Pilipinas pt. 1: Up Up and Away

For the first part of our trip we headed to the Northern Mountain Province, more specifically Sagada. Getting there though proved to be an adventure itself.

Step one: get the heck out of Manila

Ok, ok in all fairness all that I really saw of Manila was through a bus and taxi window, and maybe there are some hidden gems. However, Manila gave me a very unsettling feeling and I really just wanted to leave.  Lucy and I made it through customs, and headed to information to get directions to the taxis. I has spoken  to the man at the desk for only a few seconds when he asked me who my travel companion was. When I pointed to Lucy he immediately got a very concerned fatherly look and tone of voice. He gave us very detailed information on how to get to the taxis and to the bus station, and kept repeating "be safe, please be careful." What a welcoming to Manila! In all honesty I never felt totally unsafe, just a little on edge. We made it to the bus station without a hitch. And the highlight of my first taxi ride in Manila was seeing a Seattle Sonics Jeepney. 

Jeepneys are one of the many interesting and at times hilarious modes of transport in the Philippines. They were originally made from US military jeeps left over from World War II. Its basically a jeep in the front with an extended truck bed, enclosed with a metal roof and elaborately decorated with colorful paint and ornaments.  You can sit on of the two bench seats that run along the inside, or on the side, or on the back, or if you are feeling adventurous you can even ride on top. 

Step 2: rainy, flooded ride to Baguio 

We bought our tickets, some snacks and boarded the bus for a 7 hour ride to Baguio. The ride was made especially interesting by the fact the we arrived the day after a typhoon hit the area. For about 80% of the trip we drove along roads that were flooded with almost a foot or more of water. 

Unfortunately we didn't have time to explore Baguio. We arrived late Saturday night, were completely exhausted, and went straight to a hotel. The next bus adventure began at 6 am Sunday morning. We grabbed a quick breakfast at the bus station, eggs, toast and something resembling ham, and bought our tickets. 

Step 3: nerve racking jungle journey from Baguio to Sagada

We were the first to buy our tickets, so we had seats 1 and 2. We soon found out that these were the best seats we could have gotten! The bus we were on had the door in the middle instead of in the front. So seats 1 and 2 were right behind the giant front windshield. Our bus ride from Baguio to Sagada was 6 hours straight up a, sometimes paved, winding mountain road through the Jungle. With our front row seats our entire trip was like watching the Jungle on IMAX. It was so unbelievably beautiful. At times were were so close to the edge that when you looked out the side window you couldn't even see the road, just steep green cliffs, and a huge raging river. It was still raining and sopping wet from the recent typhoon. There were many times that we drove over recent landslides or had to wait for new ones to be cleared. I took a really sweet video, but unfortunately my camera didn't make it back to Korea with me. Here are some pictures of the bus from Baguio to Sagada:

Sunday afternoon our bus finally rolled into Sagada............

Pilipinas: Intro

I just returned from what just might be the most amazing trip of my life. I know, I know that is a very bold statement, but in all seriousness it was beyond amazing. So great in fact, I don't think it can be contained in just a single post. So welcome to the Pilipinas mini series!

My good friend Lucy and I both had a week of freedom from our little monsters so we decided to explore the Philippines. It was a tough choice given that SE Asia, and really Asia in general has so many interesting places to visit. But for some reason I felt the Philippines calling my name and before long Lucy was hearing it too!

The only problem we found was the it had too many interesting things to see, could we possibly see it all? We knew 2 things, we wanted to be in the city of Manila for as little time as possible and we wanted to see both the Northern Mtn Province and the Southern beaches. This took quiet a bit of planning, research and patience, but we were able to see all we wanted and more. We think that if all else fails we would make some damn good travel agents.

Beach Bum Busan

*** this post was actually written a few weeks ago, but I never posted it. So here it is now:


It's monday morning I am exhausted, sunburned, and mosquito-bitten. All signs of an amazing weekend!

This weekend we found ourselves soaking up the sunshine on the beach in sunny Busan, South Korea. We boarded an early a.m. KTX train from Seoul. (my first time taking the super fast KTX train) We arrived in Busan and headed straight to the beach. It was the perfect break after an uber stressful week.

We opted out of visiting the most popular beach, Haeundae, and chose instead to go to Gwangalli Beach. It was a really nice day. We laid on the beach, read and chatted. Nothing overly exciting, but lovely nonetheless. The beach itself was not particularly pretty. The water was very murky, and kind of an odd color. We swam around a bit, but quickly learned you are not allowed to go out past where you can touch.

Later in the afternoon I happened to run into a friend that I have not seen since training 6 months ago! He was also just visiting for the weekend and happen to be with a friend who also graduated from WSU with a degree in advertising, just a year after me. The world really is very small. This has happened so many times!

After a lazy day of basking in the sun we decided to wander and find some dinner. Busan, like all Korean beach towns, is know for its seafood. We choose to have dinner in one of the many food tents that lined the streets surrounding the fish market. This market was a smaller version of Norangjin that I mentioned in a previous post. One thing that I have learned about Koreans and food is that they either like things incredibly fresh or extremely old. For example most meals are brought to you raw and you cook it yourself, which I think is great, and you will also have a ton of side dishes of foods that have been stored for years: kimchi, fermented bean paste, etc. Fish markets are the perfect example of this. You chose your fish, and few minutes later its on a plate in front of you. We at clams, clams with cheese ( a little strange) and eel. It was a very cool experience.

After dinner we headed down to the boardwalk, well I guess that's what you can call it. It was a large concrete and tile area where several families and groups of friends were hanging out on the stairs that ran along the edge of the harbor. Many korean parents were drinking soju and playing games while the children set off fireworks. Groups of young Koreans were playing drinking games. And a few vendors were walking around try to sell oysters and clams. It was a very lively and fun area. We sat down at the bottom of the stairs and following the groups around us played some games and watched the fireworks.

We woke up to a rainy Sunday and decided to see what else Busan had to offer besides the beach. Josh had heard of a coastal temple that was a little out of the way. After a long and hot hot hot bus ride we arrived at Haedong Yonggung temple. It was one of the most beautiful temples I have been to. Its a bit of a trek there, but oh so worth it. Its a gorgeous temple right on the coast. 

Birthday Bliss

I just celebrated my 25th birthday. Quarter of a century, no longer in my early 20's, now officially an adult, blah blah blah. However you want to say it, I'm old. So how did I celebrate this new year of my life? By jumping into it head first of course!

Early Saturday afternoon we headed down to Bundang, just South of Seoul. After a short bus ride out of Seoul and a taxi ride through Bundang, we arrived at Yuldong Park. It is a beautiful park. And a refreshing break from the concrete and noise pollution of Seoul. The park,  full of trees and grassy areas, surrounds a beautiful natural lake. Just visiting the park alone would be worth the trip, but we had our minds set on something a little more daring.



The bungee jumping platform was visible from the first minute we step out of the taxi. The bungee tower is 45m high and located over the lake. We grabbed numbers and were told to come back in about 30 mins. And of course, I grabbed number 13, really?! We wandered around a little book park located across from the bungee tower. It had sculptures based on famous literature.

Soon our 30 minute anxiety inducing wait was over. It was almost too casual. We gave our name, our phone number, and signed in. Then we were put into a harness, first time jumpers get a waist harness. Then we stepped on a scale and our weight was written on our palm. Now we were ready. We were sent up to the top in an elevator. All the way up we could hear the screams of the people going ahead of us. I still didn't feel too nervous, just very excited. I was a little worried that the harness was not tight enough on my legs and that the chest piece made an x across my chest that I thought could cause a lot of pain for a lady. That aside, that actual jump was not freaking me out yet. My friend's brother went first. He showed no hesitation and jumped off right away. Ok not so bad, I can do this. Next my coworker stepped up to the edge and stepped back again and hesitated. He looked scared, which made me instantly feel nervous. But soon he too was failing head first off the tower. Two more friends went, then it was my turn. I walked out to the man, who spoke little to no English. Showed him my palm. He grabbed the appropriate rope for my weight and attached it to my back. "Ok??" I asked, giving him a nervous thumbs up. He grunted a few times and turned me around. I step out to the edge, leaving the security of the barrier fence. I made the mistake of looking around and thinking while waiting from my countdown. He asked if I was ready, I stepped back, stopped thinking, and said YES! I stepped back up to the edge, counted to three and JUMPED! It was the most amazing feeling ever. I could not feel the rope attached to my back and felt like I was never going to stop falling.

The rope caught, my brain turned on, "I'm Alive!" Before I could think of anything else, I was shot back up, and plummeted back down again. This was actually scarier than the first jump. I was thrown up and down a few more times. It was so much fun. Then I hung there like a dead fish and was lowered into a boat and taken back to the safety of land.

Bungee Jumping was A-Mazing.

After an afternoon resting, we had a wonderful dinner at Buddha's Belly in Itaewon. I love thai food, and B's Belly has some pretty darn delicious curry. Wine, curry and friends, what more could girl ask for? But the night had just begun.

After dinner we headed out to Hongdae, our usual stomping ground. We decided that tonight was the perfect night to try drinks from Vent. Vent is a funky little bar with a window that looks like a robot open to the street. You walk up and order a cocktail that is served in a plastic bag, it looks just like an iv bag. I like to call them adult capri suns.

 

I.V. bags of poison in our hands we wandered up to park. Hongdae park is always entertaining. On any given night you can fight Korean rap battles, dance offs, live music or the occasional marching band and man on stilts. Tonight was something I had never experienced before: SILENT DISCO!! There is a D.J. and a bunch of people dancing, but any outsider wandering by cannot hear the music. All you have to do to join the party is donate a few 1000 won and an ID. In return you are given your entrance to the party: a set of headphones, with a balloon attached if you are lucky. I could have not asked for a more fun way to spend my birthday night! SO MUCH FUN!!!! And, thank you Ms. Lucy for the shout out and song dedication, so much cooler through the headphones!

I had a fanatically wonderful birthday! 

p.s. I have noticed a trend in my last two birthdays: Jumping off of things. Last year I had a wonderful time learning how to Trapeze, this still maybe one of the most amazing things I have ever done. And of course year I bungee jumped. Each year is a higher, more extreme jump. What will I do next year? I am currently thinking either trying a ankle harness bungee or sky diving, you have a year to decide if you would like to join!!!

last years b-day jump magic:

http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=684469036673

Glimpse of the North

A few weekends ago I had the opportunity to travel to the DMZ. Its hard to believe that a country can be so isolated, secretive and oppressed in this day and age. Living just below the border in a tech crazy, fast paced, modern city its even harder to believe.

According to the BBC, "Aid agencies have estimated that up to two million people have died since the mid-1990s because of acute food shortages caused by natural disasters and economic mismanagement. The country relies on foreign aid to feed millions of its people.The totalitarian state also stands accused of systematic human rights abuses. Reports of torture, public executions, slave labour, and forced abortions and infanticides in prison camps have emerged. A US-based rights group has estimated that there are up to 200,000 political prisoners in North Korea."

Living in Seoul its easy to forget about what is happening up North. Sure there are political flare ups and threats from the North that sometimes set us all on edge, but then daily life takes over and its pushed to the back of our minds. My recent trip brought everything right up to the front of my mind, and it hasn't left.

Here are some highlights/ interesting things I learned from the DMZ tour:

The beginning of our tour. Lucy and I with our official USO tour badges.

The Joint Security Area is the location where all negotiations since 1953 have been held. The MDL (Military Demarcation Line) cuts through the center of the blue buildings. The large grey building is North Korea.

Where meetings between the Koreas and other countries are held.

ROK Guards stratigically stand so that half of thier body is conceled behind the buildings.

Inside the confrence building, this table is divided down the center by the MDL and the microphones running down the table indicate where the line is, they also record 24/7.

ROK Soliders stand in a Tae Kwan Do stance and wear dark sunglasses to avoid displaying any sort of emotion.

The door behind me leads to the North, I would not recomend opening it.

The white posts run along the middle of the DMZ and mark the MDL, military demarcation line. One of the things I found most interesting is that there are phones placed along the MDL. If someone successfully crosses the border they can call for help. The ROK or US military will be there in a matter of minutes to pick them up.

North Korea

At this exact point I am surrounded by the North on three sides, Brionna Pennisula, sorry bad joke!

South Korea donated a flag to a small village within the DMZ. The village is not technically North or South Korea. The North responded by building another, taller flag pole with a bigger flag. The South's flag pole was 323 feet tall and the flag weighs 287 pounds. The North's flag pole is 525 ft tall and and weighs in at 595 pounds. Lowering the flag requires at least 30 men and must be done every night and on windy days because it would tear under it's own weight.

These little red signs were pretty unsettling. They lined the edges of the roads and warned of land mines.

There were also a few interesting things that I didn't get any pictures of, or was not allowed to photograph. The first were the jamming towers used by the North, which block any incoming radio, TV, cellphone signals.

Next, the propaganda village is literally insane. The North refers to it as Peace Village, but it really isn't a village at all. The village has large brightly colored buildings, working electricity and a seemingly average standard of living. However closer inspection using modern telescopic lenses revealed that the buildings are just concrete shells with the building lights turning on and off at set times. Another illusion constructed by the North.

One of the last things we were able to see was the 3rd tunnel built by the North.

Since November, 1974, the South has discovered four tunnels crossing the DMZ. The tunnels are believed to have been created as a military invasion plan by the North. Each tunnel is large enough for of an entire infantry division to pass through in one hour. Four tunnels have been found, but it is believed that there are more. The third tunnel was discovered on October 17, 1978.

We started the tunnel tour at the top of a tunnel built adjacent to the third tunnel. Our tour guide gave us hard hats, which I thought were a complete joke. However after we walked down a very steep incline for about 15 mins, I could clearly see why we needed the helmets. The tunnel was wet, dark and cramped. We were able to walk deep into the tunnel, it was intense. To think that this was built in secret, so far below the earth's surface and as a plan to invade Seoul, its just crazy.

To end this on a positive note, one thing that is fascinating and beautiful about the DMZ is that it has become an unintentional nature preserve. Because it is so dangerous and uninhabitable for humans, many rare plant and animal species can be found within the heavily fortified border. Animals such as cranes, the extremely endangered Korean tiger, black bears and vampire deers can be found within the DMZ. I find it absolutely amazing that within such a dangerous and heavily militarized place, a place with such a tragic history, something so beautiful has been created.

dear friends and family who do not have facebook,

I have created a Korean photo blog of some of my favorite pictures/events.

check it out: http://brikorea.tumblr.com/

and to add to the blog line up I also have my art site too: http://brionnahughes.com/

xoxox

Brionna

Spring

Oh my, it has been so so long! Who knew sitting down to write a new post could become so difficult? I have officially been in Korea for 6 months and I am about to start my 3rd term. Its definitely time for an update.

Spring has officially arrived and along with it cherry blossoms, sunshine, thunderstorms, and more festivals than you could count or ever imagine a country this small to have.

Festivals.

• Jindo Sea Parting Festival.

Ok, this was actually more than a few months ago, but I never got around to telling you about it. The Sea Parting, or Miracle Road Festival to religious Koreans, happens once a year in Jindo in Jeollanam-do Province. The sea "mysteriously" parts and you can walk from the mainland to a nearby island. This phenomenon is caused by the difference in high tides and low tides, which creates a 2.8-kilometer-long road measuring 40 to 60 meters in width.

Lucy and I took an early am bus from Seouland arrived at the Jindo bus station about 4 hrs later. Side note, Korean bus drivers are crazy, not afraid of the brake pedal or of taking corners at excessively high speeds. Upon arriving at the bus station we needed to find our way to the festival location along the coast. We decided to take a bus which caused a whole lot of confusion. While waiting alone outside for our bus to, hopefully, come I was ambushed by a group of high school aged Koreans, who were very excited to practice their english on me. Through muddled Konglish, I was told that they liked my shoes, thought I had a nice face, and then of course they talked for a very long time about my nose ring.

We soon gave up on the bus, returned our tickets, and took a taxi. When we arrived at the festival location we bumped into some other expats that we had met at the bus station. We joined forces and found a hostel together. In the end our little expat group grew to about 10.

Our hostel was pretty typical Korean, just anempty room, with blankets and a heated floor. But this one had one bathroom, located outside of all of the rooms. Another problem we encountered was the Jindo apparently had no ATMs. A weekend of no showers and no food.

We soon met up with some friends that I went to college with, bought some soju (Korean rice liqour) and made our way to the Miracle Road. It was very cool! It was also very muddy and the water was freezing! My feet hurt so bad, but it was too pretty to stop walking. We saw gorgeous blue and orange starfish, lots of abalone shells, and many other little sea creatures. Many tourists were there to walk across, but many Koreans were there to harvest the sea creatures and sea plants. One Korean crossing the land bridge asked my to face time with his wife over his iphone, oh Korea.

- our hostel

About halfway through the land bridge crossing, disaster struck! Suddenly all of the soju we had drank hit my bladder at once and I had to pee so bad. I really wanted to turn back, but my friends convinced me to try and make it to the other end, we were so close. So I kept going. Then about 5 mins later, the Korean sea police started blowing their whistles and telling us to turn back, the tide was coming in. OH NO! I literally thought I was going to pee my pants in the middle of the Miracle Road. So I ran ALL the way back across the land bridge.

After wandering around the few tents they had and listening to a few men dressed in a sort of Korean drag sing and dance, we made our way back to our hostel. Havingonly a few wons in our pockets we found a tiny little, connivence store. It wasn't much of a store, more of a one room apartment, with half a store attached to the front, selling random snacks, juices, alcohol and cigarettes. In the front half of the shop the owner and about 4 other local men were sitting around a bubbling pot of Kimchi Jiggae (kimchi stew) having dinner. We practically walked right into their dinner, and before we knew it we were being invited to sit down and were being passed shots of soju and Jindo's very own liqour. I have no idea what it was made out of, but I had sampled it at the festival earlier that day. Its a dark red color and taste like rubbing alcohol mixed with hairspray. We gladly accepted spoonfuls of jiggae and shots of liquor, we were broke abd starving. They men were very friendly and more than excited to be talking with us. After dinner we joined the rest of our expat group for a bonfire on the beach.

It was a good weekend.

Dinner in the snack shop.

• Cherry Blossom Festival.

Wasn't much of a festival, just a street lined with cherry trees. I had been to the area a week earlier when Lucy and I rented bicycles and rode around. Only difference now was the amount of people. Cherry blossoms are beautiful, but I grew up on a cherry and apple farm. Although I do love the blossoms, the excitement of it all was lost on me.

• The Hampyeong Butterfly Festival

......or as I now refer to it The Great Butterfly Bust

How fun does a butterfly festival sound? Tons of fun!? Thats what I thought! So a few weekends ago Lucy and I boarded a bus for a 5 hour ride to what we thought would be a wonderful weekend of butterflies, flowers, and general loveliness. Upon arriving in Hampyeong we quickly realized how wrong we were. Due to some unknown error we got the dates wrong. There was no festival and there barley was a town. While we were sitting in the bus station trying to come up with a back up plan we were approached by one the five expats that lives in the area. He was friendly, from Seattle, and reaffirmed how wrong we were.

We walked around Hampyeong, it took about 5 mins, but some lunch, tuna kimbap, and decided to go to Mokpo, about an hr away.

Mokpo was a little coastal city. Day one in Mokpo we walked along the harbor and went on a wonderful hike.

The best part of the whole weekend was the laser light show, or as the locals proudly called it The Dancing Water Fountain. It hilarious, the music, the drunk Koreans singing along, it was great! I had to video it to capture at least a portion of the greatness:

Mokpo day two we decided to take a ferry around the islands. While buying ferry tickets we were greeted by Mr. Lee, the very friendly tour guide. We seemed to be the only tourist he had seen in a while and he was more than eager to help. He even gave us a personalized tour of the museum while we waited. His enthusiasm was very entertaining, the language barrier and the overall awkwardness added to the hilarity. Take for example this piece of our conversation: "this island is famous for Bumping Bisssshees?" (pause) "Ohhhh Jumping Fish!" "Yes, yes, you understand, yes?"

The ferry ride was fun. Very small walk on ferry that connects people on the island to the mainland, Mokpo. I don't think most people ride it for fun, but we enjoyed it!

• Lotus Lantern Festival.

This may be my favorite festival yet.

The Lotus Lantern Festival is the celebration of Buddha's birthday in Seoul. It included a lantern parade, a Buddhist culture street fair and a traditional lantern exhibition in and around Jogyesa and Bongeunsa Temples. It was beautiful!!

Saturday we went to Bongeunsa Temple. The entire temple was covered in colorful lanterns.

The white tags are wishes.

White lanterns are wishes for the dead.

Colorful lanterns a general life wishes.

Saturday night we went to the lantern parade. It was so, so beautiful. So many amazing lantern floats.

Sunday was the Buddhist culture street fair. A street in the area on Insadong was shut off from traffic for about a mile and lined with hundreds of booths. There were booths about korean and international Buddhist culture, local community groups, food samples, games, and many interactive booths (lantern making, candle making, incense making......) It was so much fun!!!!!!

Lotus candle making.

making wishes

making a little paper lotus.

The street fair was also located in and around Jogyesa Temple. Like the temple before, it was covered in colorful lanterns. I don't know if I could ever get tired of all the beautiful lanterns, wish I could cover my apartment with them. I'm in love with them.

Thanks for reading! Hopefully I will return again soon to fill you in on all of my upcoming adventures:

Bungee Jumping (hopefully) for my 25th Birthday

Tour of the DMZ

Gangneung Beach Trip

Vacation to the Philippines

Stay tuned.