by kilroy » Sat Jul 23, 2011 2:54 pm
holy shit. after reading the first page of that thread i think i'd like to punch every one of those people in the face. the KTX is dangerous? haha, there has never been a single incident with it. 'ive never actually been to daegu but drove past it and it looked like auschwithz'. yeah you probably drove past the outside of the military base nearby you tool. polluted industrial wasteland? and then they reccomend beijing. it reads like none of those shits have ever ventured outside of itaewon for fucks sake.
i really like korea, and not because of all the drunken revelry and pussy. that's something to get into no matter where one is at.
she's going to visit friends, so i'm sure they will have some ideas. try some high end cuisine. go to a couple folk villages and buddhist temples (i'd recommend any of the 'three jewel' temples) . panmunjom is an obvious destination. the winter sports are great in the northeast (winter olympics there in 2016, yo) but unfortunate timing for that. seoraksan is a great hike in fall when all the leaves are changing colors. it's absofuckinglutely fucking beautiful, and that's an understatement. again, may be unfortunate timing for the visit though. the palaces and stuff are kinda neat, but i felt a bit cheated when i went and realized they're all recreations - the japs burned everything down when they annexed the place.
for summer if they could swing a trip to jeju island (flight from seoul or take the scenic route and ktx to busan and hit up the ferry from there) that could make a great trip all on its own. just jeju even has a bunch of stuff. manjangul is the largest lava cave system in the world. hallasan there is a dead shield volcano that formed the island, and is the tallest mountain in korea. but like all shield volcanos its a nice and easy hike, if you huff it you can even take it on in one day. great beaches. the ones on the north side of the island have deep black sands (rich in iron or some shit) that the locals say have some new agey therapeutic value. there's a couple casinos there too but it's no macau and probably isn't mrs grawp's thing anyways based on the teetotaler thing. you can get a sea kayak and paddle out to one of the even smaller islands off the coast of jeju (ulung do? or something, it's suppoesd to mean cow island, name based on shape of the island, no cows there).
for some decent live music hit the city of daegu up. take the subway and get off at the kyunghee university stop. cruise the various bars asking about the kind of music they play, who's playiing, when. i've seen jazz, blues, rock, and even some decent hip hop performers there. find a breakdance battle (though you may have to enter a nightclub for this). hallasan temple is also near daegu and houses the tripitaka koreana.
or if you dig military history hit up cheonan, the area near where i went to university, and go check out the home of one of the greatest military minds in the history of man, ever. Admiral Yi Sun Chin. dude was legit. pretty much singlehandedly warded off the invasion of hideyoshi (you know, the guy that came out on top after the samurai wars in that oda nobunago era). commanded over 20 naval battles and retired (well, died, in a battle that he won) undefeated, even though he was always outnumbered. how outnumbered? he fended off over 300 japanese ships with on 13 of his own. invented the first ironclad warship and proceded to singlehandedly fend off his villa is baller and you can even check out the grave mounds of himself and family.
that's all just a bunch of random suggestions off the top of my head, there's a lot more to do but it depends on ones interests and where one will be staying in the country.
when they ask how you feeling
you tell em you feeling like something important died screaming
you tell em you feeling like something even more important arrived breathing
something you should probably try feeding