Monday, December 28, 2009

Back on Solid Ground

As 2009 quickly comes to a close, I figure it's about time that I offer some sort of closure to my Korean adventure. . .so here goes!

For over four months now, visitors to this small part of the world wide blogosphere have been greeted by the same entry about the Korean War Museum. Sure, it was cool, but not nearly interesting enough to headline such an important collection of writing. So why was it there you might ask? Or, what happened to the lengthy screeds that you came to expect at least a couple times every week? Well, listen up. . .

After finishing out our contractual obligations at DYB, Nate and I were quickly bumped from our work sponsored apartments in Dootavilla to make room for the two new teachers who were, at the time, sharing a small place in Daechi, presumably one of our original flophouses. . .hopefully not Nate's tiny little attic room! Our final day of work was on Tuesday and I believe we were asked to vacate our places the following day, which, we managed to push back another day or so. . .phew! Even with all the packing and shipping I had been doing, I was still far from ready to really move out, namely because Mr. Lee had originally promised us a week or so to clear out. I should have known better than to rely on that though. . . oh well!

Finally got everything in to an almost manageable load and cleared out of A-412 for the final time. DYB was kind enough to give us cash for a ride to wherever we wanted which, turned out to be Steve's new place in Cheongho. If he hadn't shown up well. . .I'm not entirely sure where we would have gone but it would not have been pretty! So, on a rainy afternoon in late August, Nate and I filled up a minivan (a normal taxi wouldn't do) with our remaining possessions and headed to the other side of the Han.

Luckily, Steve was still at work as we clamored into his place, two apartments worth of stuff in tow. With a few hours before he was set to return, we had plenty of time to reorganize and shuffle stuff around to make enough floorspace for, well, Nate to sleep on at least (I posted up on the beat up couch that was a bit too short). Not surprisingly, Steve was a bit shocked upon coming home to find us fully moved in. However, we manged to ease the transition a bit by sprucing up his new place with a wide array of 'presents' that both Nate and I had spent the year accumulating in our respective places.

Spent the better part of a week at Steve's, living off the couch, while trying to tie up loose ends before taking off for Thailand early in the morning on September 1st. I went to various post offices throughout Seoul at least a dozen times in sending out the half dozen boxes that, thankfully, all arrived here in East Lansing unharmed! I was able to 'cash out' my pension account at the Nowon-Gu branch of the National Pension Service. After filling out a handful of forms, I was informed that some amount of money would eventually be transferred to my US bank account, though not for a number of months. A bit scary to leave that in limbo while taking off but, true to form, it did end up coming through sometime in mid-October! Woo hoo!

Cashed out the majority of my Korean Won at about 1,250 for $1 USD. Not the 1,600 that it had spiked to during this past spring but also far from the 900 that it had been only a few months before we arrived. Sent the majority straight to my bank at home then withdrew the rest in USD as it's hard to find a currency that travels as well as greenbacks do (though I hear the Euro is the new rage abroad, I still don't believe it. . .). Unfortunately, my final withdrawl was made at an ATM the morning of my departure and I was only aloud to take out denominations of 10,000 won. In turn, there remain 7,000 some KRW in my Shinhan bank account. Who knows if it's earning interest or not but I plan on returning some day and collecting!

Steve's place was a bit, um, cramped with three of us big boys in it but I couldn't be more thankful that he allowed us to stay. Paying for a hotel would not have been conducive to saving for traveling and I really didn't have anyone else that I could have crashed with at the time. . .or, anytime before that really, but, that's a different story!

The night before I was to leave, Joseph came over for a goodbye dinner then small farewell party, if you will, at Steve's place while I finished up packing in the state of a totally anal nervous wreck! Hey, it's not easy going from one foreign country to life on the road for four months with no pit stop at home in between.

Sometime, well after midnight, we decided to venture out of Steve's cubby hole and into the night air. Stepping out in to the hall, we were surprised to come face to face with a pair of Korean policemen standing in front of an open door across the way. Glancing in we noticed a man sprawled out across a blood stained couch with bloody footprints all throughout the apartment. No idea what transpired but Joseph did not appreciate our fascination with the scene. Apparently, the Cheongho area is infamous for gang related activity, as quaint as it might seem. No worries though, Steve's an upstanding individual and promised us that he would refrain from engaging in any Korean gang-related activity. I swear!

Caught about an hour of restless sleep, never really dozing off fully as I fretted missing the 5:00am airport bus. Popped up at quarter to, threw on my Deuter 55+10, kicked Nate and Steve awake to say bye then darted out the door. Swung by a GS one last time to stock up on water and sunscreen then headed for the bus stop, not more than 400m from Steve's place. Slept the whole way to Incheon where I boarded my flight to Bangkok without problem. . .ahh, the joys of not flying on American based carriers!

Landed in Bangkok about six hours later, collected my luggage than re-checked in for a domestic flight down to Surat Thani. Got in to this small southern port city sometime in the evening and caught a bus to the pier where I had planned on taking a night ferry out to Koh Pha Ngan to search for my friends from Tulane, Mike and Kristin, who were reportedly in the area. Mike had just finished up working at a summer camp in Germany and decided that it would be nicer for the camp to fly him to Thailand rather than back Stateside in celebration of finishing up his engineering degree that spring. Kristin was just finishing a year long 'working holiday' (oxymoron anyone?) in Australia and had decided that some SEAsian travels sounded like a good way to finish off the calendar year. What a remarkable, semi-coordinated, coincidence!

I made it, some what surprisingly, out to KPN without hassle and, even more shocking, managed to find the bungalow that these two, neither of whom I had seen in well over a year, were staying in. What a fun surprise that was at about 5:30 in the morning!

From there, well. . . that's a totally different story for another time, but here's the run down, which, I meant to post long before leaving but, never did get around to. Sorry!

Sticking to our somewhat discussed agenda, we managed to bang out the majority of Indochina in just under four months. Starting in southern Thailand, we moved northwards, primarily by train. Our stops in Thailand were minimal, spending a few days in Bangkok, a few in Chiang Mai, then a few more than expected in a little town in northwest Thailand called Pai. From Pai we moved on to the border town of Chiang Kong, set along the banks of the Mekong River in the heart of the infamous Golden Triangle.

We eventually crossed this storied river in to Laos where we would spend the next 33 days. Whoa! Went trekking in Luang Nam Tha before moving on to the ancient capital of Luang Pra Bang where we were fortunate enough to catch two festivals in only a weeks time. Dealing with a pretty heady stint of food poisoning, Mike moved on to Vang Vieng while Kristin and I took a short pit stop in the relatively remote town of Phonsavan to visit the enigmatic Plain of Jars. We eventually caught up with Mike in Vang Vieng for a day of tubing followed by a week spent working on an organic farm. Continued south to the national capital of Vientiane where we were graced simultaneously with the presence of Kristin's big sis, Dr. Andi G, and a serious case of bed bugs!

Pushed onwards down the trail less traveled to the small town of Thakek where Mike and I set off on motorbikes to conquer the acclaimed 'Loop.' Rode for three days with an young Italian man, Alessandro, through some of the most beautiful and diverse scenery that we would encounter during our travels. Continued on to Don Det, a small island in the heart of the Mekong where this mighty river spreads to 14 km wide, split apart by some 4000 Islands, as the area is known. Re-connected with Kristin here and were joined by another fellow Tulanian, and Kristin's Australian roommate, Lindsay.

Fought our way across the the border in to Cambodia but not before being taken for a half dozen or so 'bribes' on the way. The fines we were each subjected to varied but I did manage to unload a decent amount of the Thai Bhat that I had held on to for fear of running out of Kip in Laos. Sped through northern Cambodia on a bus headed straight to Phnom Penh where we again timed our arrival with the local boat racing festival. Spent a few days posted up at Lakeside (thanks Kaine!) before moving on to Siem Reap to conquer the ancient temples of Angkor by bicycle. Took the boat from there to Battambang and obtained the trips worst sunburn in the process. From BTB is was back to Phnom Penh for a few more days of kicking it before Lindsay jumped ship to meet up with yet another former Tulanian, Maggie, in Vietnam.

Mike, Kristin and I followed only a day later, catching a direct bus from PP to Saigon, or as it's now known, Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC). Here, in HCMC, I was reacquainted with Nate for the first time since leaving Steve's apartment in early September. He had made his way down China then south through Vietnam before posting up in HCMC, waiting for the delivery of a passport to replace the one that disappeared along with his backpack off the back of an 'Easy Rider' in central Vietnam. Bummer for him but fun to have the chance to meet up!

Moved on to the beaches of Mui Ne where we put in some serious wave time before returning to HCMC for one last shot at the water park which Nate and I 'discovered.' Kristin then took off in order to surprise her parents for Thanksgiving while Mike and I set our sights on Hanoi in the north of Vietnam. Swung through the mountain town of Dalat before banging out Nha Trang, Hoi Han, Hue, and Dong Ha at the pace of about one 'n a half cities per day. Whoa, now that's what I call traveling!

Continued heading north through Ninh Binh and Haiphong where we caught a local ferry out to Catba Island set in the picturesque Halong Bay. Spent a good few days on island cruising through the bay in the comfort of a 'junk' boat. Also got a chance to put Mike's rock climbing equipment to work testing out the limestone karsts of Halong. Moved back to the mainland, again via Haiphong with our final destination being Hanoi. Decided against going to the highly recommended town of Sapa in the far north, only because neither of us were prepared to deal with near freezing temperatures having spent the better part of the fall and early winter in super sub tropical climates! In turn, we ended up spending a week in Hanoi at a wonderful new guest house that offered free internet, breakfast and, as a kicker, beer. The whole experience was made even sweeter when our total tab was cut in half at check out. Can't argue with great service at bargain basement prices!

Finally, on December 10th, Mike took an early morning flight out to meet up with his family in London (with a short stop over in Hong Kong) while I headed to the airport later that same day for the quick jaunt down to HCMC via the budget carrier, JetStar. For $60 I flew the length of an entire country (Vietnam is much much longer than I had imagined) with better service than I remember ever receiving on a domestic carrier here in the States. Even in the back of the plane I had more than enough leg room to stretch out fully and enough space on both sides of me so that my neighbors body wasn't spilling over onto my lap. . .which might also have to do with Americans as a whole but again, that's another story for another day.

Spent the night in the Saigon airport after venturing out to find a bowl of pho, noodle soup. Used up the very last of my Vietnamese Dong before retiring to a bench for a few hours of shut eye, while hugging my bags tight to my chest. Awoke at 3:30am as the Delta employees began blowing up, and subsequently popping, a number of balloons for some unapparent, but definitely not necessary, celebration.

Breezed through check in and security on the way to my 6:00am flight out to Tokyo. Had little time to spare in Narita as I went directly from one plane to another, this time bound for Detroit. By the time I got to the gate, it really hit me that I was leaving Asia. Not only did I start to understand the things that were being said around me but in only a matter of a short flight I went from the biggest and tallest person around to one of the most seemingly diminutive people headed Stateside. This was a big, big transition.

Didn't get much sleep in on the way back to Detroit but did get to bang out the last of my used books collected along the way. Touched down in DTW and was back up in the air less than an hour later on the way to Lansing. 21 minutes of flight time and I was on the ground at LAN where mom and dad were waiting to pick me up!

And that brings me to here, the basement of 812 Applegate where I am now faced with the impending turn of a decade. At least I won't have to deal with it alone as I am set to head out for Denver in only a few days time to reunite with a handful of the coolest people I know, this side of the Pacific!

I apologize for not keeping up with my travels along the way but it was evident to me quite early on in traveling that 'Adam's Going to Asia' should have been qualified with a subtitle along the lines of "but you're only going to get to hear about Korea on the blog!" Any whooo. . .I'll work on writing more about my SEAsian adventures and will eventually have pictures somewhere online though probably not here as I have already exhausted my Picasa storage through uploading the pictures that you can find throughout these pages.

I do promise to still offer a Korea Konclusions post once I've had a bit more time to digest the whole experience and can find a way to put it in to (not so many) words. Yes, I realize that four months without blogging has left me as long winded as ever but what did you expect? That I'd come home and immediately adopt a laconic voice?! Silly you for thinking such things!

Happy Huntings and Safe Travels during this 'holiday season.'

I'll check in with everyone sometime shortly in to the New Year as I would like to continue writing but clearly, it will no longer be from Asia. So, look for a change of venue in 2010 but, until then, enjoy the info contained within and thanks for stopping by!