South Korea: new and old

In April of this year, I traveled to South Korea for a conference and took the opportunity to spend a few weeks exploring the country. I found it to be such a juxtaposition of ancient and modern. The advertisements, lights, crowds and shopping malls of the cities were quite exciting, if a bit overwhelming. I got to ride a moped in the city, which was quite a thrill.

On the other end of the spectrum, the slow pace of the countryside was absolutely charming and peaceful. I've never before finished a hike at a monastery! Although I'd heard that trails in Korea can be quite busy, and the signage seemed to suggest this, I found myself all alone in a hut and on the trail. It wasn't until a ran into a "power expressing" ranger that I discovered the trail was closed for fire season. Oops.

People were wonderful to me and it was interesting learning about some cultural practices different than my own. For example, in place of the gravesites and cemeteries I know, there are instead burial mounds all over the countryside, with little benches for people to go and visit their ancestors. A more modern tradition is hiking to the little mount overlooking Seoul and locking a padlock to a fence to represent the enduring nature of your relationship.