Korea : Gyeongju

Sunday to Thursday (10 to 14 April 2011)

I reached Seoul last Sunday after a 1.5 hours flight from Kanazawa in Japan on Korean Air line. There were less than 100 passengers on board with the majority Korean nationals.

In Seoul, I stayed at a hotel located in Myeongdong. The surprising thing was there is a night market in this area and many other areas in Seoul. I thought Korea would be similar to Japan where there are no stalls selling stuff on the street. Another surprise was litter such as cigarette butts on the streeet. Maybe I have been conditioned to near pristine streets and roads in Japan. There were also a few beggars on the side walks. In these aspects, Korea or at least Seoul no different from any other city in Asia. Perhaps it may more accurate to say that Japan and its culture is unique and different from other countries in Asia (I have been to 13 countries in Asia).

I found Seoul to be an energetic and dynamic city. The Koreans talk and laugh loudly in contrast to reserved Japanese. Things are moving and happening in Korea and in contrast Japan has been declining for the last 2 decades after the economic bubble burst in the early 1990s.

The Koreans are still behind on some technologies but some of their companies are already out competing Japanese companies; Samsung Electronics with a revenue of USD 138 billion in 2010 is the largest electronics company in the world. As comparison, the two largest Japanese electronics companies, Sony's and Toshiba's had 2010 revenues of USD 88 billion and USD 70 billion respectively adding up to USD 158 billion.

Thursday : I am now in Gyeongju, a relatively small city of 300,000 compared to Seoul's 10 million. The main attraction here for me is the historical sites from Silla kingdown. I am staying at Nahbi guest house (Won 20,000 = USD 12 , Won 15,000 for domitory). I will be

I will be here until Monday which is leaves me too short a time to go anywhere else far from Seoul. I was initially planning to go to Soereksan national park but I will have to get there via Seoul. So on Monday I will go to Busan which only 1 hour from Gyeongjo, spend 3 days there and return to Seoul on Thursday.