So all big plans for July's travels were postponed until the rain stops....'any day now'. Which it didn't. Neverthless, as soon as the rain breaks, it's so hot that rainwater disappears in minutes and we have time to jump up and get on out. So the last few weeks have been a quest to find more exciting things that the Gyeongi Province has got to offer. As it turns out, there's a lot.
We'd heard great things about Seoul Flea Market - a huge indoor and (weather permitting) outdoor market where you can buy anything from stuffed crocodiles to camera lenses. The indoor market is divided into sections, the most intruiging being the antique section where you can peruse through traditional (and pretty dusty) Korean antiques, jewellery and artwork. It smells like your grandma's attic, but I quite like that. So get your haggling skills at the ready and be prepared to come back with nothing you actually need and lots of stuff that you will probably never use. Like a big turtle. The market closes at 7pm, but just make sure to get there early, as stalls start closing up nearer 6pm....and there's a lot to look around.
The next week, Bucheon was hosting it's annual International Film Festival: Pifan. Pifan clearly means 'death' because almost every film is based around people dying in slow and horrific ways. Excellent! So of course we decided to go one step further and bought 3D tickets for the next day. Nice. Or it would have been if I hadn't got ragingly drunk that night, had to drag myself to the cinema in time for the film, then had to leave after ten minutes to be sick. Turns out 3D blood squirting out at you doesn't mix well with a soju hangover.
To make matters worse, I decided to find a sauna next door while I waited for the others, and instead got locked in a building for the duration of the film. One would have thought that the security guard could have told me that the sauna had closed down and that the doors were on automatic lock. The old rascal.
Thankfully I survived, and decided that the next weekend should be more productive than getting drunk, hungover, and locked in empty buildings. A spot of volunteering would be much more wholesome. So we jumped in the car early Saturday morning and headed down to Asan Animal Shelter. With well over a hundred dogs, and almost as many cats, the self-funded shelter needs lots of help with the feeding, walking, and distribution of medicine to the animals. Most of the dogs are in good condition, although some bear the scars of the life from which they were rescued. This happy chappy managed to pull himself free from the wire tying it to the dog restaurant where he was going to be dinner.
Thankfully, the shelter rescued him and even raised funds to send him for some doggy cosmetic surgery, and now he has a new nose. But really, these dogs just desperately want a chance to be walked and given a bit of attention. Or even better, adopted to a good home. As it turns out, our friends were planning on adopting a dog and so we took home a beautiful little pup. Even if you can't adopt, helping out for a few hours is much appreciated, and a really enjoyable, rewarding (and smelly) day.
The final wet July weekend turned out to be not so wet, so we headed to Seoul for some cycling beside the Han River. A real effort has been made to make the mighty river banks a clean and accessible public space, so dotted along the river are open air swimming pools, music stages, fountains, BBQ spots, bike rentals, water sports, and shops selling food, booze and fireworks to get the juices flowing. Summer days and nights are happily spent by the Han River. We rented out bikes - 7000W (£3.50) for 3 hours, went out on a speed boat and enjoyed free live music. Happy days on the Han.
So it turns out that monsoon's not all that bad! But who am I kidding, it's time for the rain to do one and give us some more sunshine. I think It's time to escape to Jeju Island.
