Korea

I recently counted all the countries that I have been to and realized that it totalled up to 16. Not bad, although I still have a huge list of places to see. Since I started with Thailand and that was my most recent trip I think I will continue there and work backwards. My flight to Thailand was not an ordinary one. I had a 13 hour layover each way in Seoul, Korea. On the way to Thailand I was full of energy and excitement, so I signed up for 6 hour downtown tour of Seoul. The tour was very dissapointing, mostly due to the apathetic nature of my fellow travelers. My tour was made up of 2 families and myself,all of whom were interested in sitting on the bus,shopping or eating. So although I did not get to see alot of Korea, I did have an amazing Korean BBQ lunch. We had to take our shoes off and sit on cushions on the floor where a low table held two mini open flames. We watched as our food slowly cooked itself and enjoyed an amazing lunch complete with Kimchi. On my flight home I was exhausted from all the traveling around and didnt want to experience another non tour. So I decided to check into the hotel airport for 6 hours and then spend the other 7 hours exploring the airport. Turns out there isnt much to do in the Incheon Airport. As I was roaming up and down the airport hallway, I saw a Korean cultural center for visitors. The center had traditional games, a brief history and a dress up area where you could take a picture ina traditional Korean dress called a hanbok. Boredom can make you try anything, and sure enought 3 hours later there I was getting my picture taken in full on traditional gear. My jeans were covered, but my exhaustion could not be hidden...