March 13th – Seoul Searching

After yesterday's day of visiting the depressing side of South Korea and the DMZ, today we saw the other side of the country, by venturing to its optimistic and vibrant capital, Seoul. From the port, we took the train for the 70 minute journey to the city centre – Seoul's public transport is great, it cost 1,500 Won (less than £1) for the 30 mile journey.

When you emerge into a clean and ordered city of gleaming skyscrapers and wide roads filled with modern cars, you have to remind yourself that this city was 90% destroyed at the end of the Korean War in 1953. We walked along the pretty Cheonggyechon Stream that runs through the downtown area – the stream had previously been concreted over, but now it's been opened up and beautified, as the city tries to improve its aesthetics, after years of just concentrating on growth.

Our target was the massive Changdeokgung Palace, probably the most beautiful of Seoul's five palaces, and home to the Joseon Dynasty who ruled Korea for centuries, until the Japanese invasion in 1910. Back in royal times, the palace would have been a mini-city, staffed with thousands of servants dedicated to carrying out the King's every whim. In spite of the Japanese invasion and the damage of the Korean War, the palace complex was still full of enormous exotic pavilions, opulent throne rooms and bedchambers, painted in bright colours and decked out with fine carvings.

After all this culture, it was time for our favourite activity in Korea – eating their excellent food. We went to the enormous food hall of the Lotte Department Store, where we had to choose from a bewildering array of different kinds of food – sushi, noodles, rice, Korean barbeques, hot, cold, spicy, mild, the choice went on and on. Seeing as hardly anyone spoke English, we were kind of ordering blind anyway, but what we ended up with was delicious (I think mine was called a bibimbap).

Our final stop, was to go to the top of the city's tallest skyscraper, Tower 63, to get some views across this enormous city of 11 million people. We got the lift up to the 60th floor of the tower, and looked over the sprawling city below us, and got a good idea of why this is one of the densest populated cities in the world. Row upon row of apartment blocks stretched into the distance, each one identified by a big number on its side.

So, now it was time to get the train back to the port, and we squeezed ourselves onto the incredibly packed metro, and were jostled by the elbows of a thousand Seoulites, people who are clearly very happy to live in one of the most crowded cities in the world, and for whom the sense of personal space, is not of major importance.

March 12th – At The DMZ

Today we visited one of the world's most volatile security hotspots, to the menacing Demilitarised Zone between North and South Korea – the most heavily fortified border in the world. Here the two antagonistic halves of Korea are separated by a 2.5 mile wide Demilitarised Zone, that runs for 150 miles along the entire length of the border, from coast-to-coast. As we drove north to the border, even the river banks that were still within South Korea, were lined with huge amounts of barbed wire and watch towers, just in case any North Korean attack force decides to sail down river.

Our first stop was to where the river forms the border between the two warring cousins, and here we went to the South Korean end of the so-called Freedom Bridge, the bridge where captured soldiers were exchanged at the end of the war in 1953. Since then, no-one has crossed the bridge, apart from in 2000, when it looked like North and South might resume more friendly relations. In the last few years, North Korea's own Dr Evil, the dictator Kim Jong Il, has done his best to scupper any chances of Reunification, or even normalized relations, by attempting to become a nuclear tower.

Next we passed into the DMZ itself, where our coach was boarded by a soldier who checked out that we weren't North Korean insurgents – for a supposedly "Demilitarised" place, I've never seen so many soldiers. Ironically enough, the countryside that forms the DMZ is actually one of the most unspoilt countryside in the world, scarcely touched by human kind for the last 50 years – not surprising since it's lined with over 10 million mines. If ever North and South are unified, it will be interesting to see what happens to this unique ecosystem.

From the border, we went to possibly the most bizarre element of the DMZ, to visit the underground tunnels that were dug under the border by the North Koreans, so that they could invade the South. We went to the Third Tunnel (which was discovered in 1974), and we put on our yellow hard hats and descended into the depths of the Cold War, to walk around this bizarre relic of the struggle between Communism and Capitalism.

The tunnel stretched a mile into the South before it was discovered and blocked off by the South Korean army – the North first denied all knowledge of it, saying that it had been dug from the South, and then they said that they had merely been digging for coal. They had even painted the walls of the tunnel black, to back up their childish excuse, overlooking the fact that the tunnel had been chiseled out of granite, and there's not a lump of coal to be found in the whole surrounding area.

We then went to an observation post on a hill above the border, to stare directly into the face of the Axis of Evil. The weather was freezing and the wind was biting, which contributed to the grim atmosphere of this menacing place. You're only able to take photos behind a yellow line a few yards back from the observation post itself, so I can't show you a picture of the World's Biggest Flag, which flies on the Northern side of the border, across from probably the World's Second Biggest Flag, on the Southern side of the border. The North Korean flag weighs in at 650 pounds, and is so heavy that it'll only fly in a Force 8 gale – it was flying pretty well today!

Our final stop was at a gleaming new train station that has been built on the Southern side of the border – ready for when (and if, a big IF) Korea is re-united. It was strange to see the signs directing you to the platform for Pyongyang (North Korea's capital), when the chance of a train actually running there seems an impossibility unless there are some major changes in the world.

A fascinating, but slightly depressing day.

March 9th – Taipei

After a fairly rough day at sea, we were pretty glad to see dry land (well not that dry – it was raining heavily), at the port of Keelung, about 25 miles from Taipei, Taiwan's capital. In my lecture yesterday, I'd tried to explain Taiwan's confusing diplomatic status – it's official name is The Republic of China (as opposed to the People's Republic of China, which is mainland China), but it's not recognised as a country by the UN or by most Western countries, in spite of it having pretty much all the institutions of a state. Mainland China currently has 100 missiles pointing at Taiwan, and has promised to invade if ever Taiwan dares to declare independence, while the US has a law dictating that it will come to Taiwan's defence if ever China makes a move on it.

In spite of the tension surrounding the country on a diplomatic level, it's a vibrant and interesting place to discover. The coach took us about an hour to get into Taipei, and we went straight to the Martyr's Shrine, which is a memorial to all those who died in the name of the Republic of China, fighting in the many battles of the Chinese Civil War against the Communists – a war that the Nationalists eventually lost, and caused them to flee to Taiwan, to set up "Free China", here on the island.

Next we went to the excellent National Palace Museum, which houses the enormous Imperial collection from the Forbidden City, that was taken from Beijing before the Communist take-over of the mainland in 1949. Many people put this museum in the Top 4 museums in the world, after the British Museum, the Louvre, and New York's Metropolitan; and it houses a fabulous collection of opulent Chinese treasures. Our guide took us to see what she called "the Museum's Mona Lisa", a perfectly carved Jade Cabbage – it doesn't sound impressive, but when you see the delicate craftsmanship, it is pretty amazing. There's over 650,000 exhibits in the museum, but the highlights for us, were some amazing ivory carvings – the intricacy of the carving was astounding.

After negotiating the busy crowds for 2 hours in the museum, we were ready for lunch. We went to Taipei's most famous hotel, the beautiful Grand Hotel, housed in a fabulously decorated building, for a delicious buffet lunch. Next we went to the imposing tomb of Taiwan's founding father, Chiang Kai Shek. As the man who set up the country (governing from 1949 until his death in 1975), and oversaw Taiwan's remarkable economic growth, CKS (as he's known) occupies a difficult position for many modern Taiwanese, because he was also a military dictator, whose regime carried out a number of human rights abuses during the period of martial law.

That he was the subject of a personality cult, is obvious from the massive size of his Memorial building, and from the sheer size of his seated statue, which beams down on his people with a beneficent grin. Every hour, there's a changing of the guard, in which the deadly serious looking soldiers march slow motion from their posts, and stamp their feet and bang their rifles on the floor loudly in a perfectly choreographed ceremony, before an impressive show of rifle twirling, like the scene from the start of A Few Good Men.

Before we left Taipei, we had a quick stop at the foot of the city's most famous landmark, the towering Taipei 101 Building, which at 101 stories tall, was formerly the tallest building in the world, until the ridiculously tall, 160 storey Burj Dubai stole the title.

The gloss was only slightly taken off an excellent day, when we got back on board and the captain informed us that we were heading into very heavy seas, and should take our sea sickness pills. As someone who normally doesn't handle this very well, strangely enough it hasn't really affected me so far. Famous last words……

March 6th – Lamma Island

Today we took the ferry to one of Hong Kong's outlying islands, Lamma Island, for another alternative view of Hong Kong life. A 40 minute ferry ride, to us to the little village of Yung Shue Wan, which is reputedly home to Kong Kong's Boho Set. Whilst we didn't see too many bohemians, there's a very laid back vibe to the place, with lots of ex-pats, and restaurants and bars. The bar we ended up having a quick livener in, wouldn't have been out of place on the Costa Del Sol, or Gibraltar.

We followed a 2 hour marked trail which takes you over the top of the island and along the coast, to Sok Kwu Wan, where you can pick up another ferry to take you back to Central Hong Kong. Again, we'd been transported to another world, of sub-tropical forests and golden sandy beaches (you don't tend to associate Hong Kong with beaches); and even though there were quite a few others doing the hike, there was a really peaceful air to the island.

We didn't get to Sok Kwu Wan until 4pm, so we combined lunch and dinner and had a blow-out at one of the seafood restaurants overlooking the bay. Even though they had tanks filled with live seafood (some looking more like aliens than sea creatures), we went safe and stuck to tofu and chicken. As the sun went down, and the (thankfully cheap) Tsingtao beer went down well too, it felt like you couldn't be in a much more idyllic spot.

On our return to Kowloon, we headed out to the Temple Street Market with a bit more purpose than last night. My "Rolex" from Ho Chi Minh City has been losing time on a regular basis (you could set your watch by it), so I bought a much cheaper replacement that I wouldn't care so much about when this one goes wrong – I don't think this one is a knock off, or at least I hadn't heard of the brand it was knocking off. The "Rolex" is now on notice, and if it loses any more, it's going in the bin.

We then found a cheap streetside restaurant, which sold drinks at a much more reasonable price than last night's rejected bars, so we sat down, relaxed, and did some serious people watching, at the non-stop action of the market.

March 5th – New Territory in Hong Kong

Today we ventured into new territory for us, as we paid a visit to the New Territories of Hong Kong by train and bus, to see what life is like away from the hustle and bustle of the crowded Central District and manic Kowloon. The New Territories are the part of Hong Kong which directly borders China, where the majority of the ordinary people of Hong Kong live, in New Towns that were developed in the 50s, 60s and 70s, and they have a totally different atmosphere from the main part of Hong Kong.

Here the atmosphere is very Chinese, with English scarcely spoken, and no vestiges of the colonial past; while there's plenty of green space and sub-topical countryside surrounding the concrete blocks of these dormitory towns.

This is also the part of Hong Kong, where you can see some signs of what life was like before the British arrived in 1841, and we followed a heritage trail that visited four old walled towns, that dated from the 17th century. Inside these little walled towns, the pace of life slowed down appreciably in amongst the dilapidated buildings, and you could have been on a different planet from the busy commercialised world of Kowloon, which was just a 40 minute train ride away.

The trail lasted a sweaty but fascinating 2 and a half hours, before we ended up in Fanling again, where we had one of our cheapest, but tastiest lunches anywhere - ordered simply by pointing at the food of our fellow diners and hoping for the best. The vegetable noodles were an obvious hit, and the glutinous slimy pancake-like rolls were surprisingly good, while the jury's still out on Tracy's soya bean milk drink.

In the evening, we went for old territory this time – visiting the frenetic Temple Street Market and the Ladies Markets in Kowloon. We wandered and wandered, past lines of fortune tellers, and frenetic market stalls, resisting the temptation to buy the vast array of knock-off gear at the many stalls – the markets in Ho Chi Minh City are cheaper, but probably more hard work. We then thought we'd go for a drink, but all the bars we found were either flashy or sleezy places for ex-pats, so our aching feet dragged us home. We shall find somewhere cheap and grungey tomorrow.

March 3rd – Exploring the Red River Delta

We are in Halong Bay overnight, so that people can go to Hanoi, but as we've been there a few times before, we took a trip to explore the Red River Delta.

We first drove to a remote little town, to visit a traditional farm – this place is definitely not on the tourist trail, and the kids still had an innocently curious interest in us, as they followed us about, daring each other to get closer to us, and then running away giggling hilariously if we tried to talk to them. At the farm, we were met by the old grandmother, who tried to get us to chew some betel nuts. When she smiled, she scarily revealed a set of totally blackened teeth that would have given a dental hygienist 10 years of work – needless to say, no-one fancied having a chew.

Tracy felt that she was finally getting to grips with our guide's fairly strong accent, but then asked why he was going on about a "vegetable T-shirt"? It turned out the words he was trying to say, was "very superstitious". He got his own back, when he told us that the way we pronounced the Vietnamese for thank you, "Cam un", sounded to a Vietnamese like we were saying, "Can I have some noodles".

We then went to the port city of Haiphong, Vietnam's third largest city, which seemed to have a fairly frenetic atmosphere. Our coach drove us down narrow lanes which seemed way too small for that size of vehicle, and we passed by busy street markets, selling everything under the sun, including what we guessed could only be roast dog. If it wasn't man's best friend sitting there on a skewer, I don't know what other animal it could have been.

We went to a Buddhist Pagoda, full of gilded statues and incense smoke, and a traditional Communal House built out of teak wood – of interest mainly because there wasn't too much else historical in town; before moving on for lunch to the optimistically-named "Harbour View Hotel", a hotel with a view of a car park and some buildings.