대한민국 (South Korea)

End of May I was invited to present the work of our group on genomic variation in Atlantic cod at the 7th World Fisheries Congress in South Korea. The conference was held in South Korea's second largest city, 부산 (Busan), which is located at the southern coast and has (very fitting for the conference) also has one of the busiest seaports in the world, and the largest fish market in Korea.


The conference was very conveniently located close to Busan's busy 해운대해수욕장 (Haeundae beach) district with a wide sand beach, bars, restaurants and shopping. Although my apartment offered a great overview of the skyscraper jungle, I got regularly lost in the many small alleys between all the similarly looking tall buildings.. .
On my first walk along the beach I was quite surprised to see enormous artificial sand hills piled up, and people cutting out bits and pieces. Later during the week it became clear that these hills were meant to be the the basis for huge sand-casts that artists carved for this year's Haeundae sand festival competition, which took place on the Saturday after the conference.

South Korea is a modern country where all the western comfort (and more) can be found. Nevertheless, traveling around was not totally without challenges. Although most major train stations and airports were equipped with signs in English there was still the one or other technical and linguistical challenge.. .
My apartment not only had a fancy Korean toilet with heated seat, different variants of splashing, and sound system (to drown natural occurring sounds.. ), also the apartment door had an electric locking system that constantly spoke to me in Korean and I had no idea what it said or if the door was closed or not. The usage of the washing machine was similarly problematic, as was picking the correct bus.. . However, even if I could not understand any Korean and many people spoke no English, they always were incredibly helpful and if they couldn't understand me, they at least offered me some food or drink ;) After some practice I could at least say 안녕하세요 [anyonghseyoh] and 감사합니다 [khumhasimida], meaning hello and thank you!


On the weekend after the conference, I used the cute "BUTI" tourist bus system to see some more highlights in and around Busan. Classic red (and green and blue) double-decker busses connect major tourist sights, such as the 해동 용궁사 (Haedong Yonggungsa Buddhist Temple), which is not located on top of a hill like most Korean temples, but idyllically set on the seaside.
A quite scenic and fascinating site was also the end/start point of the 이기대 도시자연공원 (Igidae coastal park and boardwalk) with view of the 부산 오륙도 (Oryukdo Islands) and a fancy glass skywalk above the rough Sea of Japan. While strolling around, a crowd of Korean hikers, all dressed with the latest functional outdoor fashion and equipped with walking sticks and GPS came in a sportive manner down the hill from the boardwalk. At first I wondered what kind of cool mountain hike I might have missed - but soon I figured out, this is just the way Koreans do "outdoors". They're always so well and fashionably equipped, it is impossible to tell if they just climbed Mount Everest, or if they came from an afternoon stroll around the city park... .



After the conference, I stayed a couple of days longer to explore more of South Korea. I picked two suggested highlights: the culturally important town of 경주시 (Gyeongju), as well as the capital 서울시 (Seoul).
Gyeongju is also described as the "museum without walls" since it holds more tombs, temples, rock carvings, Buddhist temples, pagodas, and palace ruins than any other South Korean city. In addition, all those sites are scattered throughout the city and the adjacent National Park, which makes a very good reason for an extended hiking tour.
I visited the 불국사 (Bulguksa temple), a UNESCO World Heritage site, which was still decorated with lots of lanterns celebrating buddha's birthday, and hiked up the 745 m high 토함산 (Tohamsan mountain) to see the 경주 석굴암 (Seokguram Grotto), designated the 24th national treasure of Korea and one of the nicest Buddhist sculptures in the world. Sweaty and full of expectations I reached the Grotto, but then was greatly disappointed by a thick reflecting glass wall separating the Buddha from its visitors, thus killing the atmosphere and making it impossible to enjoy the sight.


Luckily, it was only early afternoon and I had enough time to explore another, lesser visited site south of Gyeongju, the 경주 남산 (Namsan mountain). This 466 m high mountain is peppered with more or less preserved historical Buddha reliefs carved into rocks and boulders, as well as dotted with ancient pagodas and temples. Being all alone in the nature, only surrounded by birds and the sound of the wind, stumbling over ancient Buddha statues from time to time was an all relaxing feeling and a very nice experience.
Of course it was easier to take pictures of the hundreds of years old immobile Buddha statues, but I also managed to snap some of the living creatures around Gyeongju. Amongst them were dragonflies, an Oriental turtle dove, some very active hoopoes chasing butterflies, Brown-eared bulbuls, and many cute chipmunks.


In the evening I visited some of the remaining highlights in Gyeongju, the well equipped National museum, the Silla royal tombs, and the Anapji Pond, before taking the fast KTX express train to Seoul the next morning. This train is speeding with up to 300 km/h and brought me in less than 4 hours from all peaceful nature back to skyscraper jungle and screaming city life. What a change!
In Seoul I met Sandra, a friend from good old New Zealand times, and together we explored the 경복궁 (Gyeongbokgung Palace) one of the five grand palaces of Korea that feels totally out of place between the modern mirroring skyscrapers, we strolled through the traditional 북촌한옥마을 (Bukchon Hanok Village), enjoyed the sunset from the 엔 서울타워 (Seoul tower), and tried fancy drinks served in plastic bags in Seouls vibrant university district 홍대 (Hongdae).

On my last day in Seoul we visited the 북한산국립공원 (Bukhansan National Park), which has a surprisingly easy access from the city and offers great views of Seoul. We hiked up the highest mountain of this chain, the 836 m tall Baegundae. The view from the rounded granite rocks on top was spectacular!! Apparently we were very lucky to be up there on one of the rare non-smoggy and clear days.



It was a perfect last day and I was very happy that the World Fisheries Congress was held in South Korea, a country that was not on my traveling list before, but positively surprised me!