A Newtown Couple’s Far Eastern Adventure:

 History, Culture, And Mud

By Jan Howard

Viewing tunnels in the demilitarized zone, climbing the Great Wall, white water rafting, and riding elephants through the jungle were some of the adventures experienced by Peg and Bob Daley of Newtown during a trip in October to South Korea, China, and Thailand.

“It was an incredible trip,” Mrs Daley said this week. 

Mr and Mrs Daley and their daughter, Megan Daley, of Boston, flew out of JFK on a Thursday night and, following a stop in Chicago, arrived in Korea on Saturday at 7 am.

Their adventures began almost immediately when their son, Todd, a US Army officer stationed in Korea, and his wife, Julie, whisked them off to the demilitarized zone at Panmunjom. Here, soldiers have stood guard between North and South Korea since the end of the Korean Conflict, almost 50 years ago.

In the demilitarized zone, they saw tunnels that were constructed by the North Koreans with crude tools during the war. “The claim is that they are still working on them,” Mrs Daley said.

The demilitarized zone has taken on the appearance of a tourist area, Mr Daley said, with souvenir shops, restaurants, and bus tours. The entrances to the tunnels on the South Korean side are painted in bright colors of blue, orange, and green.

There is a large amphitheater with a glass wall for viewing the North Korean zone. From the amphitheater, Mrs Daley said they could see a fake city built by North Korea to make it appear the country is prosperous.

“No one lives there,” she said. “It’s a façade.”

Despite the tourist atmosphere, Mrs Daley said the demilitarized zone is a dangerous place. “It’s a volatile area. Our military people are not taking it lightly.”

The first thing the Daleys noticed about Seoul, Korea, was the smog. “It’s bad,” Mr Daley said. “It’s a case of too much, too soon. The amount of automobiles there is incredible. They are not managing the change.

“They travel at excessive speeds on city streets. If no one is on the sidewalk, they’ll drive there,” he added.

The people, they said, are extremely gracious in their homes, though they are very status conscious.

While in Korea, the Daleys visited the International Pottery Fair south of Seoul, which offered very fine pottery.

Unlike the street markets they saw in China and Thailand, Mrs Daley said, “There was no bargaining there. Artists were selling their own wares.”

When they weren’t sightseeing in Seoul, Mr and Mrs Daley visited with their son and daughter-in-law. “We had cookouts and went out with our son’s friends. Some of his friends from West Point are also stationed there. It was good to see everybody,” Mrs Daley said.

China

Despite the beauty of Beijing’s temples, parks, and other buildings, the highlight of their trip to China was climbing the Great Wall, Mr and Mrs Daley agreed.

“In some places it was like a ladder, it was so steep,” Mrs Daley said. “There were steps of different depths.”

In Beijing they visited Tiananmen Square, the Forbidden City, the Temple of Heaven, the Imperial Palace, other temples and historic places, parks, and the zoo where the main attraction was the pandas. They also attended a performance of the Beijing Opera. The costumes were gorgeous, Mr Daley said.

The traffic in Beijing is hectic, with bicycles, pedestrians, and cars all vying for use of the high-speed roads, Mr Daley said. “They all merge together. There are lots of accidents.”

Their hotel offered excellent accommodations, including a buffet breakfast with a choice of American, European, or Chinese food.

 They also went to a Chinese restaurant that served food that in no way resembled Chinese food in the United States. “We had no idea what we were eating,” Mr Daley said.

“The restaurant was beautiful. There was even a stage performance while we were eating,” he said.

They also had meals in many American restaurants, such as McDonald’s, Pizza Hut, Burger King, and TGIF. Kentucky Fried Chicken is also a popular eatery in China.

They visited a Chinese grocery store and department store to compare prices, Mrs Daley said.

All too soon, their time in China was over.

Once again back in Seoul at Todd and Julie’s apartment, the Daleys prepared to leave for Thailand and their “Soft Adventure.” Since Megan was flying home to Boston and Todd and Julie had to go back to work, Mr and Mrs Daley were now on their own to experience Thailand.

Thailand And The Soft Adventure

The Daleys flew into Bankok, where they saw more temples and shrines, toured the Grand Palace and the city, and visited the night market. They then traveled on to Chiang Mai near Myanmar, formerly Burma, where they stayed in a lodge and had their meals in a covered pavilion.

During the Soft Adventure, they trekked through rice paddies, went mountain biking and white water rafting, and rode elephants on jungle trails and through streams.

While trekking through rice paddies, they sometimes got leeches on their feet, and while mountain biking, the mud often got so thick the bicycles’ wheels wouldn’t turn.

“We were going through some challenging terrain,” Mrs Daley said.

 “Except for the time we spent hiking, there was transportation,” she noted.

A Land Rover was their means of transportation most of the time, though the dirt roads were often steep, narrow, and slippery and offered a challenge to their vehicle.

“You should see the ruts in the roads, ” Mr Daley said. 

“There were potholes bigger than a sofa,” Mrs Daley said. “There was a lot of mud, and we were sliding around. We were afraid we’d go into one or off the road.”

“We were nervous, but the driver didn’t seem to be,” Mr Daley said.

The Daleys were accompanied on the Soft Adventure by a married couple from Switzerland, as well as a tour guide and a driver. The driver, like the one they hired in China, did not speak English.

Despite the language barrier, Mr Daley said, “I never felt ill at ease or uncomfortable. I felt accepted.”

“The Thai people are so warm, friendly, and cheerful,” Mrs Daley said.

Traveling through Thailand’s small native villages “was like stepping back in time,” she said. While there was electricity, it was of very limited quantity, though you might see an occasional satellite dish near a house. Sanitary facilities consisted primarily of outhouses.

“They live a very simplistic life but they have close family relationships and community life,” Mr Daley said. “They probably don’t have ulcers.”

One of the highlights of the trip to Thailand was a visit to a village of the Hmong tribe and having tea in a Hmong home, Mr Daley said. Members of the Hmong tribe live very simply, Mr Daley said. The houses consist of one room with no windows or partitions. There is a fireplace in the center and beds in the corners.

While staying at the lodge, the Daleys were able to watch the reenactment of a Hmong wedding ceremony. “The girls marry at 14,” Mrs Daley said. “The husbands can have multiple wives, but wives can only have one husband.”

“They still have this dowry thing,” Mr Daley said. “They pay the bride’s parents for the bride.” This payment, he said, is compensation to the bride’s family for the loss of her helping hands.

Electricity has been brought into the area to discourage the people from growing opium and to encourage them to grow food crops. Because of international pressures to stop opium production, the people have been taught how to terrace their hillsides and to rotate crops.

“They used to do slash and burn farming,” Mr Daley said. “They would cut the trees, grow opium, then move on.”

The new farming techniques saved the forests, the Daleys said, as well as provided stability, with people staying on their land. The people now raise several different crops.

“A lot of their terrain is hilly,” Mrs Daley said. “There are no machines, and they make their tools out of bamboo. They grow everything they eat, and make everything they use.

 “Every village in Thailand has a Buddhist temple,” Mrs Daley said. “The wealth of the village is told by the grandeur of its temple.”

The temples are decorated with gold leaf, jewels, and gold mirrors. “It’s incredible, the gilt,” Mrs Daley said. The temples are also well maintained, with replacements of decorative items made by hand.

The Daleys’ last stop on their three-week adventure was two and a half days in Hawaii for some needed rest and relaxation. Because they were stranded in Seoul by a strike of Korean Air, their stay in Hawaii was cut short a day. Despite this, the trip was a great success.

 The visit to the Hmong tribe village and the Soft Adventure in Thailand, and climbing the Great Wall in China, were Mr Daley’s favorite parts of the trip.

Mrs Daley said it was a tossup as to what was her favorite, between riding an elephant through the jungle of Thailand or climbing the Great Wall. Though she would like to see other parts of China, she said enthusiastically,  “I would go back to Thailand in a heartbeat.”