Geumgangsan, North Korea
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- Category: Destinations
- Published on Monday, 10 September 2012 17:22
- Written by Doug
Path into the Mountains, Geumgangsan, North Korea
Up until a few years ago, it was possible to visit North Korea on a nature tour by crossing the border from South Korea. When I went, I didn't see much in the way of "secret glimpses into the real North Korea," but my experience was still as interesting and bizarre as you would expect North Korea to be. I saw how much effort North Koreans put into making their country appear presentable to outsiders, and some of the most beautiful mountains on the peninnisula. The cloud and fog actually added to the effect, making the whole area seem even more other-worldy and alien.
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destinationsThe Cities of Havana
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- Category: Destinations
- Published on Tuesday, 04 September 2012 17:44
- Written by Doug
Havana Orientation - Google
Havana is more like an agglomeration of several distinct cities, rather than one city in itself, where crossing one street can mean the difference between luxury tourist hotels and delapitated apartment buildings. There are a total of 15 districts, but you can get a good feel for the city by just visiting a few, which conveniently happen to be listed below this read more line. Want to know which ones are the goods? Well you'll have to click below to find out...(or just look at a map)
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Melbourne, Australia
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- Category: Destinations
- Published on Tuesday, 07 August 2012 15:00
- Written by Doug
Ahh, Melbourne. The only part of Australia not overrun with bogans and sports fanatics. A place where you don't have to watch the footie and drink copious amounts of swill all the time to overcompensate for the fact that you secretly love jazz or that you have a collection of My Little Ponies. Ahh Melbourne.
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Yingge, Taiwan - Artisan Village
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- Category: Destinations
- Published on Tuesday, 03 July 2012 16:48
- Written by Doug
You want anything handmade Chinese, you go to Yingge. Like Taiwanese food, which is a combination of native foods and foods from the entirety of mainland China, Yingge houses many types of craftspeople, none of which I took photos of. The main focus seems to be on ceramics, particularly those inlaid with gold flecks. I bought some tea cups that even Sangeetha would approve of, and promptly gave them away without taking any photos of me. They sure were nice though.
The people here are very tourist friendly (in all senses of the word), and if you are there at the right time you can go right into workshops and see pottery making in action.
Good day trip from Taipei, especially when combined with Sansia Temple only a few kilometres away. To be honest though, the only reason I wrote this tiny speck of an article was to have an excuse to show off the two pictures of my friends rocking out Buddhist style. I mean, I know that the Buddhist version of the devil's horns have nothing to do with rocking out hardcore, but when "comedy" strikes, where will you be? I'll be rocking out in front of the perplexed Buddhists over there.
Day Off: Hangeul Park and Cheonggyesa Temple
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- Category: Destinations
- Published on Friday, 29 June 2012 05:10
- Written by Doug
On the rare days where free time and the weekend coincide, it's nice to get out of the hustle and bustle of the city and head out into the hustle and bustle of everyone trying to get out of the hustle and bustle of the hustle and bustle. This time, I headed to scenic Uiwang city which has a few interesting things in and around, but whose slogan "Yes! Uiwang!" leaves much to be desired. (I mean seriously, "Oui, Uiwang" would have said the same thing, but would have sounded so much cooler.) The main reason for this was to visit a park based on the Korean alphabet, hangeul. Being as linguistically inclined and I am, I thought it would be a mystical narniesque jaunt through the land of letters, where a man in a ㅎ-shaped foam costume would sing and dance ever so well, and sell me pink and sky blue HangeulipsTM and salted popped corn.
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