South Korea & Taiwan Blog 2: Seoul
Day 3 – Sunday, 9 Apr Seoul
Fine, chilly start, 19ºC
Up at 7am and went for a walk across to the Paradise City casino/hotel complex, walked around the buildings then into the main interior plaza. Lots of quirky architecture and art pieces, and blossoms. This area feels like somewhere that is growing but still feels a bit ‘ build it and hope they will come ‘. And as we discovered later on only non-Koreans are allowed into casinos so that isn’t a big draw card. That said we were happy we stayed here for the night rather than catching the 50 minute train into town after we arrived in late last night.
Back to the hotel at 8:45am and grabbed breakfast at the hotel buffet ( $66 for 2 ) then back to room, packed and down for the 9:30am free shuttle to Incheon Airport ( 5 minutes ). Walked through to the Railway station in basement then bought T Money card ( W4000 / $5 ) ( T Money card is a prepay card that can be used on most transport and in some shops etc ) and loaded W20000 each onto the cards.
We bought tickets for AREX train to Seoul Station ( W8000ea ), got on train at 10:08am and arrived at Seoul Station at 10:51am. Walked through to Line 4 subway ( felt like miles ) and then 2 stops to Myeongdong ( W1250 per trip on subway using the T Money card, W1350 normally ). This was our first introduction to the biggest problem with the Metro system in Seoul; sooo many steps. There are often elevators and escalators, but the escalators have a habit of leading, not to another escalator, but to a flight of steps. And the subway stations in Seoul are really deep ( some are 18 storeys below the road level ). Needless to say lugging 2 suitcases up to street level was not easy.
Thanks to the Naver Maps app ( Google Maps has limited functionality in South Korea ) we exited the station at the exit that was right next to our hotel entrance, for the L7 Hotel ( $1156 for 5 nights ). It was too early to check in so we left our bags at reception and went downstairs to Twosome Place ( cafe ) for a drink and cake ( and a rest ).
We walked across the road then up the hill to the Namsan Cable Car station ( about 15 minute walk ) then joined queue to get on the cable car ( it was a Sunday so quite busy ). After about 20minutes in the queue for tickets we got 2 tickets ( W11000 ea for 1 way ) then another 45 minute queue up through the building to the cable car, then up to Namsan Tower at 1:15pm.
We walked up to the top of the hill to tower plaza and wandered around, looked at view etc then grabbed drink at vending machine ( it said cider…but it wasn’t ) and sat and watched people ( and rested again ).
After about 1/2 hour we walked down the hill ( which took about 45mins, with lots of steps ) following the old city wall down through the edge of town, past an outdoor museum/excavation under tent type structure, then to the Sungnyemun Gate ( one of the old city gates ). We stopped for a bit, watched the guards then walked back towards hotel.
We got distracted by camera shop ( our camera sensors both needed to get a clean ), so after talking to the man behind the counter he told us to go upstairs to someone who could help. So I headed upstairs in the building and found a man sitting in his ‘office’ ( more like a store room for old camera equipment, with the only place free of stuff being his desk ) and he proceeded to clean both cameras and their lenses using old school techniques of tissue paper, rubbing alcohol and tweezers. When he was done he tried to refuse payment but I got him to take W10000 ( $12 ) and I headed back down to Liz who had waited downstairs.
We then walked along Namdaemun-ro then through Namdaemun Market and into Hoehyeon subway station, and then 1 stop back to hotel at 4pm. We checked into room 1801 ( at the end of the hallway ) and relaxed for a bit Nice bright room with a view of Namsan mountain.
We headed up to the 21st floor to the free footspa at 5pm then back to room.
We headed out again at 6pm, caught the subway to Chungmuro then to Euljiro 3* station, walked to Cheonggyecheon river, walked along the side then up to Avenue of Youth, and walked around looking for place to eat. Went into a restaurant called “Live Bar”, which had no English menus, but ordered at the table based on pictures and google translate. This was our first experience of a common setup at restaurants where there is a draw at the end of the table with the cutlery and napkins etc in it. We paid W44000 / $55 for a chicken meal and Tteokbokki ( which was a little spicy ) and 2 big beers ( too much food for us; point to note for future ).
We walked back to river then walked back to the hotel via the Myeongdong Night market, stopped for crepes then back to room at 8:30pm. Relaxed and bed at 10pm
We walked back to river then walked back to the hotel via the Myeongdong Night market, stopped for crepes then back to room at 8:30pm. Relaxed and bed at 10pm
Our first impressions of Seoul on Day 1 we really positive; everything seemed organised and reasonably easy to find you way around, the subway works well, people are friendly and polite, no one worries about crime ( so many delivery vans / trucks sit on the side of the road with the cargo doors open and no one around ), and not as busy as we had thought it would be ( yes, it was only Sunday, but future me confirms this point; the city never felt crowded like Hong Kong does. Even the subway at rush hour is manageable )
* confusingly there are 3 stations on the Seoul subway called Euljiro, numbered 1, 3 and 4, and 2 Jongno stations, numbered 3 and 5 .
Day 4 – Monday, 10 April Seoul
Fine, chilly start, 19ºC
Got up at 7am, got organised then to the hotel restaurant for breakfast ( “Butterfinger Pancake”is the name of the restaurant, W27,000 ea for buffet ). Back to the room, packed and left at 9am, subway to Chungmuro then to Line 3 to Anguk.
We walked up through “Bukchon” Hanok Village, stopped at various places for photos. This traditional Hanok village has obviously been maintained for its tourist appeal but there are still people living in the houses and it has an authentic feel. And the view looking down the streets of old houses with the skyline of Seoul business area in the background is pretty surreal.
We stopped at “Bukchon Asian Cultural Art Museum” Hanok Museum at 10:30am ( W7000 ea, including tea/coffee ), looked in a recreated Hanok house then carried on downhill through the narrow streets. We stopped and bought a drawing in frame from a local artist ( W10000 ). As we wandered around there were quite a few people in ‘traditional’ Hanbok clothing ( which is rented in shops all over town, and wearing of this gets free entry Ito many palaces etc ).
Then back down to ‘civilisation’ and past Anguk station to Changdeokgung Palace ( which is closed on Monday’s ! ) then on downhill to Jongmyo Shrine entrance at 12:30pm. The shrine was accessible only as part of a group tour and the next English tour was at 2:00pm. So we bought tickets ( W1000 / $1.20 each ) , walked across road to a shopping area looking for lunch. We walked around the entire block and found only electronic shop, hardware shops, lighting shops, and not a single food outlet. We bought snacks/sandwiches at ‘Nice to CU’ convenience store ( the main brands of convenience stores are ‘Nice to CU’, ‘E24mart’, and ‘7/11’ ) and sat on steps of Makercity Seewon mall and ate.
Back over to the entrance to Jongmyo Shrine at 2pm, and had out English walking tour. Walked up through the shrine area with our guide explaining that the Shrine was for the ‘Spirit Bodies’ of the Kings and Queens of the Joseon Empire while the physical bodies are buried in tombs around the country. The main shrine building was closed for renovations but we saw the ‘overflow’ shrine for the less important Kings and Queens. Walked back out at 3pm. Very peaceful place and good to understand the differences between the Shrines and Palaces in Korea.
We walked to Jongno 3 station and subway to Seoul Station, walked around Lotte malls / shops then to Starbucks for coffee and rest. ( Starbucks are everywhere, McDonalds are not as common )
We headed back to the hotel on the subway at 5pm, headed up for a well deserved footspa on the roof then back to room.
Out again at 6pm, subway to Dongdaemun Design Precinct ( ‘Dongdaemun History and Culture Park’ station), had a walk around ( scouting for photos later ) then found dinner at ‘Pork Cutlet Bakery’ ( 2 bottles of Terra Beer, 2 pork cutlet meals W37000 / $43 ) down a side street, then back to photograph DDP building for an hour or so. Then subway back to hotel at 8:30pm.
Future me with some thoughts on our hotel choice in Seoul: L7 Myeongdong:
Great location right on top of Myeongdong Station, shops / night market in the streets behind the hotel, small alleyways across the main road with restaurants, good rooms, helpful staff. Restaurant for breakfast is expensive at W27000 ea but as we found there isn’t a lot of alternative as most cafe’s etc don’t open until 10am. Most importantly the hotel was quiet and good room noise insulation.
We liked it so much when we returned to Seoul in a weeks time we booked it again.