Hello everyone, quick update.
It's 11:15 PM on Sunday the 16th in Korea, and I got into the historic capital of Gyeongju a few hours ago. I've had my rental car since noon yesterday, and I've covered over 500 miles with it so far; considering that the longest one-way trip you can do in South Korea is well under 300 miles, and that gasoline is quite expensive at 1450 to 1600 won per liter (about $4 to $4.50 per US gallon), I've been driving like there's no tomorrow.
I've seen lots of things, even though I was forced to miss a few of my intended sights due to lack of time and freak factors beyond my control. I was misguided to a wrong road at a sight near the inter-Korean border this morning, and that road would've taken me straight into North Korea (and gotten Kim Jong-il quite pissed off, as neither an American nor anyone with a cell phone may enter North Korea, and I am both); fortunately, I asked for directions at the South Korean immigration checkpoint and was guided the correct way.
500 miles over two days (and lots of wasted time as well, due to Seoul's notorious weekend traffic) has really gotten me knocked out, however. I won't post any art tonight, even though I do have some to share. I will post everything together when I am done with my Gyeongju sightseeing and have tons of extra art from here to upload. Besides, my own blog takes enough time to update too.
Keep your fingers crossed. You'll be in for a real treat. My road trip ends on Wednesday, but I will continue to have my car for four more days, and will certainly make lots of weird day trips out of Seoul.
P.S. My first sight in Gyeongju tomorrow will be Bulguksa, the greatest Buddhist temple in all of Korea. Its name (佛國寺) means "Temple for a Buddhist Kingdom." It's where Dabotap (Tower of Many Treasures), that delicate stone pagoda that I shared initially, is located. Tomorrow is three years to the very day that W visited and desecrated that temple; I remember, because when W was there, I was headed for nearby Busan. I'll make sure to drive W's evil spirits out and bring Obama's good ones in.
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2 comments:
Wow! Amazing story, Ally. Glad you got the correct directions before you ended up the creek with a cell phone but no paddle...
Can't wait for more!
s
Suz
Keep your fingers crossed. The nitty gritty of my road trip itself is to be found in my personal blog - I am writing the post now.
If I did end up driving to North Korea, I would've certainly caused a major international incident. North Korea will certainly not sit down idly while South Korea allows an American "imperialist" to sneak north across the border and do some numbers there. Glad that it didn't happen.
Ally McRepuke
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