Wednesday, August 20, 2014

To Russia With Bikes!

The sweetest sound you've ever heard is a motorcycle engine starting up after two years in storage! Mind you, it took a few cranks and three sets of crossed fingers but they both started up and ran after Ross connected the battery cables and primed the carburetors. There was sufficent gas to get us out of the cargo terminal and to a gas station so that was another worry dealt with. All told, it took about three hours from unwrapping to riding away. This was all under the watchful eye of our amazing import agent, Wendy Choi, the other set of crossed fingers. She has taken us under her wing from our initial contact to the final wave as we road out of the terminal-cutting through red tape and interpreting for us. Our bikes came into a different terminal than the others so she stayed with us and made sure we were ok. She even tried to help in the reassembly of the bikes and was rewarded with a ride around the parking lot on Doug's bike-shrieking all the way!
Then it was back to the hotel for the night and an early morning ride into Seoul. Now in Korea, bikes are not allowed on the interstates so we had to take a ferry to the mainland. Trouble was, we couldn't find the ferry. Next thing we know, we're on the interstate toll road and as soon as we get to the toll booth, we're stopped and the police are called. Uh oh! When Lt. Moon arrives, he's smiling. Good sign. Doug introduces himself and shows him his police ID and receives a salute in return. Better sign. After a short lecture on why bikes aren't allowed on the interstate: "Number 1. It's dangerous!" (Light traffic, perfect pavement, well defined.) Dangerous? If this is as dangerous as it gets, we'll be thrilled! More salutes and we're off without even having to pay the toll!
Doug led us into Seoul and found our hotel for the next three days. He is a fantastic leader!! He kept us altogether while trying to navigate by dead reckoning amidst the morning city traffic and we arrived two hours later without incident. Here we met up with Dave Rankine which now completes our merry little band.
Arriving 10 days early before leaving for Russia, has given us time to see Seoul and some of South Korea. It's has been made easy by engaging a tour guide named Sun and her driver, Mr. Moon! The first tour was the historic sights of Seoul which included a visit to the magnificent Jogyesa Buddhist temple where we were in time to hear the resident Monk chant daily prayers. The temple dates back to 1300 and is unusual as they were normally built up in the mountains and it has been allowed to remain in what is now the heart of the city.
A stop at the National Folklore Museum gave us an overview of the country's development under the various dynasties and some understanding of the culture. It was fascinating to see the similarities to our own pioneer development as well as the diversity of such an ancient land. The next stop was the Gyeongbok Palace, home of a former Emporor where we watched the Changing of the Guard and met two women in the traditional Hanbok dresses.
The Korean War which started in1950 and ended in 1953 is touchingly commemorated at the War Memorial Museum. A huge variety of military equipment such as airplanes, tanks, ships, rocket launchers, etc. are displayed around the grounds but the most moving are the statues honoring the sacrifices of both the soldiers and civilians during this terrible time in the country's history. One particularly poignant work of art represents a South Korean officer encountering his North Korean brother on the battlefield.
We were surprised at the number of US forces still deployed in the country. According to the Armitist Agreement signed at the end of the war, they must maintain no less than 28,500 and nor more than 1 million troops in the country. Canada's participation of deployment of 26,000 of her troops is acknowledged in a recently erected monument.
The next tour was three hours south to the city of Danyang, a beautiful resort area in the mountains where the city people come to cool down and chill out. We toured the Gosu Cave and took a ferry ride to a lovely lookout 300 steps up a mountain! I won't bore you with the other names and places but the tall, slender mountains, many rivers, and crops growing everywhere gave us another view of this serene country. The day ended at a facinating musical fountain unfortunately being serenaded by Kareoke!


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