Kyoto, Japan: Kinkaku-ji (Temple of the Golden Pavilion)

When you think of Japan lots of things come to mind.  Anime, sushi and sake, or maybe even this stuff.....but what I ended up loving when I left Japan sounds like a cheesy Martha Stewart special: what I appreciated was the delicate planning the Japanese put into a garden.  The Zen gardens were lovely to explore in their simplicity, but once a garden is truly cultivated, there's a balance in the leaves, and the way the water shapes itself around the trees that makes the most simple places paradise.  Then, add a temple painted bright gold, and you have magic. 

Kinkaki-ji was of the few places I paid to get in, and I almost didn't go at all, but two girls from Singapore found me on the verge of a nervous breakdown (because my PIN number wasn't working and I was completely out of money).  What would have taken days in horrible English instead took (only) three hours: they helped me in the Japanese they knew, and we finally got an ATM to work internationally.  They didn't have to help me, but you learn when travelling that people need to help each other when they can.  They could have easily wished me luck (or thought me crazy) and went on their way, but instead their generosity helped me to salvage a day in Kyoto.  After we (or maybe just me) calmed down over a bowl of noodles, we decided to make our way towards the temple together.

On the bus, we met a man who happened to live across from the temple.  Thankfully, feeling safer with my new companions, we didn't think it was that strange to accept an invitation to his home.  He paid for the bus fare, and lead us to his beautiful villa.  He gave us scarves with his own designs, gave us drinks, and (once he found out I was from New York City), talked about the New York Yankees pretty much non-stop.  We took some pictures, talked for a little while, then we went on our way happy to have made a new friend.  Because of a miscommunication he thought I still lived in NYC, and when he wanted an address from me in order to write a letter, I couldn't bear to break his heart.  So, I gave him a friend's address.  Two weeks later she received this:

The temple was worth every penny, and we got there as the sun was about to set, leaving a golden color on the leaves and water as it rippled away from the temple.  I realized I had met three wonderful people that day because of a stressful money crisis.  It was worth it to be able to have the adventure I did, even if I didn't know it at the time. Travelling is a wild animal in itself: strange, unpredictable, and hard to communicate with.  Sometimes you simply have to wait until its calmed down enough on its own, and sometimes there are people there to help you sooth it back under control.

Korea: Suwon

Although getting to Suwon from Seoul should be cheap and easy, we somehow managed to make it a two hour long ordeal where we had to get a taxi from Gwangmyeong KTX just to get back to the subway.  We did eventaully make it, however, and with our usual plan "see stuff", my boyfriend and I made it a memorable day trip.

Most of the day was spent wandering through Hwaseong Fortress, which still encircles the center of Suwon.  It was built in 1796 and is actually one of the first examples in Korea of paid labor.  Lots of it was destroyed in the battles of the Korean War, but it's still full of history, a beautiful place to walk around in, a place to experience galbi in restaurants (the city's signature dish), and to hike around in the mountainous area.  Hwaseong Haengung Palace is typical of most Korean palaces, but its location near the mountains makes it worth wandering through.  The fortress is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

We learned to shoot a bow and arrow at the archery demonstration. It was full of children and all in Korean, but we just pointed and shot (and missed).

Overall it was a beautiful city and a nice easy day trip from Seoul. The thing you have to love about Korea--the resting places on the fortress walls wasn't just a dirty bench.  It was a floor where no shoes were allowed.  You could lie down, literally take a nap, and feel rejuvenated enough to keep up with the ajummas hiking faster and more gracefully than you.