the line causing the mass chaos at the pier. What if 50 American soldiers bum rushed the line and started pushing people around? It would be on the front of the paper. When Koreans travel abroad in their tour groups do they act like this? I haven’t even mentioned the other rude things that happened to me earlier in my trip to Ulleong-do. If they do act like this I’m sure it creates a very negative image of Koreans abroad.

Anyway I will post more about my adventure to Ullong-do in the coming days. Overall it really was a great trip in spite of all the crazy weather and even crazier ajummas.

Dodong village on Ulleung-do Island from above the city.

I have been stranded the last two days on Ulleong-do Island due to the nasty weather recently. The rain is supposed to end tonight but the daily boat that runs to the island to here may not be able to make it out here tomorrow due to high winds. I actually don’t mind being stranded out here because this island is really amazing and I have met some really interesting people. However, I got work I need to get back to Monday. Whenever I get back to the mainland I will do an indepth post on my latest adventure that involves drunken Russian sailors, a wild taxi ride around the island, a mini-typhoon, lots of pushy ajummas, Korean fishermen, and even a drunken party on Dokto.

UPDATE#1:

I’m still stranded here for yet another day but the ferry boat terminal is confident that the weather will improve tomorrow to get a boat out here. The weather today wasn’t to bad partly cloudly with sporadic sunshine but it is cold out here and the winds along the shore is really bad kicking up huge waves which prevented the ferry boat from going anywhere.

With all the time I have spent on this island I have hiked all over the place here now and met lots of people. Today I hike over 15km on different trails on around the island. I actually walk around now and locals recognize me and say hi and laugh that I’m still trapped on their island. I’m easy to recognize considering I’m the only foreigner on the island right now. This is turning into my own private episode of the TV series LOST.

A place I always visit every time I go to Incheon is the beautiful Jayu Park. The park is built on a hill in central Incheon near the train station over looking Chinatown and provides a great view of the Incheon harbor.  This park has a long and colorful history. The park was the first built in 1888 by western immigrants mainly Chinese, Russians, and Americans, and was named Manguk Park (park of many countries) and is credited with being the first western style park in Korea.

The park’s name changed to Jayu Park (Freedom Park) after the Korean War and a large statue of American General Douglas MacArthur was constructed at the summit of the park. The MacArthur statue is widely considered Incheon’s most famous tourist site.

However, recently the statue has been a point of some contention in Korea.

Civic groups in Incheon have complained that local police are wasting manpower in guarding a statue of General Douglas MacArthur, who successfully led the amphibious counter-attack by U.S.-led UN troops here during the Korean War.

Since 2002, Incheon police have been guarding the statue in the city’s Freedom Park for fear of vandalism. Anti-U.S. demonstrations took place in the the park in 2002 and 2003, according to the police.

Three officers have been detailed to guard the statue around the clock. No actual damage has been reported.

Civic groups in Incheon want the statue to be moved to another location so police will not waste time and energy on the mission.

Conservatives in Incheon disagreed. Incheon should feel proud having the statue here, said Han Il-tae, 75.

I don’t think the people in Incheon will ever move that statue. Generally people seem pretty happy to have it there because every time I have been to the park it has been filled with people hanging out, having a good time, and taking pictures of the statue.

Also located inside of Jayu Park is the Centennial Monument that commemorates the Amity and Trade Treaty signed between Korea and the U.S. on May 22, 1882. The monument was built one hundred years later in 1982. America actually has the longest continuous friendly relations with Korea since 1882. Longer than any other country.

Another thing I like about the park is that there always seems to be something going on there. Recently the park had their annual Cherry Blossom Festival. The festival included many traditional Korean music groups, plays, Turkish belly dancers (yeah I thought that was a weird thing to for a cherry blossom festival), a North Korean dance troupe, and a fire works display.

If in Incheon definitely stop by and check out this park and appreciate the great views from the summit. From the park you can see the bustling Incheon harbor right below you, in the distance you can see the bridge running across the bay to the new Incheon International Airport, Wolmi-do Island, and other scattered islands out in the Incheon Bay. Last but not least make sure you visit and pay your respects at the Big Mac statue; if it is still there that is.

Just across the street from the Incheon train station is Korea’s only Chinatown. This Chinatown does not compare to Chinatowns in cities like San Francisco, New York, or Vancouver, but it is still interesting place to spend an afternoon visiting for those who live here in Korea.

The Chinatown in Incheon was officially established in 1884 in an agreement between the Korean King and the Chinese Qing Dynasty emperor in the Seonlin-dong hillside in Incheon to create a free trade zone for Chinese merchants. Incheon was chosen as the site for this free trade zone due to the port city’s proximity to the Korean capitol of Seoul. This hill side sits on prime real estate in central Incheon located between the Incheon train station and Jayu Park.

Before the Korean War the Chinese community in Incheon and Korea in general flourished. In 1942 Korea had 80,000 registered Chinese immigrants. After the Korean War the nation wide distrust of the Chinese due to their invasion of Korea during the war plus the post war policies of then South Korean President Park Chung Hee forbidding the Chinese to own businesses and moving them out of Seoul to help Korean business owners, led to a mass reduction in the amount of Chinese people living in Korea. Currently the public’s attitude toward the Chinese has improved but there is still only 30,000 registered Chinese residents in Korea and only 500 of them live in Chinatown. Even today racism may be alive and well against the Chinese who do live in Chinatown according to this Korea Herald piece that includes an interview of a Chinatown family.

Although the days of the Chinese not being allowed to own businesses are over, racial discrimination is still a reality, some Korean-born Chinese say.

“The reason why there is no Chinatown here is because Koreans don’t like foreigners,” says Irene Chu, 32, the Korean-born Chinese owner of Chinese Fusion Restaurant in Incheon. “They don’t even like Chinese people working for them. The Koreans are very protective (of their culture).”

As Chu gets up to take an order, her 60-year-old grandfather breathes a long sigh and pipes in.

“They mistreated us, looked down upon us and saw us as foreigners. I am Chinese. I don’t consider myself Korean. Things have improved now, but what does it matter anymore? I’m an old man,” says the grandfather, who came to Korea when he was 5.

In fact when was in Chinatown I saw very few Chinese at all. Many of the street vendors were all Koreans selling Chinese junk. I went to a large, newer looking Chinese restaurant to eat. I asked the waitress dressed in a traditional Chinese dress if the people in the restaurant were Chinese because they all looked like Koreans to me. She told me that the only Chinese that worked in the restaurant were the cooks that prepared the meals. Everyone else was Korean.

The last time I went to Chinatown was four years ago before the current development of the area and then I actually met more Chinese people then I did now. The area has been greatly developed since then and that has probably brought in more Korean businesses to cash in on the increased tourism.

The development of the area has caused Chinatown to look much nicer but it all seems kind of fake after a while because all the decorations are not authenic, like many of the people, and are just cheap plastic displays. If this artist’s rendition of the new Chinatown to be built in Ilsan is any indication of things to come, Korea will soon have the equivalent of a Chinese theme park filled with more cheap plastic decorations and wannabe Chinese people than Incheon’s Chinatown could ever possibly have.

Never the less Chinatown is still a great place to spend some time checking out. Grab a bite to eat at one of the local restaurants before heading up to Jayu Park. The food is one of the few authentic Chinese experiences you can have in Chinatown. For 20,000 won I stuffed myself with a huge meal that included sweet and sour pork, fish, clams, oysters, etc. Even with its quirks Chinatown should be part of any travel itinerary for those spending time in Incheon. It gets a GI thumbs up.