Dive time!

James and I had arranged to meet on Ko Tao do our open water 1 diving course.  James had gotten a good recommendation to do our course at Seashell Dive Resort.  It really was a good recommendation.


I was a few hours late for the course but no hassle.  James had done the meditation course with a guy from Germany named Patrick and his girlfriend, who were also on the dive course.  They are a really cool couple and I enjoyed hanging out with them for a few days on the island.


No photos for the next few days.

Pitiful fishing

Many of the tour agencies were selling deep sea fishing packages.  What a waste of money!  Our skipper was a dumb as.  We had asked him to take us to deeper water but he just stayed close to the shore.  


You should have seen the other boats catch. 

Oh... this is Kho Samui

Within the first hour of being on Kho Samui I knew I didn't want to be there.  Everywhere I looked there were creepy old white men attached to young Thai girls (girls?).  I just wasn't in the mindset for that, but I was there and made the most of what I could.


To be fair there were a lot of normal holiday goers, but spread among them were the odd weirdos. 

To Kho Samui

Can you believe it took me five hours to get from the hostel to the south bound bus terminal?  Well it did!


I caught a night bus-ferry combination ticket to Kho Samui.  I was pleasantly surprised at the good service on a 2nd class ticket.

A little more adventurous

My plan for today was to take in the major some of the sights.  I saw the Grand Palace and Wat Pho... when I wasn't lost.


I took a river bus for some of the way and met three lovely Japanese ladies.  They encouraged me to move back to Japan and settle down there for the rest of my life.  Hmmm...



I was quite dissapointed when I stumbled onto Khaosan Road.  I'm not sure what I was expecting the road to be like.  I felt let down by seeing the McDonalds, KFC, Burger Kings, Irish Pubs and other international chain stored dotting the place.  I wouldn't be surprised if a Marks and Spencer opens there soon.


Globalisation can't be stopped.



All in all I didn't see much for a day of touring but I still had fun.

Sleeping away

After the flight from Seoul I took a long sleep.  The hostel I'd chosen isn't in the most accessible port of Bangkok but it came with at the right price.  So after a long lie-in I eventually trudged out of bed and did some exploring.


I made it to Jim Thompson's House and the massive Pantip Plaza where you can buy any techno gadgets available in Thailand.

Goodbye Korea, Hello Thailand

Teresa decided to escort me all the way to the airport against all my protests.  It was very kind of her.

The flight to Bangkok was uneventful except for a brief stop in Taiwan.

Getting to Madee Hostel in a new city in the middle of the night from the airport was a new adventure.

Korean Style

In the morning Teresa's asked me if I wanted to try on traditional Korean clothes.  Up for any cultural experience I couldn’t say no.  Teresa also put on a traditional Korean dress to complete the picture.

Just as we had returned to Seoul from visiting Teresa’s friends I realized I had forgotten my camera in their apartment.  So the return trip we made.  Unlike when James left his camera in Busan the return trip took 4 hours.  That means 6 hours on the bus.  2 hours to Seoul, 2 hours back to pick up my camera and 2 hours back to Seoul.  Dumkopf!

We were able to see the ancient temple of Seoul for a few hours.  That evening we had a tasty dinner in Seoul.

New friends

In the morning Teresa and I took in a few of Seoul’s sights.  Well, that is only Seoul Tower and the surrounding park.  And that is only after a brief stop at Teresa’s work.  Teresa is a (medical research) trial nurse doing work on new medicines. 

In the afternoon we went on to stay at a friend of Teresa’s in a city neighboring Seoul.  For dinner we had a Korean style seafood nabe (banquet) at a family (baby friendly) restaurant.  Teresa’s friends are a young family with a one year old girl.  Although they didn't speak much English (surprisingly) I was able to chat a little with them in Japanese. 

Back to Seoul

Taek-su is from Seoul and was driving home in the afternoon.  I asked him if I could catch a ride with him on his way home.  We calculated that going half-n-half by car was the same as a single bus ride.  And didn’t save much by way of time.

Late in the evening I arrived at Teresa’s house.  She had invited me to stay with her and her mom until I fly to Bangkok the following Monday.

Mini road trip

Travelling by car is a great way to go.  You do everything in your own time, air conditioning and plenty of space for friends.  If only I could afford to buy a car.

On our mini road trip we took in a Boseong Tea Plantation, the Nagan Folk Village and the sunset in a lovely national park.  No road trip is complete without a lunchtime seafood banquet.

For dinner I had a rice soup with blood pudding sausages cut up into it.  Delicious!

A quick up and down

Mount Mudeung is very close to the city.  In fact you can catch a subway to the base of the mountain and walk up.  It’s really a very beautiful mountain that offers a lot of trails, temples and vistas over the city.  At the summit are beautiful rock formations.  Alas, on the day that I was climbing the clouds were very low and threatening so I decided to turn back before the top. And I was still reeling from my previous experience while hiking in Jirisan.

That evening I met Yaek-su, Cho, Beak Eun and another girl.  We decided to do some travelling the next day.  Yaek-su had a car so he was very kind to invite me along.

On a mission

One of my missions on this trip is to visit as many F1 circuits as I can.  Close to Gwangju is a city called Mokpo.  Close to Mokpo is the Korean F1 circuit.  Don’t try and get there when there are no races on.  It f*@# far away, especially if you are walking.  Rather take in the city of Mokpo with all its world class museums.

Speakin' Japanesey

Today I went to Gwangju, well off the tourist route.  But it is a great jumping point to other sights in the province.  That is if you can find a place to stay.  Namdo Guesthouse is an impossible hostel to find.  Not its location but the hostel itself.  But like the previous place it was well worth finding.  Mr Park is a great host and very sociable.  He had opened the hostel that summer and took it upon himself to make sure all his guest are happy and entertained, especially in the evenings.

Sorry to say but on Korea’s Independence Day (of Japan) I spoke a lot of Japanese.  At the same time I checked in to Namdo Guesthouse so did XXX.  She is a uni student doing her masters in archaeology.  Unlike most Koreans she couldn't speak much English.  But she did speak perfect Japanese.  Pera–pera to say the least.  We decided to go to the Gwangju National Museum together and so chatted mostly in Japanese.

Mount Horse Ear hike

Not to early Kevin, another French guy and I seat out for Mount Maisan, or Horse Ear Mountain.  A popular spot for Korean day trippers to get out in to nature and enjoy a stroll in the sweltering and unrelenting heat of the Korean summer.

Predictably we met a very boisterous and friendly group of people from Seoul.  Decked out in the newest and most expensive of hiking gear it didn’t take 1 minute of chatting before the beer, makgeolli and snacks appeared from seemingly nowhere.  Not to be rude I graciously accepted a crisply cool beer and shared it with my two fellow hikers.  The makgeolli was just as willingly received with the tasty snacks.

Slightly fortified we continued our hike to a temple hidden deep in the valley.  The hermit monk who established the temple build these weird spires which grace the front end of the temple.

In the evening another banquet, except this time with Kevin, Jisoo and CoCo.  Back at the hostel we drank copious amounts of beer with a few other people.  As the following day was Korea’s IndependenceDay (from Japan), Gwangbokjeol, we were not permitted to speak any Japanese after midnight.  Not to push the limits of national pride I acquiesced. 

A feast fit for a king!

During the day I explored much of Jeonju.  The city is famed for its well preserved old quarter.  A tourist trap for sure but very interesting and informative.

In the evening… another banquet!  I’d met Kevin the night before.  An Aussie whose family hales from Hong Kong he is definitely a food aficionado.  Kevin arranged for a group of us to have a traditional Korean style meal fit for a king… literally.  They served dishes that were offered in the times of yore to Korean royalty and in the same style.  To me, not to be critical, it was just another Japanese enkai but served in a Korean style with Korean food.  And it came with an enkai price tag.

After the banquet a group of us went to a noraebang a.k.a. karaoke.  Loads of fun.

I didn’t like the hostel I was staying in.  I just wasn’t getting good vibes from the guests or the people that ran the hostel.  I was planning on going east to a famous national park and hiking area.  But at the last minute I changed my mind and headed south to Jeonju.  A good choice to boot.

It was a bit of a hassle to find the only hostel in town, Jeonju Guesthouse, but well worth the search for this gem.  Jeonju Guest House is run by a charismatic man and his wife.  They are well informed and very sociable.  It was through him that I met Teresa.  Teresa, a devote Christian,  was travelling with her mom.  Her mom hadn’t been back to her home town, Jeonju, since she was about 7 years old.  Now in her early 60’s (?) she returned to meet with her long seen relatives.  A happy reunion from what I gathered.

I explored the town a little and then joined a big group of people for dinner.  The Koreans really do make a big thing about eating together.  Every meal is a banquet.  The restaurant we ate at had a very interesting concept.  You don’t pay for the food you eat. It is complimentary to the huge kettle of makgeolli you order.  The more makgeolli you drink the more food they bring.  Great idea!