cigar Archives - Page 23 of 25

Europe Italy

A Day in Firenze

Our first full day in Florence is complete and we have now seen all of the sights on my list and we have wandered leisurely down countless streets, each more picturesque than the last.

After blogging last night we ate at a tiny and inviting Moroccan restaurant. It took Betty-Lou three full days to decide that she does not care much for Italian food. There seems to be a paucity of fresh vegetables on the menu, she ordered eggplant at one point and it came smothered in cheese. The Moroccan food was a welcome change.

Today we hit the streets and sights that we missed yesterday. We visited the Church of Santa Croce, where Michelangelo, Galilleo, and Machiavelli are buried, amongst others. We went to the Church of Santa Novella which houses some excellent renaissance art, we walked the stalls of the central market and dodged the friendly vendors. There is an impressive array of leather goods here for sale, as well as beautiful stationery, and an endless array of Pinocchio bric a brac. It is odd; i do not often think of Pinocchio, but when i did i always thought he was German…something about his little shorts and bavarian looking hat. Anyway, he is Italian and his likeness is everywhere.

We did do a bit of shopping and enjoyed coffees at some exquisite cafes on various piazza. Note to readers: if you order an espresso at even the finest cafe it will not cost you more than about 1e50, if you drink it standing at the counter that is. If you want to sit at a table, that espresso jumps to 4 or 5 e, as i discovered. In some cafes though the extra cost is worth it just to soak in the atmosphere.

So today was mostly wandering, and it was lovely. We just had a brief rest in our hotel room from which we can hear the most marvelous din of the square around the Duomo – it is all a hum with the voices of people and regular, jarringly beautiful church bells.

Now we are out for a glass of wine or a snack and cigar before bed. Tomorrow we shall take the train to Pisa and possibly beyond, time permitting.

Arrivederci.
PS It is a great challenge to come up with titles for blog posts and avoid the plethora of cliches that fill the mind. Rejected titles so far: Mambo Italiano, The Light in the Piazza, and La Dolce Vita. I gave in to Betty-Lou on ‘Under the Tuscan Sun’.

Europe Italy

Under the Tuscan Sun

It has been a couple of days longer than i expected since our last post, but as it turned out we got to the internet cafe just after closing on our final night in Rome and there is no internet in Gubbio.

Our final full day in Rome was lovely and leisurely. Having seen most of the big sights we had on our lists, we were free to wander at leisure. We visited the Castel Sant Angelo, walked through the Jewish Ghetto area, past yet more ancient ruins and through more churches than i can keep track of. We walked to the Spanish Steps which were picturesque, but the area was not really our scene as it was more of a high end shopping district. We visited the Piazza del Popolo and had a lovely lunch of zucchini, caccio e pepe, and wine which was awesome. In the evening we went back to Il Campo and ate and drank on the square. There is a bar/eatery on the corner where for 10e you can have a cocktail and all you can eat appetizers. It was a great deal and we ate our fill while i enjoyed an obscenely large cigar.

Italy is proving to be a great smoking place. Everyone smokes cigarettes and a few people smoke cigars (well, cheroots really). You can not smoke indoors but outside it is encouraged. On patios, while riding vespas, while shopping for vegetables…. I feel quite at home here in that regard.

Yesterday morning we took a train from Rome to Fossato del Vico, which is a train station in the middle of nowhere where we caught a bus to our second destination: Gubbio.

Gubbio is a tiny medieval town in the hills of Umbria. It is extremely picturesque, nestled within its stone walls. We arrived at our hotel and found it locked, but a waiter from a restaurant across the street yelled down the street and the proprietor came and let us in to our room. Gubbio was quiet – very quiet – particularly after the bustle of Rome.

We walked the city and visited its few churches and squares, including the Fountain of Lunatics, before walking to the destination about which i was very excited: the open air funicular. There is essentially a cable car ascending up a mountainside, but what sets it apart is that you ride up in a cage – or more like a small metal basket. If you are afraid of heights it would be torture, but i found it delightful and it afforded me exquisite views of the town. (Betty Lou wisely waited at the bottom.) At the top was a simple church.

Shortly after our wander it grew dark and began to pour, which caused many shops and restaurants to close early. We stopped into a charming corner grocer and picked up bread, cheese, and a jar of black truffle and olive tapanade and ate in our room.

This morning, after breakfast and under a newly brightened sky we caught a bus to Perugia, which took us through a lovely, pastoral backdrop. From Perugia we took the train to Florence.

We are now in Tuscany.
Our pensione, the hotel San Gionvani is right on the Piazza San Giovanni and our simple room has a view of the Duomo.

First impressions of Florence is that it is very beautiful and has an abundance of charming streets to explore. Since arriving (after having a trio of delicious Tuscan soups and grilled polenta with mushrooms) we visited the Duomo, saw the Botticellis in the Uffuzi, watched the sun beginning to set from the Ponte Vecchio, and, after ducking into a few more churches of course, had a cannoli at a beautiful patisserie on the Piazza Republica. I thought the cannoli would be disgusting, but it is actually quite good.

We will be in Florence for a few days and will blog more frequently, as there seems to be an abundance of internet options here.

d and b

Europe Italy Vatican City

Ciao, Bella!

Ciao from Rome. We arrived on Saturday afternoon after an uneventful flight through Amsterdam. On first impression Rome is a beautiful city. The architecture is stunning and the sun washed piazzas are incredibly romantic and inviting. We have enjoyed wandering about the tangled streets past tiny sidewalk eateries, imposing and decorative churches and throngs of people hanging around, eating, drinking, smoking, and talking.

Our hotel is just perfect. We are staying at the Hotel Guilia, which is on the Via Guilia, just a few steps from the Tiber River. The hotel quaint and immaculate and ideally located. The first night we walked across the bridge to the south of the Tiber where an energetic neighborhood awaited with people out everywhere. We joined them for pizza and a cigar and walked aimlessly until it was time for bed.

On day one we started at the very beginning with the Colosseum and the Forum/Palatine Hill. I was apprehensive about visiting the Colosseum due to the massive amount of tourists that crowd in there every day (about 30,000). It’s true that the crowds were oppressive, however we were not daunted by the usual busloads of tourists and slow shuffling families with video cameras aglow nor by the hour plus queue to get inside. We pressed on. We joined a tour and got inside a little faster and were given a brief oral history of the Colosseum and then we explored on our own. It was pretty impressive to think of all that had transpired there – especially if one enjoys gore and violence. Which i do.

After the Colosseum we went on a stroll though the ruins of the Roman Forum and Palatine Hill. One must use one’s imagination to envision what it must have been like in the days of togas and Tiberius, but it was fascinating to see the remains of temples and whatnot.

Following a tasty lunch of pasta and wine, we walked through various piazzas and to the imposing Pantheon and through the delightful Piazza Navona where we browsed through the stalls of artists selling their wares. Most of the artists were quite adequate, though mostly similar to each other. We did find however one man selling these truly unique abstracts and collages made of paint and Italian news papers. I found one that roughly approximated an Italian skyline and bought it. And (quel surprise) Betty Lou bought a colorful painting of a street. One additional highlight was the Trevi Fountain which was more beautiful than i imagined. Sometimes the really familiar sights are lackluster in reality (i’m thinking of you, Champs Elysees) but this was not one of those times.

We hit a few notable cafes including the Caffe Tazza D’Oro and the Caffe Sant Eustachio where i had one of the best espressos of my life. We then had a couple of cockatils of the Campo de Fiori while listening to some jazz buskers and watching the sky darken.

Today we tackled the Vatican. We walked there and into Saint Peter’s Basilica, which was really was beautiful and impressive. The crowds were not too bad when we arrived so we decided to buy tickets for the Vatican Museum so we could see the Sistine Chapel. The queue to get into the museum was not at all bad, although the crowds inside were very unpleasant. Like closely flocked sheep we were forced to shuffle down lengthy corridors before reaching the Chapel. The co-mingling of halitosis and body odors of the sweaty crowd only added to the experience. That said, i must say that the Sistine Chapel itself was worth the prelude. Yes, it was crowded inside, but the paintings themselves really were breathtaking and moving and we enjoyed sitting there in silence for some time taking it all in.

After the Vatican we walked up to the Spanish Steps and around that area and back to our hotel for a brief nap.

Now we are out again for more exploring and may find time for a glass of wine or a gelato before bed.

Betty-Lou is sitting here at my side, correcting my typos, and she wants to tell you that she LOVED when a gorgeous Italian man said ‘Ciao, Bella!’ to her.

Now that we have found an Internet Cafe, i can safely say that we will write again tomorrow. We don’t have anything scheduled for tomorrow so we will just see where our whims take us.
d & b

Asia South Korea Uzbekistan

Tashkent to Seoul

One final note about Uzbekistan: If you are leaving the country by plane (as I was) and you have some s’om left over (as I did) and you plan to spent it at the airport on snacks and souvenirs (ditto), don’t do it. Take the last of your s’om and spend it or give it away before going inside the airport, because once you’re in there, they won’t take it nor will they exchange it. It’s Euros only at the Tashkent airport. Now what am i going to do with the 24,000 s’om burning a hole in my pocket?

I arrived in Seoul at about 7am on Saturday and took the Arex train to Seoul Station. (A word of advice, if you are doing this, take the commuter train, not the high-speed train. The high-speed train is about 4x the price and is only 7 minute faster than the commuter train.)

Once downtown, i was hit with the brutal humidity of Seoul. It was not nearly at hot as Uzbekistan, but was so humid that it felt a million times worse. I had rivers of sweat running down my face into my eyes and into my kimchi. Hideous.

Anyway, i visited the grand Gyeonbokgung Palace – an enormous complex of pagoda-roofed buildings separated by a network of courtyards and with a large, lily pad covered pool. It was originally built in the 14thC, but has been destroyed many times over the centuries, so it has been entirely restored. With the misty mountains in the background, it was all quire serene and lovely. There were masses of tourists there, but the place was large enough that I could look around without feeling overwhelmed by people. As I haven’t been to far east Asia, it was quite unlike anything I have seen before and i really enjoyed myself.

After that, i went to the very touristy Insadong neighborhood. I had walked through there on my previous visit to Seoul, but as it had been so early, everything had been closed. This time, however, it was teeming with people. It is lined with lovely tea shops and souvenir stores and curious restaurants. I finally found a restaurant that had a vegetarian bibimbap on the menu, so i ate that, which was very good (especially after 2 weeks of Uzbek vegetarian cuisine).

I then walked many blocks, stopping to sample food from street vendors or poke around in shops, before returning to the Namdaemun Market, where i spent an hour or two walking and browsing and making a few purchases.

Back to the airport 2 hours before my flight home. It was a delightful day. It is amazing how much looking around one can cram into a 12 hours layover.

I am home now and am resting and trying to get over the illness that has been recurring since Samarkand.

Thank you for keeping up with my Uzbek adventure.

Dale R. North

Asia Uzbekistan

Uzbekistan: The Final Day

As it turns out, my crumby day yesterday did not last even one full day.

After my post, I returned to my hotel, the Gulnara Guesthouse. It is on the edge of the old town near the bustling Chorsu market. I cannot comment on the rooms, because, as I mentioned, my reservation was screwed up and the only room they had for me wasn’t really a room, just a cot and electric fan, but I must say that I am quite happy with the accommodations. The owners are friendly and the rooms are all located around a pleasant courtyard with a huge apple tree and laundry strung up everywhere.

It is definitely a backpackers’ place, with everyone there being young and traveling with large backpacks or by bicycle. Almost everyone there seems to be French, although the Japanese girl i met in Samarkand (and saw again in Bukhara) is staying there as well.

Anyway, after my post, I went to my room and spent about 4 hours napping and listening to repeats of Bill Maher and Ricky Gervais podcasts on my ipod, which cheered me up immensely. After that, I went for an evening walk and had tea and a cigar on a busy corner, where I was joined by some Uzbek construction worker with some basic English skills. He said he had only seen cigars “in films”. He asked to buy one from me but I had only one left, so i didn’t sell.

All in all, it was a pleasant end to what started out as a crumby day.

This morning, after breakfast, I walked up to the Khast Imom, which is the holiest part of Tashkent. It is a collections of newish mosques and mausoleums and a small museum that houses a massive and old copy of the Koran. Surrounding the buildings were some very well manicured park areas, which were also home to many large stork-like birds (like storks, but bigger and with more intimidating beaks).

I then walked past many large and largely unattractive apartment blocks to Navoi Park, which is a big park containing some odd Soviet structures and a man made lake with beach areas, little paddle boats and small fair area with rides. I wandered there for a while and had some ice-cream-like frozen substance. I have on this trip mastered the pronunciation of the Russian word for ice cream, which had previously eluded me.

Now I am just sort of pleasantly killing time. My flight is at 9:00pm, but i plan to get there nice and early, as I could not check in on-line. I plan to stroll through the market again, see if i can spend my remaining Sum and then I will probably just hang around in the courtyard of my hotel and smoke my final cigar.

I may post again either from Tashkent or Seoul, internet access permitting.
d

Asia Uzbekistan

Night Train to Tashkent

My last day in Bukhara was pretty relaxing. I just went for walks and read a book and went out for lunch at an Italian restaurant. I know, Italian food in Uzbekistan sounds like a bad idea, and i’m not sure that it was all that authentic, but the vegetarian pizza that i nibbled at (usually i would have gobbled it down, but i am still feeling ill), was actually ok. They best part though was sitting at a proper indoor restaurant and smoking a cigar; it’s just so civilized.

They evening came and i caught the 7:40 night train to Tashkent. It takes about 12 hours, so i had booked a bed in a sleeper car, each of which holds four. Unfortunately i shared my car with four men. There wasn’t anything wrong with them, but sleeping in close quarters with 4 strange men who don’t speak English doesn’t thrill me.

The beds were comfy and it was nice to lie down, but the air conditioning that was allegedly flowing failed to cool me down at all. I spent the whole time lying in a pool of my own sweat and praying that some sort of a breeze would come, but my bunk mates kept the door to the car and the window closed, so no breezes were to come. Plus, i had a terrible case of food poisoning and had to urgently get up often to use the disgusting bathroom. Needless to say, i got very little sleep.

On arriving in Tashkent, feeling relieved, i caught the metro to my new hostel. Unfortunately, as i waited for my car to arrive, a police man or solider (I can’t tell which are which) with a machine gun took me off the platform and to a small room with a table, two chairs and another uniformed, heavily armed officer waiting. I had a moment where I was certain I would be raped. Neither of them spoke English and i refused to speak any Russian, lest i accidentally implicate myself in some crime. They inspected my passport, visa, registration papers, my money and searched my bag. Of the questions they asked that i understood were “why are you in Uzbekistan?”, “Do you have family here or in Russia?”, “What is your job?”, “How long are you here?”, “Are you married?” and “Do you have any children”. But most of the questions were just nonsense Russian to me. I think they wanted a bribe, but they didn’t ask and i didn’t offer. Finally, after about an hour of questions in Russian (no matter how many times i said i only spoke English, they kept speaking to me in Russian), they let me go.

I now know that it wasn’t a big deal, but in the moment, i found it unnerving and upsetting. Being interrogated for no reason by two men in a language you don’t understand is not a good feeling. I felt like i was in a Kafka novel or a movie where an innocent girl traveling ends up in a foreign prison.

Then, i finally arrived at my hostel, where frankly, all i wanted was a shower, a nap, and an hour or so of watching the BBC, but i found out that they had lost my reservation and were fully booked. The only room i could get was a tiny room with a cot and a fan. No AC and a shared bathroom. I really wanted something better, but couldn’t bear the thought of trudging around town popping into hotels, so i took it. It is a cozy little place and my room, such as it is, is only about $6 or $7 dollars a night.

Tomorrow night i fly to Seoul.
On every trip i have one day where i feel tired and fed up. Today is that day. Tomorrow will be better.

Asia Uzbekistan

Yurt Sweet Yurt

After my last post, on my last night in Bukhara before going to the desert, I spent the evening until past midnight drinking tea and smoking peach shisha with the British girl i had met on the train coming here, as well as a couple from Switzerland. The evenings here are really perfect, weather-wise. Whoever suggested that I bring a jacket or sweater for the cool evenings was mistaken.

The next morning after breakfast, I was picked up my my driver who was to drive me to the Kyzilkum Desert (Kyzilkum means “red sands”, i believe). Normally they arrange these desert excursions for groups, but i was just one. I had hoped that others might have decided to go on the same night as me, but alas, I was alone.

So my driver, who did not any English, drove me for 3.5 hours into the desert. The drive was great. I was able to watch as the city of Bukhara and its outlying areas melted away, leaving only rural areas, then just occasional tiny towns, then just desert. As we drove, the cars began to be outnumbered by donkeys and carts. The desert was totally sandy in spots, and in others is was dotted with dry sage colored shrubberies. Often I would see a tribe of goats roaming without supervision, or a few lazy cows.

We stopped along the way at a couple of holy sights, but mostly we just drove in silence (silence except for the driver’s mix of 1990s dance and techno hits, that is).

Finally we arrived at the yurt camp. Twelves yurts arranged in a circle around a fire pit, plus a large dining yurt and a sort of a house (though ‘house’ seems like the wrong word – more of a ramshackle shack) where the family who runs the camp live. There were some outhouses and a couple of sinks that didn’t produce any water. It was all quite in the middle of nowhere. Shortly after arriving, i went on a walk and climbed to the top of the highest sand dune and do you know what I saw? An endless vista of sand dunes marked by the odd, solitary camel.

My yurt was delightful! Large and cozy with rugs on the floor and a little mattress (like a small, soft futon), a pillow and blanket. It was decorated with multi-colored textiles and decorative objects made of yarn hanging from the ceiling, like large mobiles. It stayed relatively cool in the yurt – cool compared with the 40 degrees outside. I had no difficulty napping or sleeping in it.

After resting for a while and enjoying a cigar, My drive took me about a half an hour away to a massive lake! What a surprise that was. The lake was huge and seemed to have a tide. The sand was beautifully soft and i waded out quite a ways into the water. We sat in a couple of old chairs left by the water and i dozed off for a while. After awaking, we stalked a tribe of goats who were at the lake to drink. Every time i got close to them though they ran off irritably.

After the lake we returned to the yurt camp, where my camel was waiting. I went off into the desert for about 2 hours just before sunset. It was lovely. I saw many long-tailed, hopping desert rats and a few rabbits. I also saw this one mud shack in the middle of nowhere with an old women outside. My camel was very docile and I found him reasonably comfortable (no more or less so than a horse).

After the camel there was dinner of vegetable stew, fresh vegetables, melons, and tea. After dinner I had another cigar and watched the stars come out. With no city lights or electricity to get in the way, the stars were magnificent. It was like being at a planetarium. I sat there until i remembered that i am afraid of the dark and then I went to bed.

I slept soundly and awoke when the sun started to slice through the gaps in my yurt’s roof.

After breakfast the next day, there was supposed to be more camel riding, but the camels had apparently disappeared during the night. I should point out that my driver, nor the host family spoke any English, so i didn’t do much talking during this overnight excursion. All i got regarding the lack of camels was “Nyet Kamel”. So we drove back to Bukhara.

On the way back, more desert scenery and silence and 1990s music. When Ice Ice Baby came on the driver and I both “sang” along – I did the verses and he the chorus. Vanilla Ice, bridger of cultural divides.

Yesterday afternoon after I scrubbed the sand and camel off of my skin (my clothes may just have to be burned when I return – I have basically been wearing the same outfit for 2 weeks in 40 degree weather), I spent the rest of the day smoking shisha and reading.

Today I have no plans. I am taking the 7:50pm overnight train back to Tashkent, which is supposed to take 11 hours, but I expect will take longer.

Bukhara has been amazing. It is definitely one of those places that is very easy to just hang around in. The yurt/camel thing was really good. I loved how desolate and quiet it was, but, not being a ‘camper’ by nature, one night was sufficient.

Tomorrow: back to Tashkent and the beginning of the long journey home.

Asia Uzbekistan

Playboy mansion, Uzbek style

Last night, after i posted to the blog, I went for a walk around the neighborhood. It would seem that things only get busier in the evening. All around Lyabi-Hauz people and families – almost exclusively locals – were walking and sitting, eating sunflower seeds and ice cream, having dinner, and kids were running around playing in unsupervised packs. It was a delightful scene and made me wish we had more squares for congregation in Vancouver. I had a cigar and people watched until bed time.

I must also mention that i had the best dinner last night – something other than the bread and cucumber/tomato salads i have been surviving on. I had this delicious salad of warm, crispy eggplant and tomatos followed by a rice, bean and vegetable dish. It seems that they don’t hate vegetarians here after all!

Today i awoke with nothing planned for the day. I had basically seen all sights on my list, so the day was a mystery. The mystery was solved as over breakfast i was chatting with another guest at the hotel: a man from Istanbul who had arranged for a driver and guide to take him to some of the sights outside of the city. He invited me to tag along, and i agreed.

We first visited the Bakhautdin Naqshband Mausoleum, one of Sufism’s more important shrines. It was beautiful and very peaceful, surrounded by roses and filled by visiting Uzbeks. I filled my water bottle from one of the legendary wells from which pilgrims believe springs water that brings good luck and well-being. (I must say, I was skeptical of the use of the water bottle I brought – one of these ones that has a filter built in, so you can fill it from anywhere – but it has proved to be a great asset. I can fill the bottle from any random hose or tap and drink without getting sick. Plus, I have now drank water from 3 holy springs, so I am pretty much blessed with good health and luck for the rest of the year.)

We then went to the Emir’s palace, where he and his family, slaves and harem (about 40 women at any given time) would spend their summers. As far as palaces go, it was modest in size, but its decoration was stunning: elaborate decoration and design often inlayed with mirrors for a sparkling effect. One room, all in white absolutely glittered. There was also a pool in the the back where the harem would frolic while the Emir sat in a shaded area atop a platform to watch. The Playboy mansion, Uzbek style.

We visited another site before returning to Bukhara where I and my Turkish friend went on the hunt for a new memory card for my camera (because you can’t have too many pictures of blue-tiled mosques). A bit of lunch and then I retired for a short nap, which turned into a four hour sleep.

Now it is 9:30, but the whole town again seems to be out, enjoying the perfect evening air. Not being at all tired now, I will do something before returning to the hotel.

Tomorrow morning I leave for my two day desert safari adventure. As I understand it, we will be driving for about 3 hours, stopping at some sights of interest along the way, then transferring to camel, and heading into the desert, where I will be camping out in a yurt, then doing it all in reverse the next day.

I am very excited for this experience. I don’t usually like camping, but this is a special experience and a yurt isn’t exactly a two-man tent from Canadian Tire.

If all goes according to plan, you should hear from me in about 48 hours. Thanks for following along with me.

Good night.

Asia Uzbekistan

Registan

Samarkand is amazing. It is a bit like Luxor, in the sense that it is just bursting with impossibly large, old and jaw droppingly beautiful monuments and mausoleums.
Obviously, the first place I had to go was the Registan. This is really the whole reason i am here, to see this collection of mosques and medrassas. It did not disappoint.

It is really hot here. It feels much hotter than Tashkent. The landscape is very deserty. On the train ride here, I watched as the land went from green and fertile to dusty and brown, with the odd, irrigated plot of land growing corn or green…something. It is definitely much more rural out here. People riding donkeys and tending to flocks of goats.

On my first evening here, I spent it handing out with Furkat at the hotel. We drank tea and ate bread and tomatos and cucumbers. I smoked a cigar. He told me does not smoke or drink, but then, minutes later he offered me cognac from a black bottle with cyrillic writing. “It is from Moldova,” he told me with what seemed like pride. We each had a glass of the vile liquor and i went to bed.

I have only met a couple of other travelers here. I met a couple from Colorado who have been on the road for one year. Staying at my hotel are two Japanese girls, each traveling solo, with whom I shared breakfast and as many stories as were possible given their limited English and my non-existent Japanese. It is nice to see other, solo female travelers.

It is so hot here that during the late afternoon, i retire to my room to enjoy the AC and have a nap, leaving me free for night time wanderings.

Asia South Korea

Sunday in Seoul

Hello! I have made it as far as South Korea. I left on Friday and flew to Los Angeles, where i had a tedious 3 hour layover (how can such an important city have such a crummy airport?). I then flew about 12 and a half hours to Seoul. It was a delightful flight, I barely slept, but it flew by. Arrived in Seoul at about 4:40 am.

I caught the first train into the city. It took just under an hour and takes one right from the airport to downtown Seoul. For some reason my transit card wouldn’t open up the turnstile gates at the other end, so I couldn’t get out. Some man suggested through the universal magic of charades that I jump the turnstile, which I did. I figure, if a local says I should do it, it must be ok, right? That is the first turnstile I ever jumped.

After my act of delinquency, I then went to Namdaemun Market. I figured if I only had a few hours, that would be a god place to start. It is, except that at 7am on sunday morning, there isn’t a lot going on. Most of the stalls were closed and some were just setting up, hauling in carts of meat and produce, knock off handbags, and K-Pop souveniers. I did manage to find a charmingly decrepit restaurant and managed to say in Korean that I did not eat meat. They brought me kimchee and a steaming bowl of rice and odd spicy vegetables. I think it was a bibimbap, but I can’t be sure. It was really good.

After that I decided to walk to the Insadong neighborhood. It was a pleasant walk, but the city was pretty quiet. When I reached Insadong, everything was still closed. I am glad I will be back here in 2 weeks so I can actually visit some of these places when they are open.

On my initial glances, Seoul is not very attractive, but it is interesting. On the face of it, everything seems painfully western; I couldn’t turn a corner without seeing a collection of Burger King, Pizza Hut, Dunkin Donuts, TGI Fridays, Starbucks, Krispy Kreme… you get the idea. But from what I could tell, there are a lot of cool looking dirty alleys with interesting eateries and shops that are decidedly not American. I guess it would take more then 6 hours to figure it all out. I kept walking around in disbelief, thinking, “I can’t believe I’m in Seoul.” It just isn’t a place I ever thought I’d be.

Anyway, I enjoyed my walk; it took me back to the market, at which point it was much livelier. I wandered around taking pictures of large pig heads, sitting out in front of eateries. I imagined they were all Lord of the Flies theme restaurants.

I really wish I had bothered to learn a few phrases in Korean. Almost no one speaks English, and I feel like a jackass opening a conversation in English. I just figured that for the limited time I’d be here, it wouldn’t be worth it. But tonight I’ll be in Uzbekistan, and my Russian is passable (for a North American).

It is fairly warm, but really humid here. I am only 2 days into my trip and I already look like a dirty bohemian. Soon I will smell like one too.

One other random note: I stupidly checked my cigars, so while I was wandering around today I didn’t have any and couldn’t find a cigar store. I did however find cigarettes that are supposedly made with cigar tobacco. For a cigarette they aren’t bad, but they’re a poor replacement for a cigar. I had to have a smoke though (all the other kids were doing it) and now that I am at the airport I can take advantage of their plentiful and civilized smoking lounges.

I am back at the airport now, readying myself for the third and final leg of my journey: Seoul to Tashkent. (How cool does that sound?)

Wandering North

Tag: cigar

A Day in Firenze

Under the Tuscan Sun

Ciao, Bella!

Tashkent to Seoul

Uzbekistan: The Final Day

Night Train to Tashkent

Yurt Sweet Yurt

Playboy mansion, Uzbek style

Registan

Sunday in Seoul