Travel

Let’s inspire not impress each other

July 19. Train stories #1.
I feel comfortable on the train, playing in my head with reminiscences of my earlier Russian trainrides. The platzkart, the hot water tap, the linen, the short conversations in broken Russian, the angry looking young men, the smiling women - it is all the same here in the far east. The train rolls through endless ...
July 18.
Vladivostok. The romantic feeling of being in a faraway place, even though it has been all too easy to get here. Getting off the ferry takes a while, and I sit in the corner brushing up my Russian with a set of notes I took in november, the last time I was in Russia. Passport ...
July 17. The ferry to Vladivostok.

An early morning-goodbye to my friends in Korea. I hop on the bus to Sokcho, get into the terminal and go to the usual cycles of waiting. Once I'm admitted to the rusty vessel (you should have seen the cardeck) I'm so tired that I crash my berth right away. The berth: they just ...
July 16. The Cave from my dream.

I am supposed to take the ferry to Vladivostok today, but "due to natural disaster" it has been postponed. I receive the email from the friendly Dongchun ferry employee on time, and I'm happy about it. Now I can go hiking Soraksan with Malia and Andrea. I wonder what the "natural disaster" would have ...
July 15. South Korea, West to East.

We take the bus to Sokcho today. We tried to do the same thing yesterday but it didn't work out. This time we make it to the terminal on time and find the correct bus. It's a comfortable way of traveling, though dangerously air-conditioned. We cross the country in about four hours and arrive ...
July 14.
What is friendship? This entry will take us to the height of theoretical considerations, to a summit where icy winds blow large snowflakes against our reasoning skin, where big halcyonic birds spread their giant wings to cast a mighty shadow upon our theories, where you can look to all directions without seeing anything. Who knows ...
July 13.
Yog-hu-ru-tu, Yog-hu-ru-tu, the woman shouts. Yog-hu-ru-tu, where are you? I am watching a children's theater play with joy. The title is "Looking for Yoghurt" and Yoghurt is actually a cat. Yeon, the set designer, is my couchsurfing host. The set is colorful and simple. I like the lighting effects assisting pantomime play on stage, and ...