Cambodia

Hello friends and family,

I'm sorry it has taken me so long to post this.  I've no good excuse, so we'll leave it at that.  :)  Over Christmas, I went to Cambodia.  I went to Siem Reap and stayed at a yoga retreat just outside the city.

Cambodia was very beautiful, but not as warm as I was expecting.  It felt like nice, early summer, Saskatchewan days.  So, I'm not complaining about that, it was kind of nice and reminded me of home, but I brought clothing for plus thirty, so I was freezing.  Cambodia had an earthy feel.  The people seem to still work closely with the land, yet they had technology.  The roads were covered with a few cars/trucks, a lot of motorcycles, a lot of bicycles and pedestrians.  There would often be two to four people on a motorbike.  The passengers were so comfortable that they looked like they may as well have been lounging on a porch.  I saw one woman feeding a baby some baby food on the back of a bike.  I kind of liked that they were that comfortable.

The yoga retreat was good.  It was a little over scheduled for me, and we were supposed to attend all the classes.  However, between the classes we could lay in a hammock, go for a walk, ride a bike, or whatever else struck our fancy, but there was usually only an hour or so between the classes.  There was also only one, maybe two yoga classes a day.  There were three or four meditation classes a day.  I wasn't expecting that much meditation, but I was open to it.  They were quite strict about it though and that made it difficult for me to relax enough to stay focused.  After, I'd seen the temples though, during the last day of my trip, I was finally relaxed enough to enjoy the yoga and meditation more.  I thoroughly enjoyed laying in the hammocks and reading.

My second last day, I went into Siem Reap to check out the temples.  I decided to get up early and see the sun rise there.   However, it was a cloudy day, so I didn't see the sun rise.  It just got lighter.  I started with Angkor Wat.  The buildings were beautiful and I got some amazing pictures.

I went to Angkor Thom next.  Angkor Thom Bayon was my favourite temple.  It was breathtaking.  It may be the most beautiful ruins I've seen.  Not that I've seen many.

Shopping was also really good in Cambodia.  They had a lot of different things and the prices were really good.  They had a bunch of flowy clothes that I love, so I stocked up.  They had some beautiful paintings and wood carvings.  There were hammocks, and blankets, and all sorts of things.  The prices were sooo good.   I want to go back again before I head back home so I can stock up on some more things.

I loved Cambodia and I would love to go back, and not just for the shopping.

Take care, everyone!

The Korean Mystery I Shall Always Ponder

Hi friends,
I was telling a friend about something that I find baffling here in Korea, and she suggested I write about it and things like this, when I don't have any special travels or events to write about.  So, I will share with you something I find very troubling here.  It began when I first got here, but I thought 'Hey, it's just Korea' but then, a few weeks ago, I rediscovered the matter, and it had become more puzzling in my mind.

During my first month here I was excited to find there was a Starbucks relatively nearby.  I have two drinks I order there.  When I'm hot, I drink a chai frappuccino and when I'm cold, I drink a peppermint hot chocolate.  It was still cold when I first came to Korea, so I was excited to get my favourite peppermint hot chocolate.  I was disappointed to hear them tell me in broken English that they did not have it.  I even asked if they had peppermint syrup, but alas, they did not have any.  As disappointed as I was, I just accepted it was not a thing here in Korea.

The summer was very hot and I had forgotten my troubles over the occasional chai frappuccino.  However, the cold weather returned and I naively tried again, thinking with Christmas coming maybe they would have it.  They did not.  I asked again about the syrup, and again I was denied and crestfallen.  Then, I started to think.  I realized something was awry.  I don't know why I hadn't realized it earlier, but once I realized it, no sense was to be made.

I'd had peppermint hot chocolate in Korea.  In fact, I'd had a peppermint hot chocolate in every coffee shop (and there are many here) that I'd been in.  So, peppermint hot chocolate is a huge thing in Korea.  So, why in the world does the coffee shop, with the best peppermint hot chocolate I've had, not have it on its' menu. How can one explain that?  There is no logic here.  So now, not only do I not have my peppermint hot chocolate, and am forlorn, but now, I'm also very confused.  Where was Starbucks marketing on this one?  If every coffee shop (possibly excluding independently run ones) in the country has it on it's menu, why would you not have it on yours, when you have it on yours in other countries?

I shall leave you with this to ponder, as I do every time I walk by a coffee shop, which is often.  There are a lot here.  No lie.  They love their coffee here.  I've never seen so many coffee shops.

Fall Hike

Hi!

I finally got back up on the mountain, after the last terrifying hike.  I wasn't that traumatized.  I was waiting for an easy hike that began at a decent hour.  I found one, easy being relative.  I learned from the last hike that 'easy' is a term used when you have an incredibly small chance of falling off a mountain.  Just the way I like it!

I hiked around Seoul's old fortress wall.  It was quite beautiful.  It involved at lot of stairs, but there were some great views and the leaves have started to change colours, so it was quite lovely.  I enjoyed the scenery and I'm sure if not for my cold, I would have enjoyed the fresh air more.  I was a little disappointed I couldn't smell the fresh air and the fallen leaves, but it was still a pretty good day.  Here are some pictures.

Gyeongbokgung Palace

Hi,
I went to Gyeongbokgung Palace today.  There isn't a lot to write about.  It was a really large complex and had a lot to see.  I have a bunch of pictures for you.

Hiking Gwanaksan

It was an interesting day today.  I signed up for a meet up to go hiking on Gwanaksan.  This is a challenging mountain.  The peaks were very scary to climb.  It was really more like mountain climbing.  There was a point when we went past fun into insanity.  I would have turned back but that would have meant having to go over some of those parts again.  Every peak it felt like it was worse than the last.  I don't have pictures because the path was so narrow, there was no way to stop and take a picture.  Here are a few pictures from the third peak I believe.

We then climbed to the top of the rock you can see here, which was very steep and went down the back side.  Here it got worse.  We started to used ropes and wires and had less than a half a foot to stand on.  Here are some pictures I took when I got to the other side.  It's hard to really capture the dicy-ness.

Here are some pictures of the top of the peak seen in the third picture.  They are of Seoul and myself, disbelieving my sanity.

The hike was supposed to get better.  There was only one sketchy part left.  Near the bottom of it something awful happened.  A girl fell.  She is alive, as far as I know.  Considering the fall (which I saw), she didn't really have many external injuries, and those she did have were minor.  As long as there isn't something wrong internally, she will be fine, but that was terrifying.  I honestly thought I was watching somebody fall to their death.  Luckily, there was a point where she didn't continue to descend, and miraculously her injuries weren't bad.  She was even conscious and communicative, and she could feel her arms and legs.  Needless to say, we were all extra careful and after the emergency responders were on their way, all but five of us headed down to get off of the mountain.  We were all ready to get off of that mountain.  

It was a bit of a stressful day, but things could have ended a lot worse.  I will definitely not go to the peaks on these mountains again, and make sure I understand more what the routes are like, and avoid the more difficult ones.  I will stick to easy/beginner from now on, although that's what I thought I was doing this time.  So, as I said, next time I will make sure of it.  On a semi side note the Koreans in our group say it is very unusual for something like this to happen, and that none of them had ever seen anyone hurt before.  So, please don't worry, I will be smart and more careful in the future.

Osaka!

Hi!

Last week I was on holiday and I went to Osaka, Japan.  It was a great trip and I got to know the city really well.  My only regret is that I didn't travel outside of Osaka.  There were so many things within a few hundred kilometers.  However, that just gives me a reason to head back to Japan.

The first few days were packed with things to do.  I got a pass that gave me free subway and free admission to most of the local sights for two days.  On the first day, I went to the science centre/museum, Osaka castle, the zoo, and rode on one of the largest ferris wheels in the world (or so they say).  The science centre was pretty interesting, but it would have been ten times more interesting if they had any of the information in English.  The highlight for me was sitting next to Einstein (I'll post pictures at the end).  Osaka castle was wonderful.  It had two moats, and outer one filled with water, and an inner one filled with foliage.  It was beautiful.  Osaka was hot,  I mean hoooot.  So, it was obviously a good idea to climb up 8 flights of stairs to the top of the castle, but there was a good view, and going down was fairly easy.  The zoo was kind of cool and depressing all at the same time.  It was cool to see some of the animals so close, but there was a polar bear that made me sad.  It was in its' own area, which was probably good for the other animals, but it only had a foot or two of water, and with how hot it was there was no way that water was cold.  It had scars all over its' face and kept pacing back and forth and had a little froth around the mouth.  It really depressed me to see that.  Poor polar bear.  The ferris wheel was kind of cool.  I'm normally fine with heights, but I got really nervous as we ascended.  I felt fine after I realized we were going down again.  It was a really slow ride, but it only lasted about 15 minutes (one rotation).

The second day I went to the oldest Buddhist temple in Japan, cruised the harbour in a larger  replica of the Santa Maria, and went to the Osaka floating observatory.  The temple was a huge complex and there was a garden I was able enjoy, although I paid with bug bites for the rest of the trip.  The harbour cruise was nice and relaxing and I saw cargo ships from all over the world.  Osaka is a major shipping port.  The floating observatory provided an amazing view of the city, and I went about an hour before sunrise, so I was able to enjoy the view in both day and night.

The rest of the trip was pretty relaxed.  I walked a lot, checking out the stores.  My favourite shopping area was a restaurant supply area.  It had more traditional Japanese items.  Japan seems to be more westernized than Korea, and it was hard to find traditional items.  Overall though, I think the trip was a success and I'm glad I went and am happy with the few souvenirs I did find.  I hope you enjoy the pictures.

Canal downtown near my hotel

Well, look who I found!

Three great thinkers?

Osaka castle and moat

Osaka castle

Inside Osaka castle - The only thing you were allowed to take a picture of

Two random tourists getting a ride

Garden in Buddhist temple

At the Buddhist temple

View from the observatory

View from observatory

Aquarium - diver cleaning the tank

Lady and the Unicorn tapestries were on loan to the art museum in Osaka