A Day in Korea

A Day in Korea

Cokie and Som suffering through our subzero morning in Korea!

In the past twenty five years of traveling to Asia regularly, I have probably been to Seoul Korea at least twenty times but never bothered to see it! Aside from a great party ferry ride from Kyushu to Pusan in college, I have yet to see Korea in the way that it deserves.

Well, in January of 2009, I finally talked Som to get out of the Seoul International Airport for a day trip (during our 12-hour layover) in to the city for some sightseeing and bird watching and some killer Korean grub.

What a great day!

Be sure to visit our Photo Galleries for more spectacular images of our travels! (Pbase Galleries)

Here are some images of our one-day expedition to Seoul, Korea:

	Some ancient Totems now situated at the National Museum.
These images are of our tour of the Imperial Compound in the heart of Seoul. Many of these structures are hundreds of years old.

	Surprisingly on this frigid January day, we accomplished some great birding, nailing over twenty species! This Daurian Redstart was actually not a lifer as I had seen on in Primorye, a couple hundred miles to the north in Russia.
A curious Korean Magpie seen at the Imperial Palace.

While birding along the Yeouido Han Riverside Park, in downtown Seoul, we saw loads of waterfowl, including these Pochard. I could not believe it when our driver simply stopped the car on one of the busiest bridges in Seoul and told me, "five minutes, look at birds now"! And the amazing part about it was, even though we were causing a substantial traffic obstacle, not one driver honked or made any rude gestures! Wow, if I had done this in the US...

The second time in one year that I had seen wild Mandarin Ducks on two separate trips to Asia! How lucky!

Be sure to visit our Photo Galleries for more spectacular images of our travels! (Pbase Galleries)