Itaewon and the Bookstore

Today, I went to Itaewon. It’s nothing like the rest of Korea. The mainstreet is lined with American, and Indian food restaurants, a few kabab stands and even a taco joint--a typical traveler hotspot--and a far cry from the usual bowls of rice and soup. Itaewon is a place where all the ex-pats, Military folk, and general “way-gu-gins” (foreigners) like to hang out. Compared to the rather homogeneous rest of Seoul, Caucasian, African and other foreign faces may even outnumber the few Koreans seen on the street.

At first, I dispised Itaewon, because it was so "un-Korean," although, it’s really convenient to have an International area so close in reach.

I go to Itaewon every time I need to buy a phone card or a used English book. On this occasion, it was for both. There are two used English bookstores in Itaewon: one of which I found while aimlessly wandering around, and the other I sought out while on a serious mission with the famous John Evans.

I usually swing by and browse the travel section when I'm in town. There's something magical about finding a book at the used bookstore: You just may happen to come across a recently abandoned treasure. Just about any book you find there has been stamped with a seal of approval by the mere fact that it's included in the collection. Here's my theory: If someone liked this book well enough to bring it on their trip (meaning they bothered to pack it and haul it among the other necessities), and then went to the trouble of recycling it at a used book store, it must be a good book. Not every book is worthy of this treatment--just the few handpicked golden choices. Give a penny, take a penny, that's how it works.

If by chance I stumble upon a used guidebook to Laos or SE Asia, I thought, I will be thrilled. I like to see what other people have marked in their guidebooks; they are clues to unchartered territory. Sometimes I find really great travel books, like the grimy, beat-up copy of Backpacker I found in a small village in Kho Phang Ngan, Thailand. I spent several afternoons enjoying that book, reading in the hammock of my beachside bungalow. I have since found a number of interesting stories at used bookstores.

This time, I happened to stumble upon a tale from the Lonely Planet collection, one called, By the Seat of My Pants: Humorous Tales of Travel & Misadventure. Seems like the perfect book for me to read in Laos...SCORE!