Seven days in Seoul

Our flight from KL to Seoul was easy, peasey. Breezed through airport formalities, picked up our pre ordered SIM card (which I can't take any credit for, I just hung around and tried not to yawn, when Richie discussed it.........I guess we all have our strengths). 

We had to wait for eeevvveeerrrrr at the ATM because there were about ten, very old, Dutch tourists in front of us and they couldn't figure out how to use the ATM. After I got over being irritated, it made me appreciate how difficult it would be to travel with little or no English language - we are so fortunate and we do take it a bit for granted.

We also purchased a couple of T money, travel cards (Richies' research again) and jumped on the train to our AIRBNB accommodation.

Seoul Metro, best subway system in the world and free wifi - that works!

We are staying with a very charming lad, called Andy (Hanhee) and his wife Juhyun. On our first evening in Seoul, he made us a lovely dinner - our first Korean meal. Juhyun is a flight attendant with Korea Air - so we didn't meet her for the first few days.

Richie and Andy (Hanhee)

Everyone kept telling us, that this was the best time of year in Korea, weather wise, and they were right - we did a lot of walking. We spent our first day strolling along the water park, a 5 k long, old flyover freeway, now converted into a lovely walkway. We stopped for coffee at the Dondaemun market, listened to some Austrian jazz, at a music festival and got stuck into the street food (fried dumplings and red bean donuts) in Insadong. 

Then....

Now...overhead freeway converted into water park - brilliant!

We've been really lucky, to be in town during a lot of festivals during this trip. There was an international fireworks festival by the Han River, Seoul so we decided to have a look. We'd only intended to have a quick look and then leave. However, best laid plans and all that ......we caught the train to Yongsan station, easily enough......

Richie enroute to firework festival

well there was a HUGE crowd of people flowing towards the river and we didn't have a choice but to join them - you just couldn't turn around and go against the tide. So we walked about 20 minutes to the river and found thousands of people camped out waiting for the fireworks.

Found a spot!

We found a small space and decided to wait for the fireworks to start before we left, to avoid the crowds. Of course everyone else had blankets and tents and beer and buckets of chicken - what did the Ajayi's have - a paper map to sit on, 1/2 bottle of water and one dry scone.  Sigh - I guess we'll never be those people who come prepared.

The fireworks were pretty magnificent - everyone had their faces turned up to the sky with looks of awe and wonder and the crowd simultaneously ohhhed and ahhed and then there was Richie - with a face like a smacked bum - he is so, not impressed with fireworks.

We finally managed to leave (with great difficulty as we were literally stuck on a foot bridge, jammed into a massive crowd of bodies, for about ten minutes) and made our way back to the metro. Overall it, was a fun experience and if nothing else, gave us an appreciation of the size of Seoul!

Next evening, Andy and Juhyun took us out to the N Seoul Tower to admire the views. The tower is a very romantic spot and young (and old) Korean couples chain padlocks on the fence. I've never seen so many locks - put the Paris lock bridge to shame! We finished the evening, enjoying a huge pork cutlet at a nearby restaurant.

Isn't it romantic? (those are trees made of padlocks!)

I said "look romantic!"

N Seoul Tower

We also caught up with a young couple Richie met in Cambodia, Jaden and Jina. We took the Metro to Jongo 5 and met them at the Dongdaemun market. They ordered some fabulous Korean food for our lunch - seafood pancakes, raw beef with sesame, Korean sushi, washed down with a couple of bottles of Soju and Magkoli (rice wine - kind of like fizzy, alcoholic yoghurt). Food was great, except for the raw beef - not my favourite. 

Jaden and Jena and bowls of rice wine

Market views, Seoul

I think I know why Koreans are so tall - it's all the meat they eat! 

We made the obligatory tour of the the Palace - it's HUGE - was okay - a zillion tourists of course (and we saw our 10 very old Dutch tourists again, fortunately we weren't in the queue behind them this time!)

Sauce pots - not us - the pots behind us!

Seoul is a massive city and all the areas are a bit different. We made an effort to see as much of the city as we could, so we spent an evening at Hongik, which is a university area. We just mooched around, checking out the bright young things and watching a bit of KPop dancing - Gangnam style. Very funky area, lots of bars and restaurants - we even saw a dog in shoes!

OK - it wasn't this exact dog......

We also fitted in a bit of culture and spent a great day at the Museum of Modern & Contemporary Art. It wasn't as good as other art galleries we've been to on our travels, but was fairly cheap, so no loss. On our last day in Seoul we hunted down the Express Bus Terminal (there are two bus terminals at one place) and purchased our tickets to Gyeongju, our next port of call. 

Museum of Modern & Contemporary Art, Seoul

Korean people are so friendly and helpful - someone always asks if you need help and no one has an ulterior motive - just wanting to help. I'm loving Seoul and Korean people, so far. 

Our lovely host Andy leaves the house at 7 am and gets home from work at 9.30 pm. Korea has a work culture - where you can't leave the office before your boss and you have to get into the office before your boss. When we are coming home from dinner about 9pm - it's like rush hour with all the suits (mostly male) coming home. 

Still the best subway system in the world. Sorry Singapore - you'll have to lift your game!

Also you can't tell anyone, if they are upsetting you or annoying you - if you do, you are considered very rude. For example, everyone stands on one side of the escalator so people can move up and down (as in most big cities). However, occasionally some one (read asshole!) stands on the wrong side - no one says anything, no one even pulls a face!!!!! 

Imagine doing that in New York or London - they'd be hurled out of the way. It's a bit weird - you can act like an asshole and no one can say anything to you or else they are considered rude for saying something.  I think that would drive me crazy.... oh and the other thing is - whilst Koreans are very polite - there are about a million old people on the metro and they just shove everyone out of the way - again, no one even blinks. We think it's hilarious - "I'm old and I'm coming through!".

There are rectums and then, there are assholes!

We had planned to go for a Korean BBQ on our last night, however, when we got back to our AIRBNB home, Andys' equally delightful Mum, had made us a lovely indoor BBQ dinner. 

I can't say enough nice things about Andy and his family. This is the reason we stay at AIRBNB, to make new friends and experience a little bit of other peoples' reality.

Our new friends

We managed to use up nearly all the $20 we put on our T money cards. We only had a week in Seoul, it's a great city and we will definitely be back. So off to our next adventure, Gyeongju - a living museum town in South Korea......