"Seoul in October" Seoul by pranayama

Okay, so it's not a picture of Seoul, but Gyonggi-do's close enough!

I don't have any pictures of the city itself, b/c that's not what I find interesting. It's a lot cleaner than when I left 20 years ago, but it still has a long way to go. My asthma flared up within just a few days of being in Seoul. Btw, if you're walking under some trees and smell something foul, it may be the ginko trees you're smelling. They have leaves shaped like fans and possess a weird, rotten-egg odor.

I have a great fondness for the city, b/c I'm ethnically Korean and still have a lot of family here. But I always feel like a stranger in Seoul. I don't quite fit in here. In fact, shop owners usually try to speak to me in Japanese first. I'm sure a lot of gyopos (Koreans living abroad) feel this way.

These VT pages were invaluable in planning my recent trip to Seoul. Special thanks to Olddude, bpacker and Jburro for their help, and Hmmm for his insightful travel tips. I hope to return in a couple of years to climb a few more mountains!

The birds that roam free at the Old Tea Shop in Insadong

Traditional buddhist meditation dancers at Sanchon in Insadong

• Pros:Cheap, full of history, friendly people, good public transportation
• Cons:Pollution, traffic, crowds, uncomfortable summers
• In a nutshell:Not as interesting as the islands and mountains of Korea