If you travel enough, world events will catch up with you it seems…
Tuesday afternoon, I was leaving Beijing from the old Terminal 2. Check in only opened certain times and we couldn’t find an Internet kiosk (they log who is using it so you need your passport before you can connect) so we were cut off from the world – the only TVs showing the monotonous airport channel.
Consequently it was only when I got to the hotel in Seoul around 1am and turned on the news that I discovered what had been unfolding during the day… Of course, Seoul is still here and it’s life as usual. The locals seem un-phased even though this is a development more serious than the many which have preceded it. When pushed, some say that the north doesn’t stand a chance – maybe hope of reunification has gone.
The pundits are asking why and it seems this could be part of a power struggle rather than provocation of the south – maybe the military doesn’t accept Kim Jong-un as heir apparent. With war games beginning today though, things could still make a turn for the worse.
Back to more mundane matters – this time I stayed near Namsan park which is north of the river and near the old city center. Much of the architecture round here is old and low built, so quite a start contrast with the south side climbing high.
The tower is the N Seoul Tower on Namsan mountain and can be reached by a cable car – more on that another time. I was staying at the Grand Hyatt which as usual in this part of the world has a high degree of opulence. The fake awards seem to indicate a table reservation.
The day I left was bitterly cold and we had thundersnow. Let’s hope this is one storm which blows through quickly…
