Sunday 22 October 2023

Seoul, South Korea (ROK)

Greetings on my first of seven days in the capital and largest city in So Korea. This is my first visit to Seoul, although I have visited Busan, So Korea's second city, on a cruise in 2019. So here's hoping I like Korean barbecue. But before we find out, the blog  must return to another busy day on:

Wednesday Morning:  Kyoto

My primary mission this morning is to have my hair cut. My last cut was back in Tucson before I left and I"m looking rather shaggy all around. Google is a big help in locating what I need, which happens to be less than one block from my hotel. There are three locals ahead of me, but I figure the wait will be a nice rest. The barber has all the right equipment and his wife (sister?) wields a mighty straight razor on the back of my neck and ears. I come out looking and feeling like a weight has been taken off my

head.

Feeling a little "light-headed" (hah!), I rest a bit before catching a 1pm Shinkansen, which gets me non-stop to Shin-Osaka Station in about 16 minutes. From here I take a taxi to the Hotel Via Umeda, a business hotel less expensive and better located in the center of town, again selected by my afore-mentioned sister-in-law. In fact, the reason I am in Osaka today is to spend time with Akiko, who is in Japan visiting her family and old friends. She returns to Austin, TX, and my brother, Steve, a few days before I go back to Tucson.

She has taken a day out of her busy schedule to meet me and we spend the afternoon and evening catching up on all that has happened since we last met. And we enjoy an excellent Chinese dinner at a fine restaurant. The next morning I take the train back to Kyoto. So now you know why my Friday arrival in Osaka was my second time, not my first.

My tiny "salaryman's" room in the Via Umeda:

Thursday: Another Round of Temples

After breakfast on Thursday I take the fast train back to Kyoto and spend the rest of the morning relaxing.

In the afternoon I'm off on another taxi ride, this time to the hills on the eastern side of the city to visit Ginkaku-ji (mid-15th century), the "Silver Pavilion," sister to the "Golden Pavilion" on the west side. Ginkaku-ji  is smaller and plainer than its sister pavilion but has its own special charms in a beautifully designed rock garden. It is also renowned as the location of the very first formal Tea Ceremony.

The garden path rises up the side of the mountain and offers views of the city to the south and the west. 

Ginkaku-ji also is positioned at the beginning of the Philosopher's Path. The stone path follows a small canal and passes private homes, small shops and several other important temples. 

I stop to visit Nansen-ji, a former imperial home that was converted to a complex of temples in 1291.

I continue on the Philosopher's Path, with views over Kyoto on the western side. When I am tired enough, I catch a taxi back to the Merure Hotel and enjoy a salad and very good pizza for dinner. My evening is taken up with packing my larger suitcase for pickup by a service that will deliver it to my hotel in Osaka (for my second visit) by 7pm. I also have to pack away everything else in the small suitcase and shoulder bag I will be taking with me on tomorrow's train ride.