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I had not been to Korea before, so I took some advice from Simon Coy who used to be the British Air Attache in Seoul. Simon fed me some very useful information.
In the event I managed to solve my immediate problem soon after my arrival whilst at the same time I made some useful contacts for other products. Once I had solved the problem I was able to relax and enjoy the country. I was well looked after, and even when I took off on my own, I found the Korean people extremely friendly and polite. A young women even stood up and offered me her seat on the underground - it was a special seat reserved for "old buggers" - she had me weighed up! Naturally I refused. (In my best Korean!) I enjoyed my brief stay and even managed a visit to the DMZ which was particularly interesting.
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Above left - Me being entertained to a traditional Korean banquet - sitting cross legged on the floor for about 2 hours nearly killed me! Above centre - A bit of site seeing in Seoul - someone's old palace now a museum Above right - My guide "Sue" in front of a magnificent bronze sculpture at the DMZ showing the 2 halves of Korea being pushed together. Right - the De-militarised Zone - not walked upon (officially) by a human since 1952! (We had a bit of trouble getting into the DMZ because I had left my passport in the hotel back in Seoul - however, my guides, with the use of my RAFA ID card and my "War Pension" book, managed to convince them that I was some old veteran who'd come back to rescue them from the North Koreans!) |
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Home for a day & then off to sunny Spain
but I accidently end up in France!
We had decided to make some serious efforts to sell our house in Mojacar and had booked our flights before the Korean interlude so I was only home for one day before jumping on a plane to Spain.
We bought the house over 23 years ago when Mojacar looked a bit like the DMZ (above) with sea in front! Unfortunately over the years it has gradually been developed as have all the Spanish coastal areas. In the last few years development has accelerated with many apartment complexes being built and many "Brits" moving in. Sadly Mojacar was a very nice place. Over the years it has become very British with many English people living there. However, it seems to have attracted more than its fair share of the wrong sort of British resident. There are more crooks, cowboys and "neighbours from hell" than you could believe. So we decided to sell up and go. This was planned to be our last vacation in our house.
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As you can see from the pictures the beaches and our pool area are incredibly overcrowded so it was time to move on.
"SLEEPLESS IN SPAIN & STRANDED IN FRANCE"
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After a few days I got bored lying by the pool, we had completed the task of organising a selling agent, so I decided to take off for a few days and remove some of our excess furniture & equipment to France - a mere 1,000 Kms away. I was unable to hire a van at short notice so decided to hire a large estate car with a roof rack! Unfortunately it took me rather longer to load than anticipate so it was quite late when I left. I was still driving some 8 hours later when, at about 02.30 hrs on a twisty narrow Spanish Pyrenneean road, I encountered a large boulder right in my path. It was raining. I was unable to stop. I couldn't swerve, so I had to drive at it. The car didn't like it, for It apparently did some serious damage. The engine gave up and I came to a halt. |
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| It was my lucky night/morning - I'd stopped on a slight downward incline and there was a village ahead, so I was able to push the car into a lay by just before the village. There was nowhere to go and nothing to do so I grabbed some sleep. I awoke early & cold - the temperature was around 4-5 C compared to the 25-30 in Mojacar - I was dressed for Mojacar and didn't even have a jacket with me. It turned out that the car was a right off & would have to be returned to Mojacar. I, however, had other ideas for the kit and me - there was no way I was going back when I was so close (about 2 hours) to my destination, so I called a mate in France for help. This came in the shape of a six foot four Irishman who I knew had a large trailer. John Slattery, in true Irish tradition immediately volunteered to break off work and come on a rescue mission! For that I am eternally grateful! (I'll never dare run out of "Jameson's"!) |
Sir John Slattery A true Irish knight |
When I eventually got to France, my problems were not quite over. There was no way of getting back to Jill in Spain in time to catch our plane back to Leeds! Not only that, but my passport was in Spain! (I seem to make a habit of not having my passport with me on the rare occasions that I need it!) In the event, Danielle (in Luxembourg -'cos she speaks fluent Spanish) organised a courier service to deliver my passport to France, whilst I organised a flight & trains home. This gave me an extra very pleasant weekend in France - All's well that ends well!
Jill & I eventually met up again back in England only to start packing for our early summer holiday a week later .............
