LEAVING KHABAROVSK, FAR EAST RUSSIA
Goodbye Russia
We were sorry to be leaving Russia. It is always sad leaving a country with which you have developed such a movingly close relationship, and Russia was no exception.
Our journey to Magadan and Chukotka in the Russian Far East had been nothing short of simply fantastic, probably one of the best, most exciting and fascinating journeys upon which we have ever embarked. We just loved the Russian "winter" season; a wild bitter world of snow, frozen seas and extraordinary ice roads. It was so different from anything we had ever witnessed.
And we wanted to return....
Khabarovsk Airport: Man With a Blue Brief Case
If one thing makes me absolutely furious to the point of explosion, it is someone who jumps queues. During our travels I have become an expert viewer of queue hoppers and their various crafty tactics ranging from forcefully pushing in, forming queues several people abreast to sneakily sidling next to a person then nipping in front at the last minute. In fact, I think I can spot a "hopper" before they even try out their selfish deeds. Their confidence and arrogance stands out a mile away. Whatever their game plan, for me it is one of the most unacceptable forms of rudeness. I have not hit anyone yet but that morning I came very close.....
I have elaborated on the frustrations of dealing with the bureaucracy, inefficiency, abrupt staff and endless delays at Khabarovsk's international and domestic airport terminals. And this day was no better with yet another flight delay and of course more queues - which of course did nothing to enhance to my tolerance of bad manners....
Finally about to board our Aeroflot aircraft for our two hour flight to Seoul, South Korea, a man in a well cut grey business suit carrying a distinctive blue brief case, pulled at my shoulder. Thinking he had a problem (he nearly had a big problem) I stepped aside, only to find he had rudely pushed past me and forced his way to the top of the aircraft stairway.
Enraged by his bad manners, I tried to find him on the plane - only to realise I was only making life difficult for the oncoming passengers. "Just what do you think you are doing?" demanded an exasperated Alan. "I'm going to find that guy with the blue brief case and tell him exactly what people think of queue jumpers" I hissed.....
He was lucky but the guy who tried the same in Incheon Airport wasn't....
OUR JOURNEY TO SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA
We usually end our overseas trips with a few days in Shanghai where we can enjoy some rest and recreation at our favourite Shanghai Sofitel Hyland Hotel. We are generally wrecked after our usual "off the beaten path journeys" and some time to chill out in the comfort of a good hotel is sheer joy.
For this trip we had managed to purchase our external return air tickets from Sydney to Seoul with Korean Airlines at a very competitive price as part of the promotion for the Paralympic Games held in Pyeonchong, Korea during March 2018. So for this trip, instead of having our chill out in Shanghai, we decided to spend a few days in Seoul followed by a train trip to Busan in the southern part of the peninsular where we would spend an additional three nights.
We had both travelled to Seoul independently some decades before. Alan had spent considerable time in Korea on business during the 1980's and 1990's. At that time he was Director of a marketing arm of the then New South Wales Department of Agriculture whose mission was to promote and facilitate trade in food and fibre between Australian and international markets. Similarly, I had travelled to Korea as part of my 1994 Winston Churchill Fellowship Award to study export opportunities for Australian food exports into the Asia Region. Needless to say, we were both quite intrigued to see how Korea may have changed during the twenty or so years since we had last visited.
Our Arrival in Seoul
With so many people travelling worldwide, long queues and lengthy waits are sadly now all part of the travel "experience" despite which class of air travel you chose. Once again, we waited patiently in the Immigration Arrival queue at ICN international airport for what seemed like forever. A number of counters were open with the usual procedure of the next person in line being called to the first available desk.
A businessman behind me made an unfortunate error. When the next desk was available, he almost knocked me over in forcing his way past me. This was really the last straw. And in a very loud voice I made it quite clear of my objection to the rather startled looking officials. To my delight the official on my desk announced in perfect English "Sir, this lady was in front of you. You must return to the queue". The man began to argue - after all, this was a big loss of face for a Korean business man. The official insisted and the man bearing a foolish grin, eventually shuffled back to the queue behind me.
Justice done, I was feeling very jubilant about our coming stay in Seoul....
Alan had booked a room at the Novotel Ambassador Doksan Hotel located in the Doksan Dong area. Hotels were extremely expensive in Seoul and although it was some 13 kilometers from the city centre, this Accor owned establishment having good reviews and being very competitively priced, was appealing. Furthermore, the Club Room suite Alan booked had two rooms including a lounge and sitting area, a kitchenette and a washing machine, something we thought would be very handy after weeks of travel with virtually no laundry facilities.
The hotel advised us to catch a shuttle bus from the airport which to our surprise turned out to be very good advice and much easier (and a lot cheaper than a taxi) than we had anticipated. Finding our bus for the two hour journey was straightforward but finding out when to alight at our hotel was quite another matter. Thankfully, some of the passengers spoke good English and explained to the driver who then obligingly signalled for us when we came close. We were really grateful. As we well know, being lost in a big city with all your luggage can be daunting...
The Novotel Doksan was a pleasant, if slightly tired looking hotel. The check in desk was very efficient and the very young hotel staff was exceptional. Our two room suite was a bit drab and slightly aged but it was large, clean and comfortable. We could hardly complain. With a dining table and chairs, comfortable lounges, two televisions and a well stocked kitchenette with a hotplate and microwave and nice views to the mountains in the east, we were more than happy. And best of all, the hotel was located just opposite Home Plus Shopping Mall which included a good department store - and bliss, a great supermarket! All in all, the hotel was a very pleasant and a cost effective place to stay for a few days.
DAY ONE - A WALKING TOUR OF SEOUL
Alan had booked in advance a half-day walking tour of Seoul with the Lokafy's "Get Your Guide" tour program. A Canadian based organisation, Lokafy offers "personalised walking tours by locals who are passionate about their city and love to meet people". The concept of having a local person rather than the usual tour guide, sounded exactly what we wanted. After many years of travel, we are really over "touristy tours". Our main aim was to gain a feel for the city and a first hand insight into how the people live their day to day lives in such a huge, densely populated urban complex. And of course, we wanted to see from a private perspective how Seoul really looked and operated after the twenty five years or so since we last visited.
Meeting Marina
Marina was our guide for our walking tour. A friendly, interesting and highly informative young woman, Marina provided us with fabulous tour and an invaluable insight into life in modern Seoul; exactly what we wanted. Marina's advice was to take a train to the Cheongnyangni fresh markets followed by a stroll around Seoul's city centre. Did we want to visit the international food pavilion (COEX) where we had attended Korea's SEOULFOOD food fairs so many years ago? No, we didn't need to re-visit old days quite so thoroughly, but I confess that I did think nostalgically of the Olympic stadium where friend and colleague John Baker and I had run a "lap of honour" (much to the astonishment of the locals as we had to illegally climb the stadium fence) on an early morning when we attended SEOULFOOD way back in 1994.
Our train trip was valuable with Marina kindly showing us how to purchase tickets, and even more importantly how to work out which train to catch. Seoul's extensive railway system although confronting at first, was surprisingly user friendly. Our lesson in purchasing tickets and navigating the train system was to prove very useful during our stay in Korea.
During our journey to the markets, Marina explained about her interesting, if rather surprising background. An ethnic Korean, Marina was actually born in Kyrgyzstan and had immigrated to Korea only in 2014. Marina elaborated: During the Stalin era, ethnic Koreans were accused of harbouring Japanese spies (a rather mind blowing accusation considering Korea's past conflict with Japan) and like many other ethnic and cultural groups during Stalin's crazy rule, were considered a national threat, resulting on many Korean families fleeing the country. Marina's grandfather's family who lived in eastern Russia near Vladivostok, was forced to flee to Kyrgyzstan where his family resided for a number of generations. Marina visited Korea for the first time in 2012, fell in love with Seoul and decided to "return to her home country".
Even more surprising to us, Marina explained that her immediate family had "lost" their language and on her arrival to Korea, she had to learn Korean and of course the Han'gul script. "Are ethnic Koreans who are born overseas awarded citizenship?" we asked. Marina replied that although they are not actually Korean citizens, returning ethnic Koreans are welcomed and issued with a special permit, something like a permanent visa.
Two Cities of Seoul - Our Snap Shot View of the Past and Present
Travelling into the centre of the city, we stared in awe of how different Seoul looked since our visits in the 1980' and 1990's. Yes, we had been fortunate to have witnessed such incredible and impressive changes. And given the rate of Korea's economic and social progress we should not have been at all surprised.
The Seoul we were seeing was far more modern, more attractive and obviously far more prosperous. And it certainly was a lot more westernised. Young people wore casual but carefully considered designer jeans and t-shirts. Older people were very smartly dressed. Strange as it may sound from foreigners, the people exuded an air of confidence and perhaps a certain happiness we could not recall from our past visits. We agreed that we found them a lot friendlier to foreigners. And despite the perpetual smog, the city looked impressive; beautifully maintained and lined with luxuriant trees and carefully cultured flower beds.
Flash cars, including plenty of gleaming new Hyundai, Daewoo and Kia vehicles and also a good mix of top end motor vehicles such as Mercedes, Lexus, BMW and Porsche filled the busy streets. Seoul was really buzzing.
We recalled our former visits when Korea was just becoming truly modernised. In my 1994 study tour report, I record "On the surface, Korea is very westernised and sophisticated. Pace of life is fast and like Japan, there is an impression of affluence and a thriving economy... Korea, is however still very much a developing country....". From these visits, glimpses behind the scenes of real life in Seoul revealed a very tough and harsh existence and a real impression of individual resilience. Furthermore, we found everyday people (those we did not know) not particularly friendly to foreigners. In fact, many times I found myself being pushed rudely, particularly by Korean men. And perhaps it should not have been so surprising as at the time westernisation was comparatively new to Korea. Incredible as it may seem today, foreign travel was illegal for Koreans up to the 1988 Seoul Olympic Games.
Talking with Marina about our impressions of the Seoul of yesterday and today, she simply replied "Ahh yes. You have been lucky to have seen two different worlds of Seoul".
A Glimpse Into the Modern Day Republic of Korea (South Korea)
Today, South Korea is considered a much respected regional power. It is the world's 11th largest economy and is a global leader in the industrial and technological sectors of electronics, automobiles, ships, machinery, petrochemicals and robotics. It is the world's 5th largest exporter and 8th largest importer.
South Korea is also regarded today as an international force to be reckoned with. It is a member of ASEAN, the UN, the WTO ad OECD and is a founding member of APEC and the East Asia Summit.
The government framework of South Korea is of a presidential representative democratic republic; the President (Moon Jae-in) is the head of state, and of a multi-party system.
Political, commercial, diplomatic, and military tensions between North and South Korea began in 1945 (at the end of World War II) with the division of Korea in North and South. Resulting conflict between the two nations erupted in 1950 into open warfare - the Korean War. This year (2018), the relationship has seen a major diplomatic breakthrough and become significantly warmer. In April 2018, the two countries signed the ground breaking Panmumjeom Declaration of Peace, Prosperity and Unification.
South Korea today houses a population of around 51 million (44 million in 1994) and is considered to have one of the highest population densities in the world (more than 10 times the global average) with almost half of the population residing in the capital Seoul.
Today, Korea now faces the problem of a shrinking and rapidly ageing population, the speed of which is thought to be unprecedented in human history. Since the 2000's, Korea has been characterised by low birth rates which today are (around 1.4 children per family and regarded mainly as a reflection of government introduced birth control incentives) leading to some predictions that suggest if the current trends hold, Korea's population will diminish to about 38 million by the end of the 21st century. (Conversely, in 1994 Korea was characterised by its remarkably young population - only 2% aged over 60 years and a staggering 60% under 27 years).
This change of demographics was quite staggering. According to commentators "The shape of the population has changed from a pyramid in the 1990's, with more young people and fewer older people to a diamond shape, with less younger people and a larger proportion of middle-age individuals....".
Interestingly, Korea is one of the world's most ethnically homogenous nations with only a very slow move toward any form of multiculturalism. The South Korean population has retained a very high level of education (2018 98% literacy, 1994 96%). It is one of the top performing OECD countries in reading literacy, mathematics, sciences and is reputed as have almost an education obsession - otherwise known as "education fever". Pressure for Korean children to succeed academically is deeply ingrained in children (and their parents!) from a very young age, with not having a university degree regarded as a major cultural stigma.
Similarly, the work ethos for Koreans is extremely strong. Furthermore, employers are extremely demanding with employees working up to 68 hours per week resulting in the country being regarded as "the most overworked in Asia" - which is really saying something....
Marina talked to us at length about a new landmark law which will restrict the maximum working hours to 52 hours per week. Put into practice in July 2018, the law initially applies to larger companies before being rolled out to smaller organisations. Not surprisingly, the law was welcomed by employees but faced stiff opposition from business. According to The Guardian in a March 2018 article "It was seen necessary to improve living standards, create more jobs and boost productivity, it is also aimed at increasing the country's birth rate, which hit record lows last year". An interesting concept, it will be fascinating to watch the outcomes.....
The Cheongnyangni Markets
Our first stop on our walking tour was the Cheongnyangni fresh fruit and vegetable wholesale markets. It is hard not to enjoy an Asian food market and Cheongnyangni was no exception.
Like our visits to Garak-Dong fresh markets in the 1990's, the variety and quality of the produce was very impressive. Rows of bustling lane ways were lined with stalls selling beautiful fruit including grapes, citrus, pears and some superb looking large apples I could just not pass without buying. Similarly, the vegetables looked fantastic too.
One product we could not identify was a curious plum shaped fruit, both fresh and dried. Marina later sent me a note saying that they were Jujube or Chinese Dates. Interestingly, they are now being grown with success in Western Australia.
And of course you could not be in Korea without seeing endless baskets of ginseng and fresh and prepared ingredients for the national dish of kimchi. Other stalls sold a startling range of seaweed products; others masses of fresh herbs and spices.
The main seafood hall was closed but alongside we wandered through rows of stalls selling a wide variety of fresh and dried fish, molluscs and crustaceans all of which looked very good quality.
A Stroll Around Central and Northern Seoul
Our walking tour through central Seoul took us along modern busy city streets sporting huge high rise buildings, plazas and side walk cafes. The Seoul of 2018 was certainly a very different city.
Our wanders then took us down to the famous Gwanghwamun Square, home to attractions such as the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, the National Folk Museum, monuments of Admiral Yi Sun-Sin (famous for his battles against Japanese invasions), Sejong the Great (revered Korean King of the Choun Kingdom* and promoter of education, scientific research, economics and culure, and who also instituted the Han'gul Korean script) and the beautiful Gyeonbokgung Palace, built in 1395 and the main palace of the Chosun Dynasty.
*The Chosun Dynasty lasted a staggering period of time from 1392 to 1910.
We were well aware of time limitations. Marina had given us a taste of Seoul and we knew we could return during the next days to further explore any other of the city sights. We had enjoyed our walking tour - it had given us a short but interesting snap shot of modern day Seoul - and it was just the right length for two weary tourists.
We were also very grateful to Marina*. She had not only given us an interesting walking tour of Seoul, but she also went to no end of trouble to inform us of other attractions and also of where we should visit in our coming trip to Busan city. "I think you will arrive in the cherry blossom season. But I will make sure". With that she called a friend to find the best places in Busan for viewing. We had not thought about the cherry blossom season in Korea. It was an additional bonus.
Our Following Time in Seoul
After some five week's travel in Russia, we enjoyed the peace and quiet of our hotel - and a day off sightseeing. We spent a few hours wandering around the hotel surrounds; an interesting insight into the housing and way of life of the outlying urban district of Doksan Dong.
Needless to say, we also visited the supermarket in the Home Plus Shopping Mall. Once again the quality of the produce was exceptional and the variety of food products was mind blowing. The staff was also particularly friendly, smiling and chatting, and offering us numerous samples of the foods they were promoting. For "supermarket-aholics" it was great fun.
We enjoyed our brief stay in Seoul. A pleasant and relaxing time in what was a very different city in the year 2018.
2025-02-07