Holi Hai in Busan

My two-month vacation ended quite some time ago, but I'm still doing a bit of catch-up on the blogs.

One of the best things that I did while in South Korea was attending the annual Holi Hai festival in Busan. The festival itself is Indian, and the entire event was organized by a group called Indians in Korea. The group basically tries to raise awareness of the cultural heritage, one of which is this particular festival

Holi Hai, otherwise known as the Festival of Colors, celebrates the coming of spring, the joy of friendship, and equality for all. People who attend are encouraged to wear white (so the colors show up better) and clothes that you don't mind will get ruined. The colors symbolize happiness, love, and the freedom to live vibrantly.

The festival in Busan happens every year on beautiful Haeundae Beach. You have to register before the event, and when you arrive you receive a samosa, a coke, and a packet of brightly colored powder. There's live music, dancing, street food, and booze everywhere. I think the Koreans that went to the beach to sunbathe were just a tiny bit confused by the giant, brightly colored festival happening on their favorite spot to hang out. It was a great day -- the weather was beautiful, I was with some of my favorite people, and I got to experience a festival that I have wanted to attend for ages. All in all, a great day!

These are the packets that contain the brightly colored powder we threw at each other.
Libby and I had not really gotten into the fray yet.

Two of the best ladies I have ever met, Ally (from Wisconsin!) and Coral.
This was after we really got into the color throwing.

Korea Reunion!
I cannot even explain how excited I was to see these ladies again.

Libby going into warrior mode.

Libby and a new friend, Kelsen. We had tons of fun together!

Attempted action shot...

Pure happy.

Sukhothai Historical Park

This past weekend I was finally able to tear myself away from Nakhonsawan and take a weekend trip to nearby Sukhothai. The city was once the capital of the Kingdom of Siam (Thailand's former name) during the 13th and 14th centuries. The site houses temples, stupas, and spires that once paid homage to both Hinduism and Buddhism. The city has been influenced by the countries and kingdoms surrounding it, and it has a unique style that is (understandably) labeled Sukhothai style. Stone inscriptions found at the site are also examples of the first Thai writing. The city is a world UNESCO site, so I knew it must be impressive. I was completely blown away by everything there, and would highly recommend a visit if anyone finds themselves in the northern part of Thailand.

Travel here does not mean that a lot of planning needs to be done beforehand. I made the decision that I wanted to go away for the weekend, then proceeded to not book anything ahead of time or look for accommodations. This actually worked out perfectly. I went to the bus station early on Saturday morning, and got a ticket for the next bus leaving for Sukhothai. Then I simply waited for my bus to arrive--there's usually a number on the ticket that corresponds to the bus you should get on. After a two and a half hour journey, I arrived at Sukhothai. When I got off the bus, I was surrounded by tuk tuk drivers trying to get a fare. They tried to overcharge me, and I soon found a songthaew (this is the Thai version of a bus: it's a pickup truck that has benches in the back and a roof that covers it). It was going to the Old City, which is the area I wanted to stay in, and it cost much less than a private tuk tuk or taxi would have cost.

I didn't have any lodgings set up, so I decided to get off the songthaew in the old city whenever the surroundings started to look interesting. When I hopped off, I saw a couple of stupas on one side of the street and found a cheap hostel on the other. It's low season for tourists right now, so I scored my own room (at Old City Guesthouse) with air conditioning for 350 baht (about $12; usually these rooms cost much more). After finding a home base, I decided to go out and explore. There were a few awesome restaurants and coffee shops about a minute's walk away from my room, and I discovered that the Historical Park was about 5 minutes away from there. Pretty astounding that I had found a place so close when I didn't even really know where the Park was.

I spent the next two days renting a bicycle and biking around the city. It only cost about 50 baht (less than $2) to rent a bike for the entire day, and it was 100 baht (about $3) to get into the park. I saw ruins, Buddha statues, Hindu statues, stupas, temples, and ruins galore. It was a nice, relaxing weekend (albeit quite hot; temperatures were typically above 100 degrees).

I took a ton of pictures, and I think that they will do better job of describing the beauty of this place much better than any words can:

Photo of the Week 11: That Time I Got a Motorbike

I may have forgotten about doing Photo of the Week for the best, um, three months or so, but I am back in the blogging game. So one of the most terrifying exciting things that has happened to me of late is the acquisition of a motorbike. (Sorry Dad. Seriously, don't worry, I'm a fantastically slow driver!) I'm just renting one for the moment. Not everyone knows this, but I have had an extreme fear of motorcycles and motorbikes for quite some time, so this is kind of a big deal for me. When I first got here, it was all I could to not hyperventilate when driving as a passenger. Driving one myself is huge, and while it is often still a really scary prospect, I have overcome wanting to have a panic attack every time I think about getting on a bike. My life has become so much less sweaty with this one act, so I am absolutely loving it! I mean, look at this sexy thing:

Driving in Thailand is much different than driving back in the States. To start, they drive on the opposite side of the road here. There are basically no traffic laws, but the rule of the road to remember is that you should yield the right of way if something is bigger and faster than you. People consistently drive on the wrong side of the road, pass on the left or right, and pile their motorbikes high with people and things they might be transporting. I have seen one person and two dogs on a motorbike on more than one occasion, and at most I have seen five people riding one bike. It is technically illegal for the driver to not wear a helmet, but most people disregard this. Or worse still, the driver has a helmet and their six-year-old kid does not. Personally, I want to be as safe as possible so I always wear a helmet (see Dad, no reason to worry!). 

It's not necessary to have a license or anything to drive a bike. I have seen some very young-looking children driving, probably about age 12, which scares me a bit. When I picked mine up with a friend, she showed me how to start it, where the brakes and lights were, and then I started driving immediately. It was an incredibly simply and inexpensive process, which means that anyone can (and does) drive a motorbike here.

Jindo Sea Parting, The Sequel

Vatos Tacos action!

So, if I'm going to tell everyone my travels from the last few months, I might as well go back to the beginning. Right, so the first stop was South Korea, where I was joined by my friend Libby. One of our first stops was my favorite restaurant in Itaewon, Vatos Tacos. Their kimchi fries are absolutely amazing!

I also met up with lots of my favorite people in the entire world! This is Danielle. She's one of the reasons I like Canadians so much!

Amazingly, one of the weekends we were there coincided with the Jindo Miracle Sea Parting Festival. I've done this one before when I lived in Korea, and it was one of the best trips I have ever gone on. So we decided to go again!

The Sea Parting Festival entails exactly what you would imagine--a land bridge forms, usually once a year, between mainland Korea and a nearby island called Jindo (it's actually the third largest island in the country). Because we were part of a group, we were able to take a ferry to the island and walk back to the mainland. Typically, visitors depart from the mainland, walk part of the way, then turn around.

There is a legend to go with the festival, of course. Apparently, the island was once teeming with tigers. Jindo villagers fled the island to escape being eaten, but poor Grandma Bbong was left behind. She prayed to the Sea God to reunite her with her family (although she probably should have been asking for protection against hungry tigers). The god heard her cries, and answered them in the form of a rainbow bridge that would lead her to safety. She made the crossing, but died of exhaustion in the arms of her family. Which probably taught them a good lesson about forgetting people on a tiger-infested island!

We spent the night on a bus traveling from Seoul to Jindo, but it was well worth it. The Yellow Sea apparently was to part TWICE for this particular festival. So we arrived around 4:30 AM and walked from the bus to the shore. They handed us all torches (probably not the safest choice.) As you can see in the picture, we all had to wear special gloves--hopefully they were flame retardant, but I really have no idea. There was live drumming. And dancing. And then fireworks, all before dawn!

Drummers!

After all of that excitement, we headed back to our hotel to get some sleep. Sleeping on a bus is never fun. After a bit of shut eye, we headed back to the shore. There were tons of food stalls, shows, and soju going around. We took our ferry to the island, and watched even more traditional performances. There was drumming, fan dances, and musical performers. Once the sea had parted far enough, we got the green light to walk across. I'm always amazed by the kinds of things people pull out of the sea: octopus, starfish, crab, seaweed, clams. Last time I saw an ajumma snatch an octopus out of the water ninja-style!

  

There was a banner that you could write wishes on in the middle of everything. Libby and I quickly took advantage of that. Being in Korea was incredibly cold after sweltering Thailand, so I was wearing my scarf like a jacket in pretty much all of these pictures. I was freezing cold! And I got to wear bright orange rain boots. That was cool.

This is an ajumma. They all look similar, (they usually wear a visor, leopard print something, a big handbag and a frown) and they are extremely terrifying. None of these women will hesitate to take you out with a hand bag or anything in their hands! Beware the ajumma...

Libby, Kelsen (a new friend who was awesome) and myself attempting to look cool.

We found a starfish! And tried to save it by putting it in the water.

Of course, Moses was in attendance. What would a sea parting be without him?!

Mmm, dinner.