I've mentioned this activity a few times, so here are some specifics:

-- There are a LOT of old people in Korea... Particularly you notice a lot of older ladies. Sometimes they're quite bowed and brittle-looking. But my goodness, they're feisty...

-- Young people don't always stand up for older people on the bus. Sometimes this leads to words... But in fairness, the young would never get to sit if they always gave way on this, and if Granny is on the way to a national park, dressed for hiking, then surely she's fit enough to stand on the bus...

-- "Dressed for hiking" in Korea means you've donned a whole kit of technical stuff (even if you're doing quite a modest walk).

-- Hikers also often carry their own musical entertainment with them (usually not accompanied by earphones). While the hiker remains heard but not seen, you can have fun guessing his/her age by the style (and volume) of the music.

-- Fans are big here. Guys as well as girls are happy to fan, so a good way of advertising is to hand out free fans emblazoned with your logo. We even got a fan from the police...



-- Large-brimmed hats and enormous duck-peaks are also very in vogue. This is because you don't want to get brown, and yet you're not going to stay indoors. People are much more ready to get out and about in the heat of the day than they are at home.

-- We're very used to selfies, selfie-sticks, and the whole paraphernalia of social media, but here it reaches whole new levels... But sometimes, people will still ask to be photographed, in the old-fashioned way.

-- People like to change seats on public transport... There's a constant ballet of passengers manoeuvring themselves into seats they consider to be more favourable.

-- People do bow, but not nearly to the extent I'd been led to expect. At some hotels they bow when you arrive and depart (but by no means all); the railway carriage attendant bows before leaving the carriage; the TV newsreader bows. But it's certainly not a general bow-fest.