Late morning on Friday went to Seoul for the first time. Its easy to get there from our city. We got a taxi to the train station and brought a return ticket and then caught the train straight to Seoul which took 2 and a half hours.
It wasn't what I expected. It was more spread out than I thought. We headed to Itaewon where the American base is and where a lot of foreigners live. There were some beauty places where I wanted to get some waxing done. We got off the train and caught the subway to the next station and caught a taxi to Itaewon. It was not what I expected. It was one street of shops which were mainly clothing and restaurants. There were a lot of Americans there and we found a tourist information centre which told us where the beauty place was and we also got a hotel to stay at from there. By the time that was all done it was around 4pm and we found a Burger King which was good and tasted the same as at home.
Our main purpose of this visit was to go shopping for clothes and meet up with an old friend of Dions called Tim. He has lived in Korea for 2 and a half years teaching English and is loving it.
After having a quick look around Itaewon we caught a taxi to our Hotel and settled in. It was on a street near a subway station with loads of shops and restaurants. We went out for dinner to The Outback Steakhouse. It was crazy as it had boomerangs, didgereedoos on the walls and Australian Beers and food but was run solely by Koreans and owned by an American. The food was ok nothing to rave about.
The Koreans in Seoul understand english and are used to Foreigners. That was what I noticed about Seoul it was so much easier conversing with Koreans than where we live. I realised that we really do live out in the countryside and it is isolated. I would love to live in Seoul. You feel so much more understood and there are Western chains you can eat at when you feel like a Big Mac or Mexican or Italian or Indian.
The next morning we went to meet Tim outside Burger King in Itaewon. We were early and went to Starbucks and then met him. He is a really lovely man and we ate breakfast at Burger King as not much was opened and then went upstairs to have a coffee and discuss the plan of the day.
We wanted to go up Seoul Tower like the Sky Tower as you could see over the whole city. He suggested to go to the Tower immediately as it gets very busy there and it was a Saturday and Tourist and Koreans go to the Tower. It took 2 trains to get there. We arrived in a busy part of Seoul called Myeong-Dong. There is a huge market there which we didnt see this time but next time I would like to stay there. We had to hike up a hill to get to the cable car. The ride up the hill was amazing. Unfortunately it was a smoggy/cloudy day so the view wasnt good but what I could see was impressive. Once the cable car stopped we had another huge flight of stairs to climb. It was very cool with the trees and there were little eating places dotted up alongside the stairs.
Next we came to an area where there was a smoke signal station. In the old days this served as a warning to the city and to the country if there was war or peace. Fires were lit in these stone kilns and depending on how many were lit (there were about 5-6) the meaning was either prepare for war or peace.
We finally made it to the Tower and got a ticket to go up to the observation platform.
Inside it was like the Sky and Sydney towers and looked out over the city 360 degrees. The smog was incredibly bad and it was like a haze in the distance but you could see a bit. My photos are not good so I brought a pack of postcards which were very clear. At night its all lit up like a Christmas Tree.
On the way back down to the cable car we passed the smoke signal station and they were doing some sort of re-inactment except they didnt light the fires inside the kilns. There were 5 men in the old fashioned traditional clothing and a drum performing a ceremony. After that they signalled we could have our photos taken. Dion and I were first to get them taken. It was very exciting.
After coming down from the Tower and walking back down the hill I was so tired. Tim took us back to Itaewon via 2 trains to have lunch at a Kebab House. What a treat non Korean food. It tasted so gooood. Dion and I had steak and cheese with all the toppings wrapped in Pita Bread. Thats the beauty of Seoul you can eat ethnic food and not have to only eat Korean food like we basically have to do out in the country. After that we went shopping around Itaewon. There wasnt a lot for me although Dion found some Summer shirts. I have been warned this Summer is meant to be ruthlessly hot. Mid 30s with a lot of humidity. Help????
After shopping Tim took us to a bookshop in a huge mall via 4 trains. By this time our feet were swelling. All the stairs in the subway and walking soon takes it toll. It was getting close to peak hour and the subway was crowded and the mall was packed. Think Riccarton Mall on 9 -10 floors. This was what the mall was like and it was only a small one at a train station. Tim said lots of them are so much bigger with amusement parks. He said got lost in one once and it took him 45mins to find where he came in.
We parted ways at the bookshop and were so grateful to him for his kindness. Then we were on our own to get back. Tim had helped us with what stations to get on and off etc. We managed to find our way back to the Hotel after getting on the train which went in the opposite direction. It was so good to get back to the room. It was only around 5pm but we had walked so much that I fell asleep for a few hours. We had travelled only around a small area of Seoul so it was hard to imagine travelling around larger areas.
We went to an Italian restaurant for dinner at 8.30pm. We wanted to go to Dongdaemun Market and see the Huge Gate which is lit up at night and look around the market but all the walking we had done. The mind was eager but the body couldnt do it.
Next time we go to Seoul we will plan to go sight seeing, this was more of a shopping trip.
A good introduction to Seoul.
