"Korea" a South Korea Travel Page by olddude

I between 1988 and 2001, I lived in Korea for 8 of those 13 years. During that time I came to know, respect and love the Korean people. I empathize with them over their divided country and with their proud heritage. I learned the language and attended university there and am an avid buff of recent Korean history.

I lived in the Pyongtaek area, but was fortunate enough to own a car and was able to travel the entire country while I was there. I have climbed Soraksan, been to Dragon Valley Ski Resort, the beach at Pusan, Sashimi in Mokpo, the east coast cliffs and camping at Woraksan National Park (even did some trout fishing there).

In the future, I will expand my Korea page to include places that I have spent time in in Korea and give you the reader insight into different parts of Korea. I already have a Seoul travel guide because it is an entity unto itself. I hope you enjoy the rest of my entries.

Songtan (now Pyongtaek) is known for its numerous shops, small and large, as well as street vendors and open air markets. It has become the shopping center of Korea for many US military throughout Korea and Koreans in the know. Weekends see the Osan AB parking area adjacent to the main gate filled with military, MWR and charter buses from Seoul, Tongduchon, Wonju, Taegu, Pusan -- and even the Joint Security Area at Panmunjom. They come from all over Korea to Songtan for days of shopping and nights of entertainment and relaxation.

Tailored and ready-made clothing, shoes and especially sports clothing are very popular. Songtan merchants cater to the young military crowd and their families with a variety of styles and prices. There are stores that specialize in coins to be given as military souvenirs, and many of these same stores also create a vast assortment of going away plaques for the departing military members. Organizational emblems, flags and other unique military related items are also available. All you need is a rough design and your dream can be made reality with amazing precision and craftsmanship. And the price is always right -- well, at least it's better than what you'll pay back in the States. And you have the comfort of seeing the item before you put down your hard-earned money.

Ceramics are also very popular and are available in both traditional Korean as well as modern styling. Many of the ceramic shops offer large ceramic dioramas with running water and animated objects.

And if you're lucky, you might even get there when there's a special sale going on. In fact, if you are the first customer of the day, you will receive a specail discount as is tradition. You are lucky customer.

And don't forget the blankets, especially the soft and warm mink blankets that offer so many styles, including the logo of your favorite sports team or your child's favorite cartoon character. If you're getting ready to take a trip or planning one in the near future, you can get bags large and small, with and without wheels.

Furniture, new and old style, including "new antiques" is available, and there are the doll shops, offering stuffed and ceramic dolls and usually including a large assortment of souvenir items to send to the folks back home. And don't forget the paintings. Take in a picture of anything and it can be painted. You can buy paintings created by the gallery or you can buy or order "plagiarism" of old and new masters. What you want, they either have or will make for you.

The Songtan Shopping Mall (Shinjang Shopping Mall) and the Songtan merchants have come a long way in recent years. With the construction of the Songtan Shopping Mall came the upgrade of most of the businesses. It now has special tourism status which means its merchants get special tax incentives and lower prices for shoppers.

The best way to get there from Seoul is to take a bus to Songtan from the Nambu Bus Terminal (stop #31 on line #3). There is a bus to Songtan every 20 minutes from 6:20am until about 9:20pm and the ride takes about 50 minutes. You can also now take the subway (Line #1), which takes about the same amount of time to go from Seoul to Songtan due to all the stops in between.