Seoul searching...hehe

Many people have told me that Seoul is a great city...and it has proven to live up to its reputation. When we arrived on the bus I wasn't overly impressed. My first thought was that it was dingy and small....silly me. After taking a subway to our hostel, the city opened up. Small mountains were backdrops to skyscrapers and old and new mixed together down each alleyway.
Our hostel was great - free internet, clean, etc., etc. There was only one small problem - there were more mosquitoes than I remember ever dealing with before (especially in a city). I had to wear earplugs every night simply so that I was not woken by the buzzing. I now have 4 bites on my face and countless others on my body...oi.

Aside from the bug problem, we've all had I good time here. Alex and I visited Gyongbukkung, the first palace built in the city a really long time ago. The grounds were enormous and were filled with many interconnected, beautifully decorated buildings.

Over the next couple of days we managed to take in a museum, go bungee jumping, bike through the hills outside the city and go on a tour of the DMZ. Phew!
Tomorrow, Alex and I head to China on a 24 hour boat ride. If we manage to form sea legs and make it there in one piece we will stay in Tianjin for a couple of days before moving on to Beijing.
Oh yeah - we've also posted a ridiculous number of pictures...enjoy! ;)