When I'd originally booked my flight from Seoul to Kathmandu there was a night in the KL airport that I was happy to have considering the knock down in price compared to direct journeys. A couple days before the first flight though, the 2nd one was pushed back a day giving me a couple nights in KL. I arrived late the first night so was walking round like Hanks in Terminal for a bit, grabbed a bite and found a decent spot to get a few solid hours sleep in. The ne...

My time in Seoul was full of nights out, traditional BBQs, a visit to the North Korean border and a Korean date. The tour to the border was amazing, though for the week I was there no one was allowed into the room that actually crosses the border as apparently the soldiers were 'practising'. It did however include visits to the infiltration tunnels dug by the North, an observatory to peak in and the South Korean train station built ready to connect with the North...

I went over to Sobaeksan on my first day in Danyang, and despite the locals advice to catch the bus I'd decided to go for the 8k walk through the villages to get there. About half an hour into the walk I regretted it though, as instead of the comfortable glimpse I was hoping for, I was met by a bunch of rabid looking dogs, brooding at my stroll through their town. The bigger ones were chained to their dog houses though so didn't have to pick up the pace too much....

The main reason for my visit to Andong was to get the bus over to Hahoe Folk Village, the area that's best retained the traditions of old (1500s - 1800s) Korea. There are other villages in the land that have kept the old style in tact but this is the only one with older generation Koreans living there. They even follow the same limited/staple diet, and so they're all really short! I strolled around the village for a bit and went over to a traditional mask show th...

Went up Mount Namsan on my first day in Gyeongju with an old boy in front playing pacemaker. On the way down this Malaysian monk invited me into the temple she'd been staying in for the last few months and fed me loads of noodles and rice cakes. After some political chat she packed my bag with a bunch of chocolate cakes and I was on my way. I went down, grabbed din dins and headed over to the guesthouse where I met a couple middle-aged Americans who'd just crack...