Ten days in Seoul, South Korea
Why Seoul?
When traveling to Asia these past few years I often made a stop-over in Seoul (technically Incheon airport, not Seoul). I always had planned to stop at Seoul, but a couple of my friends told me there was not much going on, so I originally dismissed the idea.
Last month, I poked around Google Flights looking for interesting destinations with nonstop flights. Living on the West coast of the US most direct flights head towards Asia. Hong Kong, Beijing, Shanghai and Taipei immediately jumped out. I’ve been to Hong Kong before and China — Beijing and Shanghai — doesn’t offer visa on arrival so my list quickly narrowed down to Seoul (South-Korea) and Taipei (Taiwan). I picked Seoul over Tapei because a few friends where already there or planned to be there at the same time.
Seoul is at it’s best during Sakura
In retrospect traveling to Seoul mid-April was well timed due to cherry blossom season. I wasn’t fully aware of this when booking and if I could do it over, I would have booked more towards the beginning of April to arrive in the midst of the cherry blossom season instead of at the end of it.
Mid-April temperatures were mild, combining cloudy and sunny days with a couple of fairly hot and a few rainy days. It’s wise to bring a hoodie or jacket with you at all times and - unless you bring a rain coat - an umbrella comes in handy too.
Cash is still king in Seoul
Upon arrival at the airport you are immediately faced with the need for cash money because a subway ticket can only be purchased with cash. This means you either exchange currency at one of the airport booths or draw some cash out of an ATM. This is not ideal because exchange booths and ATMs at airports don’t offer the best rates. So, exchange a bit of cash at the airport and exchange the rest when in the city.
Incheon airport lays surprisingly far from Seoul. You can get to the city either by bus or subway (or cab) and both will take you about 1.5 hours. Advised is to get a T-money card as soon as you arrive and load some Korean Won on it. This card allows you to pay bus fare as well as for the subway.
As soon as you land, you‘ll immediately notice the usage of Korean language and lack of English. Lots of signs are poorly translated in English, if at all, which makes it difficult to get around. It takes a couple of days to get used to the city, especially the subway which works very differently from other cities like New York, London or Paris.
Most subway systems throughout the world use the final station of a route to indicate the direction of the train. The Seoul subway doesn’t work that way. Signs only mention the previous and next stop. You can use Google Maps for planning your subway route, but note that walking directions are completely disabled (for some sort of legal reason I’ve been told). Instead, locals use Naver maps, Kakao Maps or Kakao Metro to get around.
It’s all about Kakao in South-Korea
KakaoTalk is Korea’s main communication app (like Line for Thailand, WeChat for China and WhatsApp or Facebook Messenger for USA and Europa) and offers a whole range of companion apps specifically built for the South-Korean market. The Kakoa brand features— just like Line —a range of cute characters for which you can find merchandise and gadgets in several Kakoa Friends stores which also feature their own coffee shops.
Koreans — or Asians in general — are crazy about cute characters, so besides Kakao Friends you have dedicated stores for Line Friends, Hello Kitty (also featuring Gudetama aka “lazy egg”) and even Ebichu and Moonin have their own stores. Kakoa & Line Friends stores are definitely worth a visit but I found the Hello Kitty cafe & gift shop to be a bit dated and tucked away.
If you want to completely immerse yourself in the world of cute characters, The Golden Tulip M Seoul Hotel has several branded Line Friends rooms while on AirBNB you even have a shared Hello Kitty room at $19/night. And the cuteness doesn’t stop there, at Cozy Theme Pension you can stay in a giant Soju bottle or in a typical Korean Banana Flavored Milk bottle. At Unique Pension you can sleep in a giant Starbucks mug. No worries, if you don’t like coffee, they have a giant cup of noodles you can sleep in as well. If you like tasteless beer, you can stay in the Heineken room. If you do so, know that we can no longer be friends.
Unfortunately all these places were fully booked so I had to make do with an unbranded room at the trendy but affordable Acube Hotel in Myeongdong. I washed away my ‘disappointment’ with the bottle of Moët & Chandon they kindly offered on arrival :)
Acube Hotel
Acube Hotel offered a pretty good stay. Modern and clean rooms and close to the subway. The internet sucked though, especial in the evening it was often unusable (people watching Netflix?) while in morning things worked smooth. The location of the hotel is interesting because it’s in the middle of local wood, print and interior shops (furniture & lamps) and close to a large dried fish market. Not a very touristy area, but definitely authentic, and plenty of hole-in-the-wall restaurants where they giggled when I made rookie mistakes preparing my hot stone Bibimbap. Below a video of how it’s done properly.
Unlike many other Asian cities, Seoul is very clean and feels very safe. Whatever you forget, it will still be there when you return (or taken aside so you can retrieve it later). Additionally nobody tries to scam you, even taxi drivers are fair! At several coffee shops I noticed people’s punch cards pinned on a card board. In other countries you would keep your punch card on you, but in Seoul it’s perfectly safe to keep it at the store without running the risk anybody running away with your free coffee.
What’s there to do in Seoul?
Seoul doesn’t have one major attraction like the Eiffel Tower in Paris or the Taj Mahal in India. Instead it has a handful of ancient palaces, a few traditional towns, many parks and tons of shops, restaurants and local markets. Outside of Seoul the main tourist attraction is the DMZ (demilitarized zone) at the South-North Korean border where you can learn about Korea’s recent history.
I was in Seoul for 10 days and felt this was the right amount of time to visit everything I had on my list. Most activities in Seoul are north of River Han. So if you are planning a visit, it’s advised to book a place north of River Han. It doesn’t really matter where, as long as you can easily hop on the subway.
Seoul’s Five Palaces
Seoul counts five ancient palaces which are the main attractions of the city. Each palace consist of several gates, buildings and pavilions. You can’t go inside, but there is very little to see anyways. You’ll enjoy the architecture by walking in between the buildings while enjoying the beautiful trees and flowers of the adjacent parks.
If you wear a traditional Hanbok —which you can rent at places nearby— you get free access. If wearing a Hanbok is not your thing, no worries, access to the palaces is very cheap, we’re talking a few US dollars. Because you’ll probably be visiting more than one palace, it’s advised to buy access to all the palaces at once. Some areas, like the Huwon Secret Garden as part of the Changdeokgung palace, can only by visited in small guided groups. So, it’s advised to book tickets in advance.
Traditional villages; Namsangol Hanok & Bukchon Hanok
Besides its palaces Seoul has a few villages showing you the traditional way of Korean life. Namsangol Hanok is more of an open-air museum consisting of a handful of preserved traditional buildings while in Kubkchon Hanok people are actually still living in traditional Korean houses.
Ihwa Mural Village
Ihwa Mural Village is a fun bohemian artsy area to visit, as long as you don’t mind a minor hike (ladies, leave your heels at home). The narrow alleys showcase creative murals and left and right there are hip cafés to relax and enjoy great views of the city.
You’ll notice youngsters dressed in traditional school outfits — black uniform with bright red briefcase. Just like wearing a Hanbok while visiting Seoul’s palaces, dressing up in traditional clothing seems to be a thing Asian tourists like to do.
When you reach the top of Ihwa Mural Village you hit the Seoul City Wall which makes a very beautiful hike downhill. The inner city of Seoul is completely surrounded by a wall which looks like a mini version of the great Chinese wall. You can hike the complete wall in one day, but it’s quite a stretch and not all parts are equally scenic, but this particular section — down from Ihwa Mural Village — is a must-do.
N Seoul Tower
Besides the many palaces and villages, N Seoul Tower is one of the main attractions in Seoul. You can compare N Seoul Tower to Victoria Peak in Hong Kong. Both offer a cable car that takes you to the top of the hill from which you get a spectacular view of the city. Using the cable car to access N Tower is not required, there are stairs that take you up there as well. If you opt for the cable car, be warned, the line is extremely long. You will probably spend the same amount of time waiting than taking the stairs. Going back down, it’s not a bad idea to walk, downhill is always a bit easier. Plus there are several look-out points where you can snap a picture of the Seoul skyline.
When you reach the foot of the N Tower by foot or cable car, you’ll see thousands of love locks hanging on the fences surrounding the area. If you forgot to bring one, no worries, they sell them on the spot. To go up on the actual tower you take an elevator to the highest floors where there are restaurants, shops and the observation deck.
The views by daylight aren’t that spectacular, and many of these views you can get from other locations in Seoul (from Seoul City Wall for example). It’s best to visit N Tower by the end of the day, so you get to enjoy both the view by daylight and at night. You can stay at the observation deck as long as you want waiting for the sun to set, but it’s extremely crowded and loud and there is little place to sit.
Photo tip: Taking photos from the observation deck at night, through the window was challenging, because of the many reflections caused by light from the bars and restaurants. To avoid reflections, press your lens against the window. This also gives you stability which you need at a low shutter speed.
Up close to the North-Korean border, DMZ
One of the major to-do’s outside the city walls is a visit to the DMZ, the demilitarized zone. This is a zone between the South and North-Korean border which is under United Nations command. Although the DMZ itself - expanding 250 km and 4 km wide — is not militarized, both sides outside of the DMZ are one the most militarized zones in the world.
The DMZ has several places that can be visited either individually (when renting a car) or by joining a tour. From Seoul there are about ten official tour operators who can bring you to several places along the border. Each tour operator offers a different package varying in price from $50 up to $200 for a one-day tour. It’s pretty hard to compare each offering and without doing some research on every different stop, it’s difficult to tell which tour is the best. We opted for CosmoJin because they combined visiting DMZ and JSA (Joint Security Area) at $110 per person per day and, because I had read they were the only tour operator operating on Saturdays, making for a more exclusive experience.
Unfortunately the tour wasn’t as enjoyable as I had hoped. It felt really rushed and the tour guide wasn’t that interesting. There were tons of other operators showing people around on Saturday, so what I read about CosmoJin being the only operator on Saturdays had been wrong. Lastly, the tour ended with a visit to a totally unrelated diamond store in Seoul, which was not appreciated. I rather spend more time at the several stops than visit a stupid diamond store that has no relation with DMZ whatsoever.
The best part of visiting the DMZ is a stop at the JSA. JSA is the Joint Security Area, a location where you have three meeting rooms — in blue — where North and South Korean officials meet at times. One of these meeting rooms can be visited and is officially split in two halves, one under the control of North Korea, the other half under the control of South-Korea. You enter through a door at the south of the building. The door at the north opens towards North-Korea. Both doors are guarded by military police from either the North or South. This is the only time in the DMZ tour where you technically enter North-Korea by walking towards the end of the meeting room.
It’s advised not to leave through the back door, unless you’re tired of your life, want to make headlines or go down in history.
“Day of the Sun”
We took our tour on April 15th. April 15th was the absolute worst day to visit the DMZ, when North-Korea was celebrating “The Day of the Sun”, the birthday of North-Korea founder Kim Il Sung. The ceremonies were expected to include missiles launches to demonstrate their military force — they ended up launching missiles the morning after. At the same time, the USA was rumored to be sending an aircraft carrier in the direction of North Korea (which turned out to be false, it was heading in the wrong direction by mistake) adding to the tension. Because all of these developing events, JSA was closed for visitors and half of our tour was cancelled.
We ended up visiting Imjingak Park, Freedom Bridge, Unification Bridge, 3rd Infiltration Tunnel, Dora Observatory and Dorasan Station. We unfortunately did not get a chance to visit JSA, Bridge of no Return nor the Freedom House.
Dora Observatory — DMZ
Dora Observatory had a lot of potential — because you can literally look at North-Korea — but honestly, even-though the weather was nice and sunny, you could barely see anything in the skyline. What you are supposed to see (and maybe can with some imagination) is a fake city that North-Korea built to impress the South, the North-Korean flag and an actual North Korean town.
Maybe you can blame my eyesight, but I couldn’t identify any of the points of interest looking at North Korea. There were binoculars, but these were coin operated and I didn’t have any on hand. What was interesting about Dora Observatory, was hearing the South-Korean speakers blasting out, in low quality, towards the North. Now, I have been working at several major festivals and these speakers weren’t up to par with festival speakers, so you’re not going to tell me North Koreans can actually hear anything. Especially if you know the DMZ expands 4 kilometers. It seemed to be more staged towards visitors. You were also supposed to hear propaganda blasted from the north, which again, I didn’t hear.
Dorasan Station — DMZ
Dorasan Station seems a lesser known stop in the DMZ and that’s probably because it’s fairly new. The station opened in 2002 with the hopes of someday connecting Pyongyang (capital of North-Korea) with South-Korea. The station is actually in use, but no trains ever leave northbound for Pyongyang. Visitors can take the train from Seoul to Dorasan. If you want to see the tracks, you’ll have to purchase a ticket, see it as an interesting artifact.
Lotte World Tower in Gangnam
When it’s a rainy day — and there were a few during the ten days — a visit to Lotte World Tower & Samsung D’Light in Gangnam district or Dongdaemun Design Plaza are great options.
Lotte World Tower is a huge sky scraper, it’s actually the tallest building in Seoul at 555 meters and hosts tons of attractions. Not only do you find the Ebichu (Japanese hamster character) and Moonin store there, there are tons of other activities as well. Especially for children there is a lot to do. Four floors with interactive experiences, roller coaster, water rides, mono rail, theaters etc. can keep you busy for hours.
Crystal Universe in Lotte World
Crystal Universe is an interactive experience by TeamLab located in Lotte World Tower. It showcases several interactive experiences heavily using Microsoft Kinect to respond to gestures. If you work in the tech industry like me, you won’t be blown off your socks, but it’s fun to see how kids interact with the different installations (or you can bring out your inner child, it’s up to you).
The best part of Crystal Universe is… well… crystal universe, which is a small room consisting of thousands of LED lights hanging on vertical wires performing a light show coordinated with music. Unfortunately it’s not interactive, but visually stunning regardless.
Stroll along Seokchon Lake
When weather clears up, it’s time to go play outside again. Right next to Lotte World Tower you have Seokchon Lake which you can walk around while enjoying the cherry blossoms, or what’s left of them.
Banpo Bridge
South of the Han River you have Hangang Park, a new park alongside the river offering strolls and biking opportunities with great views of the city. The park connects to the Banpo Bridge which has a daily light show in the evenings. Oddly enough because of bad weather — which it was absolutely not, proving the photos below — the light show was cancelled. But even without the show the bridge was nicely lit at night.
When visiting Banpo Bridge bring snacks and drinks because there are no restaurants close-by. South of Hangang Park is a fairly boring neighborhood with endless ranges of homogeneous apartment blocks. This must be where locals in Seoul live.
Dongdaemun Design Plaza
Another indoor activity during rainy days is a visit to Dongdaemun Design Plaza. From the outside, the building looks like a modern sports stadium, while the inside hosts a bunch of design exhibitions and a few shops. At the time of my visit a Pixar exhibition was going on which appeared to attract a lot of children. Dongdaemun Design Plaza was designed by Zaha Hadid, who recently passed away. For my Belgian friends, that’s the architect behind the Port House in Antwerp.
The design plaza integrates remains of the original ancient Seoul City Wall and has a Kakao Friends store (the other one is in Gangnam district) because, why not?
Even if you don’t intent on visiting any exhibitions it’s fun to go up to the top floor using the elevator and walk down using the spiral staircase. Because of the hyper-modern glossy white interior it’ll feel like you’re part of a science-fiction movie.
Hike or bike along the Cheonggyecheon Stream
Cheonggyecheon Stream is a recently opened public park that runs along a creek that previously was covered by transportation infrastructure. This 10.9 kilometers long urban renewal project offers differently designed sections, so it never gets boring. You can compare Cheonggyecheon Stream to the High Line in New York. But instead of being elevated above the city, this park lays below the ground level. It’s a great place to relax and escape from the busy nearby streets.
Unfortunately I only walked a small section of the Cheonggyecheon Stream upon randomly discovering it. I wish I rented a bike and biked it up and down. Next time!
Hike the Seoul City Wall
If you want to escape from the city and enjoy a few hours hiking, than this trail is highly recommended. You’ll walk alongside the Seoul City Wall which runs through the mountain called Bugaksan, stretching out behind the Changdeokgung and Gyeongbokgung palaces. The hike starts at Malbawi Information Center and ends at Changuimun Information Center and passes alongside the “blue house” — called Cheongwadae, which is the president’s house. You’ll also come across a pine tree with several bullet marks dating back to 1968 when North-Korea attempted to infiltrate South-Korea.
Because of this infiltration attempt the wall is highly secured with fences, cameras, motion detectors and several security people who are spread alongside the wall making sure you don’t take any pictures, or infiltrate. Don’t let all this security spoil the beautiful hike. When unsure about a picture, just ask one of the friendly security fellas.
Starting the hike is simple, you first head to Anguk subway station and leave from exit 2. Right at the exit is a bus stop from where bus #02 brings you to Sungkyunkwan University, which is the last stop, so you can’t miss that. When exiting the bus, leave the parking lot and hike up until you see signs for Malbawi Information Center. At Malbawi Information Center you’ll have to show your passport and fill out a short form including your address in Seoul. You’ll get a temporarily badge which you turn in upon arrival at Changuimun Information Center.
There are no toilets, food or drink facilities along the way, so make sure you prepare a little backpack. The hike follows the wall and there are several viewpoints from which you can enjoy views of the city.
Ewha Womans University
If you have some time left and curious about less touristy areas in Seoul, Ewha Womans University is a fun stop. The highlight is the campus complex with its interesting architecture. The university village offers tons of shops and restaurants.
Samsung D’Light
Yet another suggestion for a rainy day, is a visit to Samsung’s headquarters in the Gangnam district. You guessed it right, Gangnam district is where the Gangnam Style musical hit comes from :) There is a statue at one of the subway exits referring to it.
Samsung is the largest corporation in South-Korea with a huge impact on its economy and at D’Light they show how they impact people’s lives with interactive games and concept rooms envisioning the kitchen, living room and office room of the future. Obviously it also integrates a store where you can buy the latest Samsung gear.
Final words
Without previously realizing, Seoul is the second largest city I’ve ever visited (Delhi, India tops it). With more than 12 million people Seoul is larger than any American city. Even though it’s densely populated it doesn’t feel overly crowded.
What is apparent is the few Westerners I could spot throughout the day. I kept track and often I couldn’t spot more than 10 each day. I’ve been told expats conglomerate in specific areas around Gangnam district.
Overall, Seoul felt very homogeneous in comparison to other Asian cities I’ve visited like Bangkok, Hong Kong and Singapore which have a more diverse mix of nationalities and who seem to attract more tourists. Seoul feels pretty undiscovered and undervalued to me.
Seoul offers a convenient and extensive subway system making it easy to explore different areas and soak up different influences. It’s also a very walkable city. Some days I would walk more than 10 kilometers.
Cost of living is fairly low in comparison with New York or San Francisco and it’s even cheaper than Seattle. Oh, and did I already say it’s very safe and clean? I would even say it’s kid friendly.
The North-Korean threat
Of course, the elephant in the room is the North-Korean threat. Maybe that keeps tourists away? Honestly, throughout my stay I didn’t notice anything about the North-Korean threat, although for days it was topping world news.
South-Koreans seem to be accustomed to the threat. I never saw anyone following the news on their smartphones and nor did I see public TVs broadcasting any news. The only news that reached me was through friends messaging me to get the hell out there and various news alerts popping up on my phone. The reality is that the threat has been there for ages now and the situation has been fairly stable past years.
But Seoul took its precautions. Many of the subways act as shelters and you can find various types of gas masks in the subways. Partially that’s a response to a fire in the subway a long time ago, but also to be able to survive a chemical attack.
© 2017 — All photos taken with Canon 6D DSLR + Canon EF 24–70mm f/2.8L II USM lens and edited in Adobe Lightroom. Proofread by Barbara Toorens.
