solitary travel

so dear justin is so gifted in traveling, so directionally privileged, that when we go out i almost always let him do the leading. he knows what trains, buses, times, and places to go--the man can get you anywhere. it's wonderful. however this talent of his has led my own far less considerable talent for self-direction to atrophy. what bus? i 'unno. where'm i goin? ask that guy.

however, i have a lot more time on my hands than he does lately, so i've had to venture out on my own a little bit. so here are some photos of two of my solitary korea adventures.


this little dude lives outside the gate to Hwaseong Fortress, a neato old-timey medieval Korean style castle and gate in my town (my town? is it?). i THINK it's a guard dog (they used dogs for two things: guarding, and eating...more on this in the next photo blog), but it may also be a lion. hard to tell he's so weatherblown. a lot of the fortress has been rebuilt since the japanese trashed it early last century, but this little fella is original.


big looming gate to get in. a little intimidating, right?


these guys live on roofs of special buildings. i think they're also guardian figures, but i can't make out what they are. to quote my favorite clueless king, "i know not what that meaneth."


god bless korea. just look at these guys.


here's more old folks, playing some chinese checkers (or somethin') outside the fortress wall. that is a big ol' wall.


this is the front end of a little train that passed me by chock full of little kiddies, probably there on some history field trip or something. they all waved and shouted "hello!" a lot of kids here do that with foreigners. i personally love it. i wonder if the russians resent that everyone assumes they speak english? its hilarious the things kids shout. in mexico a little neighbor boy would always shout "one two three four five!" at us from inside his house when we would walk by.


this photo is from another trip i took by bus down to a little city called bundang, to meet my NBF, kate (that's 'new best friend' if anyone was wondering.) and this, my friends, was a beautiful little bakery.


traveling is confusing and tired-making.