South Korea & Taiwan Blog 7: Jeonju to Seoul
Day 13 – Wednesday, 19 April Jeonju to Seoul
Fine and warm, 26ºC
Got up up at 8am, went downstairs for buffet breakfast then back to the room; checkout was 11am and train was at 11:45am, so we were in no rush. We checked out at 10:30am, walked to the bus stop on Chunggyeong-ro, then caught bus 543 to Jeonju Station, arrived at 11am
Walked through the concourse and over to platform 4 ( via an underpass that had escalators ) and waited for our train. Train arrived at 11:35, jumped on board ( 2nd class, forward facing, seats together ), left at 11:40am. Again we were in 2nd class for this trip.
Thoughts on Jeonju: We enjoyed our couple of days in Jeonju, it had a relaxed feel and the area around our hotel had shopping streets and cafes, and it was a short walk to the Hanok Village area. The central part of the city looking bustling with markets and shops, but we didn’t visit those areas. The hotel ( Best Western Plus ) was good and catching the bus from the station was painless.
We arrived at Yongsan station ( 1 stop short of Seoul Station ) at 1:35pm. We walked to the concourse then up to the mall area on 4F and had burgers at Lotteria ( W16000 ). After lunch we walked down through mall and out onto street at 2:15pm, then across the roads to the subway station for Line 2 ( Sinyongsan ), down to the platform then jumped on the subway 5 stops to Myeongdong Station, up the lift, across the road, and checked into L7 hotel again ( $579 for 2 nights ) and up to Room 2013 this time, with a city view.
We relaxed for a bit then out, back on subway, back to Sinyongsan to look around "Ipark mall”, which is a massive shopping mall attached to the train station. Lots of boutique type shops, including duty free. We sat in the garden area for a drink at 4:30pm, then caught the subway back to our hotel at 5:30pm.
Headed out at 7pm, subway to Seoul Station then to Jonggak station, walked through streets filled with restaurants, and had Japanese again ( Chicken Karage and beer, W24000/ NZ$29 ), walked to Holly’s for cheesecakes and cold drink ( W13000 ) then subway back to hotel ( Jonggak to Meongdong ) at 9:30pm.
Day 14 – Thursday, 20 April Seoul
Cloudy / hazy, 18ºC
Decided to have a quiet day on our last day; Liz isn’t feeling well ( had a cold for the last 4 days and now a cough ).
Up at 9:30am, downstairs and walked east looking for a café. We went to Luft and had cold croissants and scones at 10am, then walked around the block, then back to the hotel at 11am
We relaxed, edited photos etc
Headed out at 2pm, subway to Seoul Station and lunch at Paris Baguette, then walked to Seoullo 7017.
Seoullo 7017 is an old section of elevated road ( the name translates to ‘towards Seoul’, and the number refers to the year the road was built ( 1970 ) and the year it became a walkway ( 2017 )) that was decommissioned and instead of demolishing it they decided to create a walkway / garden from it. We walked up and then along the walkway, crossing the main train lines through Seoul Station in the process, lots of plants and trees to look at on the way. We bumped into the Aussie that we helped through Busan Station so we chatted to him for a bit.
We walked back down to ground level near Hoehyeon subway station, then walked through Namdaemun Market. Liz bought a bag strap ( to go around her new suitcase, W10000 ), then on to a bus stop on Namdaemun-ro, caught the 251 bus to Changdoekgung Palace.
Got off the bus at 3:30pm and bought tickets for entry to Changdoekgung Palace ( W3000 /$3.60 ea ) and then went in at 3:45pm. Very quiet inside so we happily wandered around. Changdoekgung Palace has a more relaxed, less formal structure compared to Gyeongbokgung that we walked around last week, with more trees and greenery. We watched the tour groups, school groups, selfie takers and people performing Tik Tok dance routines, then left at 4:30pm
We caught 251 bus back to the City Hall area, then walked back to hotel from there. On the way we watched a bus hit a car and someone important passing through with police escort / roads cleared ( and we got warned to stay back from the edge of the road as they passed by ).
Went out for tea at 6:30pm, walked down through Myeongdong Markets, had tea at Ssada Gimbap ( pork cutlets and rice, no beer, W13000/$15 ). After tea we walked down to SkyPark Central hotel and had coffees and cakes, then back to the hotel at 8:30pm.
Relaxed and got ready for the next part of the trip to Taiwan
