Korea

So South Korea is definitely different from Japan... messier, dirtier, louder... the people are less reserved, traffic is crazy, food is.. well, can be really good, but generally less sophisticated. Very high tech though, the various phones/gadgets I see being used on the subway is 2 years ahead of the US.

We did a nice variety of things, from crazy markets and temples, and natural beauty (mountains close to seoul), and we even rented a car to experience korean traffic jams first hand.. good fun.

Did I say markets? For me, one of the craziest things about seoul is the shops here. Think of any specialized item, say, um, toothbrushes, electric plugs, paint, whatever, then imagine a shop 3x3 meters (10x10 feet) jam-packed with just those items... then imagine several dozen stores in the same street right next to eachother mostly identical... it is quite surreal. The prettiest I found one street where tons of small shops sold and produces gears and other other mechanical items... a nice composition of fotos I took from all those shops forthcoming, I'll include a single sample below.