And so the last day arrived. We shall be leaving the country on New Years day and to say good bye to my daughter is leaving a hole in my soul (again).Below a few of the sights and sounds of our trip.

Seoul Station: photo by Tara

Old market Seoul. The photo was taken by Tara early morning and it really captures the atmosphere there.

Old market Seoul: photo Tara

We visited the  Bulguksa Temple in Gyeongju after reading the comprehensive temple blog of Dale’s Korean Temples http://koreantemples.com/?p=245 and chose to do so on the coldest day ever! I wish I could spend time alone at this temple to absorb the tranquility.

Bulguksa Temple – 불국사 (Gyeongju)

We took a bus, trains, another bus and a taxi to get there and honestly, it was so cold I had to look down to see if I was still wearing my pants because this cold is a “nekkid” cold. I think we stood out like two blonde thumbs in a dark haired country! This particular cold lunch consisted of dishes all unknown to me. Even the ingredients I could not decipher. Still don’t know what I ate but hey, when in Rome….or at least, when in Gyeongju….. And last but oh so not the least! I am in love with the way the Koreans think about kitchen sinks! You can take a bath in the thing. I so want one to take home with me.

My dream kitchen sink!

Happy New Year to you all. I shall be in several planes for 23h30 minutes to be exact to get home to sunny Cape Town in 2014!