We had a long layover at Incheon Airport so we tried something new. We contacted a local guide through toursbylocals.com and booked a walking tour. The logistics worked very well since it was easy to catch an airport bus into Seoul (took a little over an hour) and meet BongWoo Nam at the Anguk subway station. We saw a lot of interesting things in a short day, and managed the language barrier fairly well (we had expected the guide to speak better English than he did). But, hey, he spoke much better English than we spoke Korean!
The first thing we did was visit a section of the city that has sought to preserve a community of Hanok (traditional Korean) houses. It's a residential and business community; the city has made efforts to preserve the hanok and revive this part of Korea's cultural legacies. Artisans have moved here also, maintaining and revitalizing traditional crafts.
We were intrigued by Seoul - a very large (10 m), extremely clean and visitor-friendly city. We loved the public art and the re-creation of a stream that had historically flowed through the city but had been covered up by highways.
The area around city hall was celebrating the fact that 67 allies had supported South Korean during the Korean War. All of their flags were represented, along with a placque that indicated that number of allies in a war was a world record.
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| Changing of the guard at Deoksu Palace |
We also visited Deoksu Palace, one of the five main palace compounds established by the Joseon dynasties (1392 - 1910).
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| Eating a biscuit |
We would definitely return for longer and are confident that we could make our way around without a guide.
We stopped in Kauai for a week - with the purpose of rest and relaxation. Sort of like the monk seal on the right, except with books.
We arrived safely home on November 8th, happy to see the cats were waiting for us. 
The first thing we did was visit a section of the city that has sought to preserve a community of Hanok (traditional Korean) houses. It's a residential and business community; the city has made efforts to preserve the hanok and revive this part of Korea's cultural legacies. Artisans have moved here also, maintaining and revitalizing traditional crafts.
Spent the day in Patan, now a suburb of KTM although historically it was an independent city-state. Durbar Square in Patan is another UNESCO World Heritage site in the KTM Valley - and Lonely Planet sees it as arguably the finest collection of temples and palaces in Nepal.
The Patan Museum is touted as the best in Nepal with one of the finest collections of religious art in Asia. It is housed in the former residence of the Malla kings.
We also spent some time shopping in Patan. The former center for Tibetan refugees in the Jawalakhel area is now a center for Tibetan rugs, scarfs and other products. There are also fair trade shops that support the work of craft cooperatives around the country.
The Boudha Stupa is just outside KTM and was originally constructed in the 5th century. Historically the stupa was an important staging post on the trade route between Tibet and Kathmandu and traders would pray here before beginning driving their yaks into the high passes of the Himalaya. Most of the Tibetans living in Boudha are refugees who left Tibet after 1959, but there are also many Sherpas, an ethnic group that migrated into Nepal from Tibet in the 16th century.
We met up with the rest of our group and headed to Bardia National Park. Nepal has actually set aside about 20% of its land in national park, conservation areas, reserves and other protected areas - impressive for a country so poor. The all day car ride from Pokhara was grueling at times but did give us a good view of the ecological regions of Nepal: the Himalayan region which we had seen on the trek, the mountain region (foothills), and the Terai where most of the farming takes place. 
One of the most memorable experiences was taking part in village celebrations of Tihar. Tihar is the second most important Hindu festival after Dasain, and honors certain animals (crows, dogs, cows and bulls). The third day of Tihar is known as Deepawali, or the Festival of Lights which is when the goddes of wealth (Lakshmi) comes to visit so every home and business is lit for her presence. On the 5th day of Tihar, brothers and sisters meet and place tikas on each others' foreheads, with sisters offering gifts of fruit and sweets to their brothers while brothers give money in return. Our last night at Forest Hideway was the night when groups of villagers (mostly kids) came around with music and sang and danced. We all took part but unfortunately I have no pictures. It was great fun!