Kidhar janewala Hai vacation mein?
South.
Aacha tho IV nahi aayega?
Nahi re. But you people have fun.
I was in two minds when Dad asked me whether I was coming for Korea. One view was I might not see such a different country again. I may not get a chance to go to around -7º C temperatures. Other was saying, I rather go with my friends to the IV. It would be more fun. Korea mein kya hai? Rajasthan mein sab saath mein enjoy karenge.
I choose the former one, and am glad to say that I don’t regret it now. Surely I missed my friends. With them it would have been great. But at the same time, I got to see an incredible country. An adventure to remember for the rest of my life.
This country is called as “Land of Morning Calm”. At sub-zero temperatures, mornings are Surely calm. On arrival day, temperatures were -3º to -7º. From past experience at Leh, I had learnt that it was important to rest first day, so that you can adjust to temperature well. Otherwise, 10 days trip is reduced to 2 days, next day you cant bear the cold, return back. Or stay confined to your hotel room.
If temperatures change from 25 to -6 slowly, degree by degree, then you can adjust. But for sudden change, precaution is needed. You cant afford to eat too much otherwise heat needed to digest it is large and begin to feel weak. You need food which consumed in small amount gives large amount of calories. Choclates and Ice-creams are the best. Ice-creams in such cold? Crazy? Nope, it’s the best.
Third day of stay, Seoul temperature was -9º C to -17ºC. Even the localites were shivering badly. Water dropped from the bottle would freeze in around 10 seconds. If you put your hand in the river for even some seconds, water would stick to hand and form solid mass. Every word you utter comes of with a thick fog of air. Sunlight hardly gives any warmth. In most of cold places I’ve been, even if it’s freezing during evenings, however the day sunshine brings you warmth. But here,Sun changed nothing. Fierce winds that prevent you to keep your camera steady for a pic. Only one of the days temperatures went above freezing mark. Busan was 1º to -3º.
The minute when you come out of the shower, and you dress yourself is probably the worst minute of your life. The winter coat I had was Made in USA and was a huge plus, but the gloves which were brought from a shopkeeper saying “Kitni bhi thandi mein leke jao, chal jayenge” proved to be useless. It was better to get a new one there.
Morning 9 to night 7-30 was the only time it was worth roaming on the street. I still recollect how difficult it was to take Seoul streets for the 8.55 am flight to Jeju Island. Infact, all I had to do was to catch a cab, which wasn’t even a 1 minute walk. Life’s fun, enjoy, you may never experience this again. But when you think about it that way, think about the localites. It’s a 10 day fun trip for us, but it aign’t exiting when it’s 3 months of every year of your life.
Not many Indian travelers visit this country. Infact out of the 200 odd people on Korean Air flight, only 10 were Seoul bound, others were mostly NRI’s or the software guys on their way to America. Indians mostly go to places where there’s business. Hongkong, Singapore, London, Dubai, South-Africa you name it and we are there. However, during entire trip, didn’t see any Indian over there. Not even Indian and Pakistani restaurants. It has never happened to me before.
But, braving the climate, this country has something great to offer. Some great people and great memories that I’ll always cherish.
South.
Aacha tho IV nahi aayega?
Nahi re. But you people have fun.
I was in two minds when Dad asked me whether I was coming for Korea. One view was I might not see such a different country again. I may not get a chance to go to around -7º C temperatures. Other was saying, I rather go with my friends to the IV. It would be more fun. Korea mein kya hai? Rajasthan mein sab saath mein enjoy karenge.
I choose the former one, and am glad to say that I don’t regret it now. Surely I missed my friends. With them it would have been great. But at the same time, I got to see an incredible country. An adventure to remember for the rest of my life.
This country is called as “Land of Morning Calm”. At sub-zero temperatures, mornings are Surely calm. On arrival day, temperatures were -3º to -7º. From past experience at Leh, I had learnt that it was important to rest first day, so that you can adjust to temperature well. Otherwise, 10 days trip is reduced to 2 days, next day you cant bear the cold, return back. Or stay confined to your hotel room.
If temperatures change from 25 to -6 slowly, degree by degree, then you can adjust. But for sudden change, precaution is needed. You cant afford to eat too much otherwise heat needed to digest it is large and begin to feel weak. You need food which consumed in small amount gives large amount of calories. Choclates and Ice-creams are the best. Ice-creams in such cold? Crazy? Nope, it’s the best.
Third day of stay, Seoul temperature was -9º C to -17ºC. Even the localites were shivering badly. Water dropped from the bottle would freeze in around 10 seconds. If you put your hand in the river for even some seconds, water would stick to hand and form solid mass. Every word you utter comes of with a thick fog of air. Sunlight hardly gives any warmth. In most of cold places I’ve been, even if it’s freezing during evenings, however the day sunshine brings you warmth. But here,Sun changed nothing. Fierce winds that prevent you to keep your camera steady for a pic. Only one of the days temperatures went above freezing mark. Busan was 1º to -3º.
The minute when you come out of the shower, and you dress yourself is probably the worst minute of your life. The winter coat I had was Made in USA and was a huge plus, but the gloves which were brought from a shopkeeper saying “Kitni bhi thandi mein leke jao, chal jayenge” proved to be useless. It was better to get a new one there.
Morning 9 to night 7-30 was the only time it was worth roaming on the street. I still recollect how difficult it was to take Seoul streets for the 8.55 am flight to Jeju Island. Infact, all I had to do was to catch a cab, which wasn’t even a 1 minute walk. Life’s fun, enjoy, you may never experience this again. But when you think about it that way, think about the localites. It’s a 10 day fun trip for us, but it aign’t exiting when it’s 3 months of every year of your life.
Not many Indian travelers visit this country. Infact out of the 200 odd people on Korean Air flight, only 10 were Seoul bound, others were mostly NRI’s or the software guys on their way to America. Indians mostly go to places where there’s business. Hongkong, Singapore, London, Dubai, South-Africa you name it and we are there. However, during entire trip, didn’t see any Indian over there. Not even Indian and Pakistani restaurants. It has never happened to me before.
But, braving the climate, this country has something great to offer. Some great people and great memories that I’ll always cherish.
2 comments:
firstly, welcome back sanket. great pics, getting a feeling you enjoyed more than we did on our trip;)..nevertheless surprised to hear you found no indian there..I thought we were overflowing:P..
anyways, great to see you back on blogs!...congrats for your memorable journey..cheers
yes it was surprising not to see Indians over there..Yes enjoyed a lot...With friends it sure would have been more enjoyable..
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