A City With A Lot Of Seoul


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Asia » South Korea » Seoul » Jongno-gu
June 29th 2012
Published: July 6th 2012
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Seoul was definitely worth visiting,an eclectic mix of ancient history and the modern world.
The flight with Korean Air, although a long 10 ½ hours ,was comfortable with a good entertainment package
on a surprisingly spacious aircraft with a very helpful crew.
At Incheon airport we chose the wrong passport queue so we were slow going through but our luggage was waiting
for us at the carousel.We managed to find the airport express train,transfer onto a metro to take us to Jongno3
where it was a short walk to our hotel.Thankfully Steph had sussed this all out in the UK prior to our departure
which helped enormously.It was hot and sticky in Seoul so we were thankful the room had aircon.We sorted
ourselves out and then had a wander around the local vicinity to get our bearings.As it was evening by this time
there were lots of outdoor street vendors selling a wide variety of food.The backstreets were a mish mash of small
shops selling goods ranging from drill bits,traffic cones and flags to medals and trophies.There were a lot of
jewellery shops on the main roads plus the inevitable 24-7 and Starbucks.The Cheonggyecheon-stream-which runs for
5.84km was very near the hotel.The stream was restored in 2005,taking 3 years to transform it.It is obviously very
popular as people can walk along it away from the noise,hustle&bustle of the city.There are lots of coffee houses
and we got a sandwich before going to bed. Tried to find some milk in a 24/7 by picking out the symbols. All I can
say is that tea doesnt taste good when it has banana milk in it!

DAY 2:After breakfast in the hotel-buffet style- we headed off for a days exploring mainly on foot.It was hot and
humid.First stop was Tapgol Park,a key site in the 1919 fight for independence from Japan which also has the Ten
Storied Stone Pagoda,Korea National Treasure number 2, in it.Next was the Bosingak-belfry-which announced the
hours of the day in the Joseon period by ringing the bell.We walked through Insa-Dong street which has antiques,
handmade paper,book shops as well as souveniers and tea rooms.Then the Changdeokgung Palace,built in 1405 and is
a near perfect example of palaces in the Joseon period.The King held court here and there were private areas for
the King and Queen as well as an places for the Prince to be educated in martial arts etc.Next we found part of
the Seoul Seonggwak,the fortess wall,which is 18.2km long and built in the Joleon period.Parts of it still remain
including the Heunginjimun gate, Korea National Treasure number 1,located on the East side of the city.We then
hopped on the metro and headed to the National War Museum.This covers a large area commemorating those involved
in conflicts involving South Korea.There are 2 large corridors containing the names of all those lost in the Korean war including UN soldiers of many nations-GB,Colombia,USA,Norway etc plus the flags of all these
soldiers' countries outside.There are also planes,boats and helicopters down one side and then some statues in
front of the building.It was a very well thought out museum.It started raining as we exited the metro near our
hotel so we found a restaurant for dinner and headed off back to bed. Next day was our flight to Vladivostok.......


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6th July 2012

Some like it hot.....
Great to hear all about the trip and what it is really like. We'll compare notes in August - I'm just off to see polar bears and glaciers.....

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