SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA

I’m on the aeroplane and had a deep thought. I’m sat next to, what seems like, Chinese locals and I don’t feel alone at all. Moving to China independently, embarking on such a solo adventure, has made me appreciate life, travel and the fact that we are never alone. My thoughts were that amongst humans, people, each other we are all equal in that we are all on a journey. We are all effectively in the same boat, facing obstacles, having to make choices, pressures of society, search for happiness, adventure… it’s life I guess. I, for a moment, imagined I was on the earth ALL ALONE, no people, nature, food, everything else, but no people. It felt like a lonely world. People are my family.

So, I’m carrying this blog on a week later whilst I deal with my major Seoul blues! I’m currently on the bus to work (on a Saturday morning as this is my makeup day for the National Holiday!) and reflecting over my amazing 6nights, 7day trip to Seoul, South Korea. Every city, country and part of the world I’ve travelled to always leaves something in my heart. This has of course also been the case with Seoul.

So, I had a veeery long (but cheap) flight last Friday in which I firstly flew to Yantai in Northern China, enjoyed a 7hour layover in which I productively got lots of work done, and then onwards to Seoul Icheon International Airport – arriving around 9:30pm in the evening.  I decided to go for the cheaper option and take the metro to the Beewon Guesthouse hostel, whereby I’d be staying. It was a long metro journey but a pleasant one in which I met two lovely Korean people, who amidst the long metro journey sat next to me at some point in my journey. The first, was a business-type man, who saw my slight struggle and helped me figure out my metro route to the hostel, he also gave me a Korean sweet. The second was a lovely Korean girl, who was actually from Busan, she was lovely, sweet, helpful and we chatted as if we had known each other forever!

I finally arrived to the hostel, quite late probably around 11:30pm, to be greeted by a kind, Korean guy who showed me to my room. I was absolutely exhausted, but Sunaina and I decided to head out and get some food locally. I had a Korean pancake which was scrumptiously filled with seafood. 

After a good night’s rest, the next day I got up to explore and see what Seoul was all about! The weather was hot, sunny and perfect. After having breakfast, consisting of local green tea and jam toast, I quickly made friends with a Malaysian tour guide who was also staying in the guesthouse (as well as the awesome hostel owner I’d met the night before – Ohjoooo). He was free that day and said he knew Seoul very well, and was eager to join us for the day!

We set off, firstly towards Seouls biggest Palace, Gyeongbokgung . On the way, we passed through a brilliant artsy area, Insa-Dong, in which I couldn’t resist to buy a small, cute, black, bag-pack! We arrived to the palace in which there were, similar to Buckhingham Palace, very serious guards stood outside. It was so beautiful, I quickly recognised the traditional Korea attire as many girls wandered in these elegant, beautiful outfits. In fact…. about an hour later I was wearing the local traditional attire myself!

We went onto walk down towards Cheong-gye-cheon stream/river, which was really cute and wonderful. We then walked to the Myeong-Dong shopping area. It was such a buzzing, awesome area – especially for shopping!

We were close to the Seoul Tower so decided to head there and go up the cable car to see the view of Seoul. Unfortunately, however, the weather was cloudier than I thought as we quickly realised the view really wasn’t so great today! Nevertheless, it was a cool experience and the following days weather were hot, sunny and clear blue skies – so I found a walking route and enjoyed the Seoul Tower’s views again, and for free!

Richie, the Malaysian tour guy friend left us at this point, but after the Seoul Tower I met a friend of mine. He was from Seoul and I had met him when I travelled to Jeju, Island earlier in April this year! It’s amazing to meet people in a country, become friends and see them again! Makes the world feel quite small. Travel opens your eyes and broadens your mind like no other way.

So, we also met up with Kuan who works in the hostel and had agreed to join us after his shift ended, and also John my friend that I met in Jeju. It was evening now, and they chose a place named Yeouido for us to go and head to for food and to chill. We took a local bus in which we all crammed on! We arrived to an amazing area, it looked like a cool artificial island, with water, lots of food vans and lovely fountains. John explained to me that we were close to suicide bridge – a bridge in which has been very popular for people jumping off from!

We came to this area on a day in which a music concert was going on, it seemed to be free for all to join and was fun to hear some Korean pop songs! We all grabbed various foods from the world, sat and chilled with some beers from the store. After hanging out in this area for some time, we headed to a popular area for socialising, drinking and hanging out – the Hondgae Area!

We took a taxi to Hongdae, in which we again grabbed some beers and went to the park! It was crowded with Koreans and lots of EXPAT’s. I was immediately drawn in by chilled street vibes, Korean hip hop/rap music, Japanese artists and the general atmosphere was awesome. I had a great night (from what I remember) listening to the local talent, watching the local breakdancing talent, meeting SO many new people and finishing the night in some club in the area! After a fun night, I grabbed a cab back to the guesthouse.

The next day was a rainy and gloomy day – a complete contrast to the day before & I unfortunately woke up with a cold! Nevertheless, I seized the day and decided to fill the day with indoor activities. I headed to the War Memorial of Korea which was an amazing museum and memorial for those involved in the Korean War. It really touched my heart and gave me a background to the history and also status quo of Korea.

After this, I went to meet my friend Matt who I’d met in China as he teaches English in Wuhan. We went to a cute puppy café in the Hongdae area that I’d gone out in on the Saturday. It was such a cute & fun experience! There are lots of cat, puppy and even RACOON café’s all over Seoul!

The next day, Matt and I met up and had an AWESOME day. We met up at the Palace next to the Folk Museum which was truly beautiful. I’ve got vivid memories of a lake filled with lily pads, true nature and beauty. Seoul is filled with so much history and amazing, unique Palaces exist all over the city. After exploring here, we had a glorious lunch before heading onto a walking route I’d been recommended.

After lunch, we headed towards the quite hidden Inwangsan mountain/hill. It was beautiful, giving us amazing views of the city and a nice place to wander. Once we got to the top, a kind Korean man we had met earlier enroute offered to take an instantly printed photo of me & Matt. After enjoying the views and taking lots of pictures, we headed down together and he gave us directions towards our next destination – Bongeunsa Temple.

Before heading there, we stopped for a cup of traditional local Korean tea, which was so nice and great for my sore throat. We arrived at the Buddhist Temple and it was beautiful – apparently the largest in South Korea at least. Matt and I had a moment there whereby we lay down and relaxed. We then headed to Gangnam area (yep – Gangnam Style) to finish off a wonderful day with a Korean BBQ!

The next day I decided to go SOLO and explore closer to the guesthouse. I heard about a nearby Village named Bukchon Hanok Village which I walked over to. The architecture was beautiful and it was so interesting to explore an old, traditional area. I did some shopping, stopped for some green tea whilst enjoying a view of the village and explored the cobbled streets. It was lovely.

After this, I went to another nearby Palace, named Changdeokung Palace, which was famous for its “Secret Garden”. I had to book a slot in at 1:30 for the Secret Garden so would return for that but went ahead and explored the palace first – which was calming, grand and historical. I had an hour or so before I had to return for the secret garden tour, so I went to the famous, artsy, Insa-Dong area for some lunch. I had a “cheesy kimmbapp” and it was cheap and tasty!

The Secret Garden tour was thorough and great! The King apparently loved this palace the most due to its vast, amazing, beautiful, HUGE garden. I’ve got lovely memories of the sarcastic and funny tour guide showing us round this beautiful garden. In fact, it reminded me a lot of one of my childhood films, The Secret Garden.

I was quite ill this day, and had started my day pretty early (I left at 9am) so it was around 3 now so I decided to take a small nap and chillout time at the guesthouse before heading out to walk up towards Namsangol Hanok Village next to Seoul Tower. The Village was cool, but the best part was my discovery of a walking path/trail to lead me up to the North Seoul Tower. It was perfect timing, with sunset coming, to do the 2km walk up to the top of the tower. The walk was wonderful, with the most amazing views on the way up there, and on the way back down. By the time I was coming down, I even got to see the night time view of this buzzing, amazing city that is Seoul. To finish off my day I walked past the Namdaemun Market, whereby I got some bargain trousers, facemasks and socks!

The next day was Wednesday, in which we had the DMZ half day tour booked. I woke up early ready for the 7:40am pickup. On the way, Edward and I chatted on the bus about the situation of Korea in its divide between North and South. It’s such a complex issue that the DMZ tour guide effectively enhanced my knowledge about a lot. The tour was awesome, we went to the demilitarized zone, went into one of the tunnels that the North had built in hope of gaining access to the South, we went to the Dora Observatory, whereby I had the most “magnificent” and clear view of yes… NORTH KOREA!! We then went to Dorason Station, a beautiful station built in the hope of unification of Korea, which would link the North and South by train. This whole tour really sparked my curiosity, as scary as it would be… I am so intrigued to visit North Korea… with its intense, brutal Communist regime… I mean it could almost be like stepping back into history, in the Cold War Era… when Communism was quite a prevalent regime in parts of the world such as Russia.

Anyway… I quickly stepped out of those thoughts and back into the Soul of Asia… Seoul! The DMZ tour bus dropped us off in a popular area called Itaewon. In this area there is a beautiful, large mosque which overlooks an amazing view of Seoul, which I went to see whilst also taking a wander through an intriguing Asian-predominated area. After this, I headed back to the hostel to eat and rest a little, as I’d been up since very early.

That evening I ventured to Banpo Bridge’s famous Rainbow Fountain Show. I arrived late (As I got lost) and missed the show, but saw bits of the end. It was beautiful and calming; giving me time to reflect on the trip thus far.

The next day was my last day in Seoul, I kept it local and hungout close to the hostel. During my stay, I’d developed a really good friendship with one of the guys who worked in the hostel – Ohjoooo. He really was so lovely and we connected the instant we met (the first night I arrived). We agreed to cook lunch together, but before that, in the morning, I headed to the palace to watched the Royal Guard Changing Ceremony. This was such an awesome insight into Seoul’s Royal History.

I came back to have lunch with Ohjooo in which we (I mean he) cooked some scrumptious spicy Korean noodles. It was a tasty feast! After this, I spent my afternoon wandering the nearby Insa-Dong area. I came back around 4, napped for a bit and then finally it was around 6pm and time to head towards the airport as my flight was at 10pm, and I’d be opted for taking the metro to the airport.

The best and saddest part of travelling is meeting and connecting with amazing people, and having to say goodbye. I met so many amazing people on my trip to Seoul, but Ojhooo is definitely a friend for life who I will definitely see again. It’s so sad to say goodbye, often this can happen and you genuinely don’t know if you will see that person again. Ohjooo insisted on going for dinner before heading to the airport. We went to an amazing Korean restaurant and wrapped up my week in Seoul wonderfully. It was such an amazing trip, and I plan to return.

Let’s put the last two days into a nutshell (since leaving Seoul on Thursday night) as this blogpost is already super long. I had a crazy flight back to Shanghai in which I had an overnight layover in Yantai whereby the airport people kicked us out the airport at 1:30am and we, in the cold, had to find somewhere to lounge for a bit. (when I say we I mean lovely Chinese friends I met at airport) We eventually found a hotel, I’d already gotten a cold, only had an hours sleep and then finally arrived to Shanghai. It was good to be home! I spent yesterday at home and today (Saturday) at work! Tomorrow I will go running (BECAUSE YES I’M DOING A HALF-MARATHON NEXT WEEK) and go to a café to do some work. I’ll also join my MMA class again (WOO) because I’ve been paid and meet my lovely Japanese friend for dinner!

I’ll be in touch!

Sabrina xxx