Yup, so we left Seoul (sad) and went South to Busan, the second largest city. Spent some time at beautiful temples and relaxed on the beach. Here's the Younggungsa temple set along the coast line.
We actually met up with a friend of mine whose home town is Busan and went out with his family to a massive seafood dinner and karaoke. Below is the Jagalchi Seafood market I went to before. It is a little disturbing thinking all the food we ate that night could have been in this picture.
Next we left Busan to head to Gyeongju, the ancient capital of Korea. Still beautiful but so hot. With no sea breeze we all fried. But we got to see Tumuli park and the tombs of ancient kings (the big grassy hills behind us).
Of course, the kings must also have lush gardens. The lilly pads are in bloom all over Asia at the moment.
Well, after a relaxing week in Korea we felt strong enough to take on China. That is of course after we passed quarantine inspection for swine flu. We weren't even allowed off the plane until our temperature was taken.
The first day was a visit to Beihai Lake near where we were staying. Which was beautiful, with lots of shopping and restaurants, but also lots of hawkers and bothersome rickshaw drivers. The weather was nice though, rare blue skies in Beijing.
And of course we moved on to more well-known tourists sites. The Forbidden City and Tiannamen Square.
And the Summer Palace and the Great Wall. Unfortunately, I don't have pictures on my camera of the Great Wall so you'll have to go to the source for those.
And a rather classic picture of Grayson on bus number 690 in Beijing.
Everyone is enjoying China but Mom and Dad definitely prefer the "civility" of Korea. I think the assult of the senses and constant challenge that is China is not good for their stress levels. But Grayson and I are having a blast... a little homesick though.
