In conclusion…. (I bet you thought this Asian Adventure Series would never end, didn’t you?) I spent 30 fabulous days immersed in the cultures of Korea, Japan, and China.
The very best thing about this trip was that Miriam’s son Don and his wife Chris were the most fabulous “hosts” anyone could ever imagine.
For starters, Don made all the travel arrangements and reservations and did all the scheduling for both his mother and me. His “legwork” on the computer began in January, and our every whim about what we thought we wanted to do and see was thoroughly researched and planned.
The first week, Don and Chris alternated taking time off and showed Miriam and I around town, since they’d lived in Seoul nearly a year already and knew the lay of the land.
They knew all the best places to eat, and I thoroughly enjoyed tasting foods that were well beyond “foreign” to me. Between the two of them, they knew enough of the language to order our meals so that I never got “poisoned” eating something I was allergic to— including soy, a mainstay of Asian food preparation!
Throughout our trip, I continually used the word “blessed.” It became a type of running joke, although it wasn’t a “joke” at all. The timing for events or transportation was impeccable. Our accommodations, all arranged online, were exactly what and where we wanted them to be. The weather, which could have caused considerable challenges, was perfect throughout.
One example of “perfect” weather that we shall be talking about forever, was the day we traveled to The Great Wall of China.
We drove 75km, or about 45 miles, to a lesser-visited section of the wall: Mutianyu. “Where the sky meets the earth,” translated our guide.
We parked next to a “farmers’ restaurant” where the locals often ate, and were told we would eat there later that afternoon. As we hiked up the hill to the cable car landing, we noted that there was a Subway sandwich shop and a Baskin and Robbins along the way, and were glad we were not going to be eating lunch at an American chain restaurant.
I’ve written all about our experience ON the wall in a previous post. This is about what happened as we returned back to our starting point. We were a couple hundred yards from the restaurant, it started to sprinkle, and we quickened our pace. The sky was turning dark, and we could hear thunder, but being well below the crest of the hills, we couldn’t tell how far away the storm was.
We got inside, went upstairs and were seated next to a clear plastic tarp makeshift “window” wall. Within very few minutes, the lightning started, the thunder clapped right on top of us, and sky produced torrential rains that fell with a vengeance.
It was a sight to behold. And to think—we could have been out there in it, either walking on The Great Wall, or slipping and sliding back down the hill.
“Boy, are we blessed,” I said. And everyone nodded.
Not one of us was looking forward to stepping back outside into the deluge to run to the van, but as it turned out, we didn’t have to. As we gathered our things to leave the restaurant, it stopped raining!
“Wow!” I said. “We— are— so— freakin’— BLESSED.”
I could relate dozens more examples, but just take my word for it—the whole trip was like that. Day after day, surprise after surprise, blessing after blessing, it was hard to believe how fortunate we were.
But the Universe loves it when we’re grateful, and counting our blessings ensures we’ll attract more of the same.
I am blessed to have had the opportunity to take this trip, and blessed that you’ve read along as I’ve revisited my Amazing Asian Adventure.
And you’re never gonna believe where I’ve been and what I’ve been doing while you’ve been busy reading these last few blog posts—
You DEFINITELY want to Stay tuned!