Walking around cemeteries is becoming a bit of a theme on this blog, isn’t it? What can I say? It seems like a weirdly dark thing to do on a trip (and yeah, it kinda is), but it’s also really interesting.
Sometimes it’s nice to get out of the city and see some trees — it’s especially nice when said trees are actually in an enormous park inside the city. Because let’s face it, that’s just so much easier.
Commemorating the many soldiers from throughout the world who gave their lives during the Korean War, the UN Memorial Cemetery in Busan is actually the only United Nations cemetery in the world.
The Gamcheon Culture Village in Busan is definitely one of the more striking sights I’ve seen on my trip so far.
Built in the early 1400s, the Forbidden City is a really impressive palace compound (consisting of 980 buildings over 180 acres) right in the middle of Beijing.
I almost didn’t even bother going to see the Great Wall of China. I figured it’s cold, it’s expensive, I’d have to wake up early, and wouldn’t it be easier to just… not go? I mean, it’s a wall. What’s the big whoop?
The whoop, as it turns out, is pretty big. The Great Wall might have been one of the most awe-inspiring things I’ve ever seen.
I don’t know that I’ve ever actually gone on a hike before. Also: I’m honestly not entirely sure what differentiates hiking from walking. I mean, is it basically just walking, but in nature? If so, maybe I have hiked?
I’ve been almost entirely eschewing organized tours on this trip — partially because I like wandering around on my own, and partially because that stuff isn’t cheap. If you’re only travelling for a week or two, it makes complete sense to pay for stuff like that, because why not? You may as well cram as much as you can into the days that you have, and then worry about the money when you get home.
But when you’re travelling for several months, your budget is drastically different. Every cent counts, and if you’re taking pricey tours everywhere you go, that’ll add up fast.
Still, exceptions have to be made, and in Scotland — which is known just as much for its scenic countryside as anything else — I figured I’d be remiss if I stayed entirely in the city. Since renting a car was out of the question, a tour was really the only option.
Free museums appears to be a UK thing, because all of the big museums in Scotland are free just like the ones in London.
So I’ve been to a ridiculous amount of of them over the last couple of weeks (I’m actually starting to get a bit museumed out). Still, Glasgow has a couple of museums that are worth mentioning.
I’m not going to post about every museum I went to, because like I said, I went to a bunch (they’re free! So why the hell not??). But I did want to quickly mention the Natural History Museum.