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| Seoul-Gyeongbokgung Palace roofline |
We were in South Korea because Leigh was the New Zealand
representative on an OECD Global Working Party.
As the vice-chairperson, she
had to facilitate a workshop at their 2009 conference in Busan, in the southern
part of South Korea.
After a short flight, we landed at Incheon International Airport with
plenty of time to look around Seoul, South Korea’s capital city, before heading to Busan.
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| Changing of the guard |
We found our accommodation, dropped our bags then headed out for a
sightsee.
One of our first stops was the old royal palaces in Seoul: the
Gyeongbokgung, Changdeokgung (a UNESCO World Heritage site), and Deoksugung
Palaces.
We loved the detailing around the roof-lines and windows of the
Gyeongbokgung Palace.
We were lucky enough to see the Changing of the Guard there. It was
a spectacular and colourful sight.
All the palaces were beautiful, with distinctive architecture and
beautifully landscaped gardens.
We also visited various parks. Monuments, fountains and gardens -
Seoul is a beautiful city.
While walking around, we came across a memorial display
commemorating 60 years of independence from communist rule.
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| South Korea remembrance display |
Interestingly, while we were in China last week, there was also a celebration,
but it was to commemorate 60 years under communist rule.
Two countries with, on the surface of it, similar eastern
influences, clothing and architecture. But they are so different in many other
ways - and only a quick flight across the Yellow Sea between the two.
The Seoul display showed flags honouring the nations who helped
South Korea during and after the Korean War and our New Zealand flag was there,
along with photos of New Zealand defence forces.
We were quite touched and proud to see this.
After a few days in beautiful Seoul, we grabbed one of the very
flash and fast bullet trains and headed south to the coast.
Arriving in Busan (once called Pusan), we were met by and OECD
representative and taken to our hotel.
We had a fabulous view over Busan’s Haeundae Beach and the Sea of
Japan.
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| Haeundae Beach |
Busan is a large city right at the southern tip of South Korea and
it looks over the Korean Strait to Japan.
It is an exotic mix of modern high rise buildings, small narrow
streets, interesting markets and fabulous seafood.
The conference went well and we still had time for sightseeing.
However, it was eventually time to head home. We returned to Seoul
on the bullet train, flew back to Shanghai, and then caught another flight back
to New Zealand.
We loved this trip, the colours, history, smells, people, and food.