I didn’t realise the monsoon season here is now. I always had September in my mind. If I’d done any research and checked beforehand, I’d have probably had the bike freighted straight to Russia. But that would have been a shame, as I’d have missed some great experiences.

Today for example, it rained. A lot. I decided not to put my waterproofs on when I left, because the sky didn’t look too bad. They’re also hot, and they leak! Getting through Seoul and out the other side took almost 3hrs in the traffic. All of that time it trained. Once we’d found the outskirts we stopped for a coffee and I was actually cold!!

The owner of the Family Tuna restaurant have is the coffee for nothing, which was very generous. I needed a snack so I bought a donut, one of the few recognisable items on sale. It turned out to be a chicken curry donut (as opposed to jam!). Strange, but quite tasty all the same.

I just hope the weather is better in Russia!

The foreign office advice for travelers, while generally erring on the side of caution, has standard advice applicable to most destinations. Things like “observe local customs”. One of these is to “avoid public demonstrations and protests”.

The past few days there have been a few protests in Seoul. This one I had to walk through to get back to my hotel. Behind where I took the photo there was every police man in Seoul. Literally hundreds, some in full riot gear. The speaker was shouting into the mic, meanwhile I’m picking my day through. ” excuse me, sorry, thank you ” etc..

Thankfully it was all peaceful. I asked a few people what it was about. It’s not easy to find English speakers, but from what I can tell the protest was about the sinking of the Sewol. (The Sewol was a passenger ferry that sunk in April, with the loss of 294 lives). I think the people want an inquest, but don’t quote me on that.

The yellow tags you see are all around the city. They are remembrance tags with writing on, presumably names. Most of the victims were school kids, it was a real tragedy. I met up with a couple of people in Incheon last night, which is where the ship sailed from.

A very interesting place. Like many others, worthy of a whole day to look around rather than a couple of hours.

I met a nice French chap called Yael on the tour. He’s actually going to the other side next week! Taking the same tour, but the North Korean version. I asked him about visas etc. and it sounded quite straightforward, all matter of fact. I was starting to think this man has no fear, then he said “my mum doesn’t know though”.

Behind every brave man there’s a mother he doesn’t want to find out!!

After being searched and having our passports checked, we were escorted onto military buses by American soldiers. These took us for a briefing on security, specifically that we weren’t too make gestures to the North Korean soldiers. (Me? As if I would!)

In the picture you can see the standoff, with the Republic soldiers facing away to the North and the Korean People’s Army soldiers staring then down. The grey buildings are North Korean, with the one in the centre being their visitor centre. You can just make out a Korean People’s Army officer looking at us through binoculars, standing in the doorway.

The actual border was marked and runs through the centre of the blue buildings. These are conference rooms where peace talks take place. We were allowed in for 2 minutes, where I boldly stood on the North Korean side! It’s hardly rock and roll and I don’t have a passport stamp to prove it, but at least I can say I’ve been to North Korea.

We stopped for lunch prior to going into the DMZ and onto the border itself. The fence making the start of the DMZ was clearly evident, connecting the manned observation posts looking North for signs of invasion.

All along the fence were ribbons remembering the fallen, presumably left by relatives of the deceased. It’s a colourful addition to an otherwise austere land mark, though I suspect the fence marking the other side of the DMZ has no such enhancements.

In a documentary I learned about the amazing diversity of wildlife in the DMZ. Around 4kms wide and 250 kms long, it is the most heavily guarded and observed stretch of land on the planet. Despite this, no man is allowed to enter – which gives the wildlife a unique and unpestered preserve.

I took a trip to the border with North Korea. It was an organised tour, something I don’t generally enjoy. Being told what to do, where to go and what time to be back doesn’t really work for me! But there’s no alternative if you want to see it, so off I went.

First up was a trip to the Korean war memorial, which had an interesting museum. The tour was guided and an Engrish spreading guy took us through the history of the way. It was actually very interesting, as it’s not something I knew much about. It came very close to a complete victory for both sides, before reaching the stalemate at the 38th parallel.

Amongst the exhibits was the captured staff car of Kim Il-sung. Whilst it was quite an impressive machine, I much preferred this captured Russian reconnaissance vehicle. The Dnepr outfit is cool in any theatre of war, but cooler still in peacetime. I want one!! (In black of course!).

To give some sense of scale, here’s a picture of the gates to the temple. The walled area completely encompasses the compound, which is right in the heart of Seoul.

It was busy with tourists of course, but still large enough to find a quiet space for contemplation. For a while I sat under the trees by the lake and imagined being a monk. The meditation, inner peace and tranquility.

Unfortunately monks don’t ride motorbikes, so it didn’t last!

This is the kind of thing I was expecting to see in the country, off the beaten track. Unmolested by time and progress, a peaceful temple on an ornamental pond. In fact this is in the heart of downtown Seoul, just one part of a huge complex of many temples in a park on one site.

After walking down the Cheonggyecheon stream I found the place easy enough. There was an impressive grassed area outside with a couple of huge statues. Heading through the equally impressive Heungnyemun gate, I was greeted with a sign I didn’t like. Ticket office!!

The fee was modest and I doubt I’ll be coming back, so I paid and went in for a walk around. It had to be at least 10 acres of temple buildings, all very well preserved with the mountains in the background and the walls keeping out the city noise. Most incongruent, but a pleasant surprise indeed!

I saw this today and I’ve realised I’m on the wrong bike! THIS is what I should have taken. I like trikes anyway, but this hybrid bike, trike and truck is just great. Imagine how much stuff you could get in the back? Maybe even sleep in there? I’ve seen one with a windscreen too.

Being mechanically minded I had to see how it had been made. The bike engine had been turned through 90° in the horizontal plane. The drive sprocket now faces rearwards and has a shaft bolted to it. The shaft drives the wheels through a diff, but there’s also a second gearbox inbetween. It must have 10 or 15 gears and be able to pull some very heavy loads.

The back section reminds me of the wagons in the old cowboy films. Yee-Harr!

I arrived in Seoul City yesterday, which wasn’t as stressful as I thought. Being a Sunday the traffic wasn’t too bad, though it still took me an hour to find my hotel!

I needed to meet my agent to pay for the import of the bike. (I like saying that as it makes me sound like a famous actor or rock star!). I actually mean my shipping agent, or freight forwarder as they’re called.

Wendy has been awesome, making sure everything was in order. I’ve heard some horror stories regarding vehicle import, but so far, so good as they say. She knows my agent in Russia (Yuri) and reckons he’s pretty good too.

We had a Korean BBQ, which I really enjoyed. It’s a great idea where they plonk a genuine tub of hot coals in the middle of the table. You cook your own meat while the smoke is extracted by special ducted vacuum tubes.

Could you imagine the health and safety concerns back home? Or the risk assessments? Insurance premiums?