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“See China right in front of you? (Bono)
“You will be the same person in ten years as you are today, apart from the books you read and the people you meet? (anon.) [I don’t really agree with this one, but it is an interesting thought]

Southern Japan and South Korea

Rob Lilwall
2007-12-01 14:37:07

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www.cyclinghomefromsiberia.com

Current Location: Seoul, South Korea

Km Cycled: 9, 024
Km to Home: 30, 976 (approx)

"See China right in front of you? (Bono)
"You will be the same person in ten years as you are today, apart from the books you read and the people you meet? (anon.) [I don't really agree with this one, but it is an interesting thought]

Riding through southern Japan in March, life began to feel easier again. No more lethal icy roads, no more persistent (but friendly) Russian drunkards, no more tight visa deadlines. In fact, it was rather pleasant cycling from one friendly host to the next. A stimulating evening spent with a hospitable academic, an enthusiastic student, or a budding entrepreneur... interspersed by equally pleasant "nights off? in my tent.

For my final week in Japan, I met Al again, and one night we rode out of the tunneled mountains, and down into the beautiful coastal city of Nagasaki. Standing on the edge of a hillside concrete memorial, I strained to imagine the day when the "noiseless flash? made Nagasaki infamous. The atom bomb (about a week after the Hiroshima bomb) flattened a large part of the city, instantly killing over 75,000 people, with as many again dying in the aftermath. And now, except for the memorials, you could not tell. Nagasaki is a lovely city. Did the bomb really need to be dropped to end the war swiftly... I don't know?

I really enjoyed my time in Japan, but it was now time to leave. As Al set sail for China, I found myself on a boat bound for South Korea, a five hour voyage away. South Korea is one of those places dwarfed by its neighbors. There is a saying that "when whales fight, shrimp get broken?. China, Japan, Russia, and (across a big Ocean) America, have all fought over and inflicted harm on the peninsula - it is easy to forget Korea has an identity all of its own. The superficial resemblance to Japan however, is quickly undone. Even ...