Seoul Survivor

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The start of Grand Trip 2018 didn’t get off to the most auspicious of beginnings. Prior to departure I already had to abandon the Vladivostok leg of the plan due to visa issues. I was supposed to meet up with a friend on my first night, but he had to leave early for the US on business. So I made alternative plans to take in a baseball game Friday evening, however my flight arrived nearly three hours late. And by the time the ball game started I was still on the train into Seoul.

The capital of South Korea may seem like one of those overcrowded metropolis’s that form the basis of dystopian nightmares. In actual fact it is amongst the friendliest places I’ve been to and one of the easiest to get around. Except that is, if you are lugging heavy baggage. Interchange stations are miles apart, and it’s stairs only, no lifts anywhere. Add to that the deadly heat wave that has gripped Korea – temperatures pushing 40°C and humidity of around 80% – and by the time I reach the Sejong Hotel, I’m ready to collapse. And if that’s not enough, the room I’ve checked into is Room 13 on the 13^th floor…

But instead of staying in and moping, I head on out to take in a bit of Seoul. As the Sejong Hotel is in the Myeong-dong area, I don’t wander far to find thriving nightlife, the streets abuzz with people – including a startlingly high number of Cantonese speaking tourists – and food carts doing a roaring trade. Rather than sit in a restaurant, I indulge in a street food dinner of buttered scallops, lobster in cheese and some twisty potatoes. Feeling rejuvenated I dive into a bar for a beer a little after 10pm and see the baseball game I had hoped to attend was STILL going on. Evidently I missed quite a thriller of a 12-10 win for the LG Twins over the Samsung Lions in the electronic giants derby (as nobody calls it).

I wake early Saturday morning and start my Seoul visit in earnest. Having missed it on my last few visits, my top destination for this trip was Cheong-gye-cheon. It’s the revitalised stream that runs though the middle of Seoul and was the centrepiece of the city's urban renewal. Initially derided, it is now a popular spot for locals and visitors alike. But only the first kilometre or so is landscaped walkways and public artworks. The rest of Cheong-gye-cheon is left to grow wild and untamed for the benefit of migrating birds and other wildlife. I started the walk a little after 9am with the idea of covering the length of the stream in the morning before it got too hot, but within an hour, temperatures has reached 34°C. The route was bereft of the joggers and cyclists that would normally be out exercising. Only a fool would attempt the 9km in such conditions.

I walked it in a little over three hours.

In the evening, it as westwards to Guil and the Gocheok Sky Dome. It’s the first American-style indoor ballpark in Korea and the home of the Nexen Heroes since 2005. Tonight they were facing LG Twins in a Seoul derby. I got myself a cheap seat up in the top tier and squinted down at the action below. It was a great game, with Nexen edging it 13-8, especially with the Gocheok Sky Dome providing relief from the humidity which, to be fair, bad though it is, isn’t as suffocatingly so as Hong Kong.

There was no let up on the heat Sunday morning. So I did something I never do on trips; take a guided bus tour. Better to see the sights in an air-conditioned bus than to wilt in the baking sun. But rather than stay onboard the whole time, I did hop off at Nansam N Tower for the panoramic views, a Korean buffet lunch and, to much relief, finally withdraw money from an ATM. They’re a temperamental bunch if you have a foreign bank card, Korean ATMs. Sometimes they work, sometimes they don’t, even if you’ve successfully taken money out from the very same machine previously. Also took in the impressive Dongdaemun Design Park. The brainchild of the famed architect, late Zaha Hadid, it resembles couple of giant pebbles being dropped in the middle of the shopping district. DDP (as it's known) contains several levels of galleries, exhibition spaces, design shops and event halls. Dunno how much all this is of interest to locals, but it’s certainly a popular meeting spot and a place for families with little kiddies to go running about.

In the evening to was on to Hongdae, the district around Hongik University. There you can find many trendy bars and artisan cafes and at weekends the streets are also filled with buskers and street performers. They aren’t difficult to find, just follow the noise and the crowds. There are just as many tourists here are as locals, watching some exceptionally talented (and completely amateur) singers and dancers. Some of whom I vaguely recognise from viral YouTube videos. I could have stayed here all night, but not only has the Premier League season started, the Sunday game played early UK time for the benefit of the prime time audience in Asia was Liverpool vs. West Ham. I couldn’t miss that. There’s no shortage of places to watch English football, but a friend told me of an ideal place near Hongdae – a Liverpool supporting bar! I couldn’t pass that up, so I made my way to the Bonghwangdang pub in Yeonnam-dong… and was refused entry.

It was an hour before kick-off, but it was already packed to its 130 capacity. Thankfully they relented and squeezed me in after showing them my Liverpool Supporters’ Club membership card. Truly membership has its privileges. Bonghwangdang is a small basement bar decked out in LFC paraphernalia. I got chatting to a few of the Korean kopites here, they are very knowledgeable and clearly no bandwagon jumpers. Every goal was cheered to the rafters as a splendid evening was crowned with a 4-0 win for Liverpool. A mild drizzle rained down on Seoul as I left Bonghwangdang, but I only got as far as Seoul Station on the subway when it stopped running just after midnight. That’s disgracefully early for a major city. I had to taxi the rest of the way back to the Sejong Hotel. It was only when I arrived there that I realised I hadn’t eaten yet. So it was straight into the next door convenience store for some instant noodles, padded out with the ubiquitous kimchi as a concession to balanced eating. And with that, the first leg of my Korea journey ends.

With Vladivostok off, the next travel blog (when I get around to writing it) will instead chronicle a few days in Korea’s second city Busan. I’m liable for a sizzling time, as if it isn’t hot enough now…

Annyeong.



Cathal

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