The Final Aussie/Korea Blog

In the past 23 days:

- We have completed 8 flights (4 international and 4 domestic) which equals 25,878 miles flown per person. All with no lost luggage or delayed flights.
- We drove 3,716 km (2,309 miles) while in Australia- on the wrong side of the road
- We went diving at the Great Barrier Reef
- We saw 20,000 year old rock art in Kakadu
- We were down on the beach with Australian Sea Lions and saw many other native animals like Koalas, Kangaroos and Wallabies
- We drove the Great Ocean Road and saw some of the most spectacular coastal scenery
- We spent 3 days in Sydney which is one of the most beautiful cities we have seen. We climbed the Sydney Harbor Bridge and went sailing in the Sydney Harbor
- And last but not least we spent 5 days in Seoul traversing the city by foot and subway and experienced Korea and all it’s interesting food, sights, sounds, smells and cultural differences.

We are now on our way home (last flight home from Seoul to Seattle tonight). We have had a great trip, have met some amazing people and seen some spectacular places. For those of you who have enjoyed traveling by proxy with us through this blog, we will be accepting donations for our next long trip. Yes, we already have it planned…..

James and Maija

Sightseeing in Seoul

We have had a good time in Seoul and have been all over the city on the subway. We have done a lot of shopping at the different markets and it is shopping like I have NEVER seen...the markets go on and on forever (somewhat like the Grand Bazaar in Istanbul if anyone else has been there). It is almost overwhelming how big the markets are.

On Saturday night we went to the Korea House for traditional Korean food and saw traditional Korean dance. The dances and costumes were beautiful.

We have been to the sauna here in our hotel but it is not a real JIM JIL BANG, more like the spa you might have in your gym locker room. After shopping yesterday we went to the JIM JIL BANG downtown for "real" Korean sauna, and yes, it was exactly as the article described down to the "uniforms" (see prior blog/article about Korean spa).

Here are a pictures of our sightseeing:

Gyeongbokgung Palace









Downtown Seoul




Jogyesa Buddist Temple