It had been a hectic 8 days trip to South Korea and my experience there was excellent. I experienced minus 25 sub-zero temperature and I have a deep understanding of their culture and history. Thanks to the excellent tour guide. It is actually fate and I enjoy every moment of it despite the freezing cold. Actually, it was bone bitting feeling. Once, I took a birth in a hotel bathroom. There was a heater but for a brief moment, a cold air gets into the bathroom and I was frozen for a brief moment. The feeling was unexplainable.
From day one, we have to wake up at 6am (Korean time) which was an hour earlier than Malaysia time. It was 5am in Malaysian time. The trip at 11pm from Kuala Lumpur on Saturday, 24th December 2011 on a christmas eve. We reach South Korea at 6am on Sunday morning, on a christmas day. The night was eventful, tossing between sleepiness and deep sleep. I think we sleep only for 3 hours, out of the 6 hours plane ride.
When we check out of the immigration, we were received by our tour guide and we were told to put on our winter wears and to expect the freezing cold. Telling us how cold it was, does not mean much until we actually, got out of the airport into the open.It was minus 17 sub-zero temperature. It was my first experience at sub-zero temperature. The cold air was refreshing but dry and freezing. Actually, I like the feeling of the cold air rushing into my body. In Malaysia, we barely feel our breath but in South Korea, our breath becomes more obvious and there is a feeling of awareness as the air fill up our lungs.
On the first day in South Korea, we start our tour immediately without checking into the hotel. The programme for the trip was full for the 8 days.As a good advise to everyone, if you want to follow a group tour, you have to be healthy and fit. There is a lot of walking, climbing and if you travel in winter, it takes more energy from your body compared to a tour in summer, autumn or spring. The snow on the road surface is very slippery as it gets harden and turn into ice.
As for clothings, you need long johns to keep your body warm, groves to protect you hands, boots to ensure the shoes does not get wet and proper winter wears to protect you from getting sick. A sun glass will protect your eyes from the lights reflecting from the snow.
I will unfold my experience to you in my later articles and I hope to give you some insight into my dharma experience. I told myself that I will relax and will try to cherish every moment during the trip and I felt that I have accomplished it well.
SInce, I just arrived from Kuala Lumpur, I will stop here and will continue the next episode soon.
Namaste.
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