Hi kja -

Thanks for the kind words. Looking forward to reading your next TR. Just Korea, or somewhere else as well? If you have read this screed, and looked at the photos, I don't think there is anything new on the blog, but Seoul starts here: http://mytimetotravel.wordpress.com/...9/on-to-seoul/ - the links are at the top of the page.

I would suggest spending some time in the national parks. I wasn't in any shape to hike, but I think that would be a good use of time. I thought Gyeongju was worthwhile, and I was sorry not to make it to the big southern island. As you may have noticed, I didn't bother with the tour of the DMV.

I did give some thought to visiting North Korea as well. Even with a US passport it's doable, although you need a tour even if it's a one-person tour. You have to start in Beijing and I didn't want to mess with a Chinese visa on my trip. If you're interested in that I was thinking of using http://koryogroup.com/

Thanks for the link to, and directions for, your blogs, thursdaysd – I had missed those critical links at the top!

At this point, I haven’t decided on anything – even whether South Korea will be part of my next trip, although that's the direction I'm leaning. My very preliminary investigations suggest that it could offer an interesting combination of city and nature, ancient and modern, arts and architecture ... things I like to incorporate into any given trip. My limited research to date hasn’t particularly piqued an interest in either the DMZ or North Korea, though I could change my mind. I’m envisioning a trip of 3 or 4 weeks, and even if I do go to South Korea, I’m not sure whether it would be my sole destination or not. There are certainly a number of places that I could add on if I do end up going there, although not all appear to be good destinations for May, which is when I expect to travel. (I don’t deal well with heat or humidity, and the combination is definitely something I prefer to avoid.)

Thanks again!

If you're in that part of the world, I'd highly recommend including Taiwan. It has the history that China is busy trying to recreate (aka fake), and some good scenery too. And of course, there's Japan... (I have to go back.)