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Published: July 13th 2014
Prologue
Heading back to Honolulu from Singapore, I had planned an 11-hour layover in Seoul (reduced to 9 hours because of a flight delay) to explore a new city. I had researched in advance and I planned to take the airport train to Seoul Station and from there explore Gyeongbok Palace, Insadong, the controversial Cheonggyecheon Stream project and a couple more places if time permitted. Landing in Seoul at around 10.45am, I got through immigration quickly and was in the arrivals hall by 11.15am. Despite the delay and the 3.15 am departure out of Singapore, I was well-rested thanks to Asiana's comfortable Business Class bed seat. While looking for the left luggage facility to deposit my roller bag, I chanced upon a counter for their free city tours. I picked up a brochure and saw that there was a free "Highlights of Seoul" tour departing at 1pm that hit the sights that I wanted to see, so I decided to take the tour instead and save myself some won. I had to pay US$6 in entry fees for the palace otherwise it was completely gratis.
As I had about 1.5 hours to kill, I went to one of the
restaurants above the departure hall and had soon dubu, a spicy tofu stew that is easily my favorite Korean dish. I first discovered soon dubu at BCD Tofu House - a 24-hour chain LA specializing in soon dubu plus a whole bunch of sides for $5.99 (prices have since gone up) - when I was a graduate student at UCLA and it quickly made it to my list of favorite comfort foods.
The Transit Tour
After a soul warming lunch, I headed back to the Hana Tour counter and was given a badge to wear. I was officially a tourist about to be herded into a tour bus. Walking onto the tour bus, I was mortified to see that it had pinkish-purplish frilly curtains. I should have known this was going to be a cheesy affair.
There were about a dozen people on this tour - three of them were men from one of the Central Asian republics under the former USSR, two of them were trainee guides, and the rest were mostly Filipino women. The guide came on board and introduced himself and announced that Hana Tours runs a modified city tour schedule on Saturdays because Seoul
residents were staging protests and traffic would be bad. So, instead of the sights listed on the brochure, we would be visiting Changdeok Palace and the newly-opened Dongdaemon Design Plaza. I wasn't quite sure how to feel about this - did they just do a bait-and-switch on us? Either way, it was a free tour, it was already 1pm and I would not be able to cover my original itinerary if I backed out now.
The ride into Seoul took over an hour (the airport train would have taken 43 minutes) and the guide wasn't kidding when he said traffic would be bad. The drive itself was scenic as the highway into town followed the Han river which had many pretty green spaces. Once in town, we pulled up to Dongdaemon Design Plaza (DDP) and we were deposited at the sidewalk. While on the bus, our guide had told us that he wasn't familiar with DDP and so we would hook up with another tour group whose guide was more familiar with DDP. We waited for the new guide for about ten minutes before being told that one of her charges had twisted an ankle and so she would
not be available to take us around DDP. With that our guide gave us 20 minutes to roam. DDP is architecturally interesting. I spent my 20 minutes walking inside and outside the structure and taking in the futuristic architecture and maze-like passageways. There were a few design-related museums, but I felt I would not be able to do justice to these exhibits in 20 minutes so I instead opted to soak in the atmosphere.
Next stop was Changdeok Palace. We were stuck in slow-moving traffic for quite a while before we got to this palace. I spent the entire time looking out the window. Our guide gave us a very informative tour of the palace once we got there. Outside the palace, I saw police buses and lots of police in riot gear, but I did not notice any organized protests. I asked our guide to give us more insight into the protests and he replied that Saturdays are the days where people protest - the protests are mostly peaceful, and the protesters themselves are not well organized and they are there to protest about a whole range of issues. First World problems, basically. Weaving through the city before
hitting the highway back to Incheon Airport, we saw quite a few places where riot police were lined up. They mostly looked bored.
Reflections
The ride back to Incheon took over an hour. I felt dissatisfied. It wasn't until much later that I could express why. In taking this guided group tour, I had turned into a
sightseer. I spent most of this tour in an airconditioned coach
seeing things (and even then I could have drawn the garish curtain to shut out the sights outside if I wanted to), but I was otherwise cut off from sounds, smells and other sensations and vibes that words cannot describe. I realized then that I relate best to urban landscapes at street level and not from a tour bus. I relate best when I am navigating, wandering, looking for the correct subway/train platform, finding hidden gems in side streets, even getting lost. I should have been on that airport train looking at weary travelers. I should have been walking on the streets and alleyways looking at people, posters, billboards, shops and street food. I should have been walking right up to the riot policemen to see if they really were bored
Riot Police
Standing around, not doing much.and what they did to occupy their time when protesters were being docile. Should have should have should have. In short, I had failed to connect with Seoul in a way that
I found meaningful. I have learned my lesson. Being a cheapskate doesn't always yield the best return, especially when that return isn't quantifiable.
Travel Tips
I don't mean to diss guided tours or package tourism. Honestly. If you enjoy traveling in this manner or you are short of time/money, the free transit tour may be a viable option. Look for the Hana Tours desk in the arrival hall at Incheon.
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