Blogs from Seoul, South Korea, Asia - page 6

Robb’s ankle was still hurting from yesterday so we took it a little early today. Headed out later in the morning towards Gangnam. We didn’t see Psy (of Gangnam Style song popularity) but we did see a lot of very rich and expensive stores. It was incredibly hot so we only saw a portion of Gangnam, mainly K-Star Road which is where many K-Pop entertainment management agencies are located. Gangnam is in fact a very trendy part of Seoul and has a vibrant nightlife. But at Noon during 40C weather, we didn’t linger very long. We took some photos and opted to go back to an area near the hotel where there are lots of restaurants and had our first taste of Chimaek(“Chi” for Chicken and “maek” which is Korean for beer). JoSo had some “maek” ... read more

I’ve come to South Korea having done little in the way of research. Seoul has been wonderful surprise. Once again, I'm reminded of how Eurocentric my education was and how much I've missed as a result. After years of visiting cities in China, Seoul seems cleaner, better organized and the locals seem calmer. Most of what you see in Seoul is relatively new. It was almost completely destroyed during the Korean War, when the North Koreans quickly took over Seoul after invading the South. Driving the North out destroyed the City which had already suffered considerably from the 35 year Japanese occupation before the beginning of WWII. Even many of the historic sights are actually new. The Japanese destroyed many long before the beginning of WWII. Most have been rebuilt from scratch over the years since ... read more

The final stage of the Seoul Trail! The last section is 34.5 kilometres and is of a medium level of difficulty. The trail covers the neighbourhoods of Gangbuk-gu, Dobong-gu, Seongbuk-gu, Eunpyeong-gu, and Jongro-gu. It is estimated that it will 17 hours to complete. The trail is divided into five sections, but I didn't follow these designated stages. Since this stage is so long, I thought it would take me two days to complete this, but since I wasn't feeling too good, when I first started it, I cut short one of my days and it took me three days to complete. On my first day I hiked for about 4 hours, the second day roughly four and a half hours, and the third day five and a half hours, so a grand total of 14 hours. ... read more

Geo: 37.5323, 126.957We walked through the streets and there are so many arty and cool things just on the side of the road. INSA-DONGAnother little artsy place with a shopping complex that has no stairs but is about 3 stories high. The shops are all on a slope so you don't really realize that you are going up this slight slope until you reach the top floor. It's really very special. ... read more

Geo: 37.5323, 126.957April 2ndNamdaemun Market.The market was within walking distance of the hotel. You could find almost everything here. Hats, fabric, food, belts, clothing, paper goods hair accessories and the list goes on. There were lots of small sit down restaurants too.Next to the market is Sungnyemun Gat... read more