Well- in terms of photo/video documentation this trip is a complete failure.   i arrived to the airport hoping to at least take photos and videos with a rented mobile phone.  i was told by the LG rep that mail is impossible.  calls only. WHAT!?  even the calm people of Tokyo might riot if they heard that.  I didnt riot, but I was pretty bummed. 

Then yesterday, at the first tourist stop - Geongbokgung- my digital camera randomly died.  low battery.  dead battery.  makes NO sense since I completely charged the batteries the morning before I left.  The only conclusion there is that somehow my camera KEPT turning itself on during the flight (it has auto shut off after 3 min)  I dunno.  but finding batteries hasnt happened in all the running around.  so, i have my lowly tourist camera with only 20 pics.  ive missed SO much.   and even if i manage some batteries tomorrow, theres been a lot of little things (like the Tomato Saving Bank -- would YOU save there with that name?) that I would have liked to have photographed..

what else?  a guy taping carpet over a hole in the street...the fact that man-pulled CARTS are used during road construction.  A kid inside the beak of a giant pelican outside the Converse store in Myeong-dong.  Delicious nuts wrapped in thin rice noodles that dry - a blend of baklava taste and a spider's nest consistency.  Tiny little alleys in Insadong.  And oh MAN - i WISH I could have photographed the spa.  I know I couldn't have but...

NOT TO BE MISSED - if you come to Seoul.  Do the SPA!  We went to Chunjiyun Spa in Myeong-dong.  It helped to know some Japanese since hardly any English is spoken there.  Went in around 4:30 and got out at 7.  For 82,000 won (about 80$) you get sauna, bath (onsen - 5 hot baths, some with herbs like green tea or ginseng, or...murky other things that smell Asian..and a cold bath to cool off inbetween) a salt scrub, a cucumber mask and a light oil massage.  Here's what it doesnt say in the guidebook -

Into the locker room:  down into the basement and change out of everything. put on the robe and cap.  dont forget the cap. i had to go back up for it.

Into the sauna.  OMG.  I walk around the corner and get handed a thick jute-ish rug.  I look confused so the woman signs to me until I get it that its to kneel on.  When that thought has barely soaked into my cerebrum, another jute-ish rug is thrown over my head so i cant see, and im shoved toward an oven...ahem..i mean traditional korean sauna.  Its a huge white dome with brick on the top and a door you lift up.  you have to crawl in.  I hesitate as the searing heat slams my body.  I hear a "hup hup".  My butt is slapped and i totter forward into the sauna.  the door slams.  I cant breathe.  I look out from under the jute rug and see someone else inside.  Thank god cuz, i was about to FREAK.  I kid you not.  It was almost too much to take.  I was drenched with sweat in under 30 seconds.  the air burned my nose. I was literally scared for my life and has this tremendous instinct to run for the door. But the other woman was sitting there.  So I sat there ..until she left.  (1 minutes later?) and then...then i felt like i had to persevere.  so i sat a bit longer until i could take it no longer.  i was going to roast like a turkey at thanksgiving.  i bee-lined for the door as fast as a squatting person with a jute rug over their head and most of their body can waddle.  glory be- the door opened.  i wasnt going to die.  instead i was led into a cooler room with woodblock pillows.  i was to rest.  only later did i realize that this was also a sauna...but so much cooler than the traditional sauna.  be warned.

after recovering for 20 minutes, i entered into the bath/ onsen.  i stripped down to nothing, as normal for public baths, was handed an orange handtowel-sized rag and told to sit in a bath.  got it.  im in the hot bath, the cold bath, the hot bath, the dark green bath.  and a good while later, im wondering when im gonna get that massage that was in the basic course package...

let make this part short - the language barrier made it long. instead of having the ability to ask about the massage stuff, i had to stand around looking confused until someone felt like coming over and dealing with me.  and when they did, it turned out that 3 other ladies were waiting.  number 2, and two 4's.  I was three.  lots of time spent looking for 1.  More bath time for me.  very relaxed.  but then i was told to get on a table.

white, clear plastic covered tables in a big room.  completely naked with another gal in the same situation.  the treatment was carried out by a rolly-tummy 50 year old woman with short curly hair.  her uniform was a black bra and black undies. and a orange towel tucked in the side of the undies. 

i was washed off, and then salt scrubbed. and i mean SCRUBBED.  every nook and cranny until red and raw (well, not THERE! you perv! ) but right after - it felt amazing.  i showered again and then back on the table.  completely covered by warm oil and rubbed a bit.  flip.  warm oil again and on my face. this followed by freezing cold cucumber slices pushed onto my face until my breath was stolen.  relax.  remove. rinse. and then - they shampooed my hair, tied it up.  i was told to get up and shower and relax in the baths.  and i did for another while until i was ready.  another moment of confused and lost puppy looks got me pushed until the drying area - seats in front of a mirror.  hairdryers, combs and brushes  (the latter I dare not use!) 
dressed and OUT.
omg, the bits were torture but the whole was amazing.  so relaxed and ready for dinner.

we stumbled around myeong-dong for a big before deciding on outdoor seating across from a long row of Korean restaurants.  Beer, grilled fish.  Smile.

More from me later.
I have to be up in  6 hours to meet a tour guide.  Im going to the DMZ in the morning.  dont know what that is?  look it up. you dont wanna go any more north of there ;)