Getting down to Business in Style

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Originally uploaded by skindleshanks.

Acording to the Lonely Planet, you have to travel to the Potala Palace in Tibet to experience the best view one can have while one is doing one's business. (see link here) I've been there, and though the experience there is both unique and breathtaking, I think this lavatory, near the Taejong Observatory in Busan, is at least equally worthy. Rather than staring at witty scrawlings on the wall (The future of the human race is in your hands, etc. . .), guys can stare out through the pines and over the Korean Strait, perhaps on a clear day seeing Japan's Daemado on the horizon.

Korea has it's share of awful bathrooms, but there are some pretty nice ones, too. Most of the rest stops along Korea's toll highways are clean and modern, with a choice of Western (sit down) and Asian (no contact) style toilets and a few of them actually have hot running water. En route to Sokcho from Seoul, the Pyongchang Rest Stop is one of my favorites.

Suwon, home to one of the 2002 World Cup Stadiums, invested $4 million in creating a new public bathroom experience for visitors, with impressive views, specially commissioned art, and more importantly, cleaning staff. They even had a tour bus running through town offering the "Suwon Beautiful Restroom Tour." Last time I visited, the tour bus wasn't running, and the toilets weren't quite as clean as they were in 2002, but they were still much more pleasant than any public outhouse I have been to in Canada.

Bunbuster

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Originally uploaded by skindleshanks.

Public Executions in South Korea

I took this picture at the Korean folk Village in Yongin. There's a target just out of the picture, but it looks like they're shooting a human target. Kim Jong Il would be proud.

The riders there put on quite a show. One thing that we noticed was that the horses rode almost silently around the ring, as if they were shoeless. Perhaps a horse expert could shed some light on this.