Blogs from Jongno-gu, Seoul, South Korea, Asia

Ihwa Mural village is located in Seoul, close to Daehaengno. I visited Gaemi mural village a few months ago, and I had been wanting to visit its more famous sister, Ihwa mural village. Ihwa is a 'moon village' like Gaemi Mauel is, and the murals were painted to gentrify the area. In 2006, a local public art committee carried out what was called the Naksan Project to improve the local area. Around 60 artists participated in this project either by painting murals or installing pieces of art. The mural village is pretty easy to get to. Lots of people have written blogs about visiting it. Sometimes the directions are spot on, however other times they leave a lot to be desired. I took the subway to Hyehwa, and came out of exit two. I walked straight, ... read more

The Blue House, or to give it its Korean name, Cheongwadae is the executive office and official residence of the Korean head of state. It is where the current president Park Geunhye (and many presidents before her) lives and works. I had been meaning to visit the Blue House for years, but kept forgetting about it, as spaces are very limited. Finally, I decided that it had to be this winter. There are limited spaces available for English speakers, only ten per tour, with four tours either every Saturday or every other Saturday (I can't remember which). I had to reserve spaces on this tour months in advance, you have to get in early especially if you want a spot on a Saturday tour, I think the week day ones don't get booked up so quick. ... read more

Five weeks ago this journey began and tomorrow it will be coming to an end...mind you it is going to be a long day . I will actually arrive in Regina 2 minutes after I leave Korea .That international date line is a curious thing . I will have time to check my messages before I leave here though ...hint hint... My feet are sore ! I walked most of today and covered a lot of interesting ground . Seoul was designated as an International Design City a few years back . An honour it deserves .Some of the buildings individually and collectively are quite spectacular and when you add in the the traditional Hanoks and their charm it makes a great walk. I spent most of my time in what is called the Bukchon Village ... read more

Krista I NEEDED a coat ! Yesterday was cold ... it snowed off and on all day and it accumulated on the ground but most of it has disappeared or been shovelled aside. It did leave icy streets this morning which I had to watch out for when I left the hotel . As I had said I would I spent most of yesterday indoors . I bought a 2 day Seoul City Tour Bus ticket for $20 . The whole circuit takes 2 hours but it also has a hop- on hop- off feature that allows you to visit any of the 27 places/areas along the way . Way cheaper than a cab and you actually get to see where you are going unlike in the subway.So I was off. My first stop was the ... read more

What a difference 5 hours makes! We left Yangon at midnight and arrived in Seoul 5 hours later ...and nearly froze our buns!!From +30 to 0 is a huge shift ...and don't laugh at us wimps ,our bodies weren't ready for it and in spite of some forethought I didn't have the clothes layers readily available in my backpack .I had also developed a cold in Yangon . Oh well , I managed . Suzanne and I got lucky and had one more adventure before we parted ways. Incheon Airport and Seoul city together offer free tours for people who are in transit and would otherwise be sitting at the airport for hours . With Suzanne's boarding pass for Montreal we were able to go on a 5 hour tour of Central Seoul hitting the high ... read more