Howdy all. Continuing on today with my Saturday series recounting my recent but now complete adventures in Japan and South Korea April-May this year. We’re up to day 16 now when I sped from Busan in Korea’s south to the capital in the north (of South Korea) by high speed train. Over these three days I dipped my toe in the interesting waters of Seoul and took the obligatory day trip to the DMZ.

DAY 16

I had booked an early afternoon train, the KTX to take me from Busan to Seoul leaving at about 1pm. It took around 2 hours 45 minutes, and with my hotel so close to Busan station, and the hotel having check out until 12pm, it was an easy start to the day. I wandered over once packed to the train station, had lunch and did my journey which was a few days behind at the point, managing mostly to catch up before the train left.

The ride was pretty smooth, not quite as fast as the Shinkansen but still would have hit, I presume, 200 km/h from time to time. The ride showed me a very green countryside and the towns we passed through all had a lot of high-rise apartments.

In Seoul I took a metro train one stop to find my little hotel in this wonderful district full of restaurants and bars. I stayed at the Star Hotel Oneroomtel which was a bit hard to locate down an alley on the fifth floor of the building. Oh here’s something I didn’t mention last blog, Koreans and the number four don’t mix. My hotel in Busan did not have a fourth floor nor a room on my floor labelled ‘504’. I was the fifth floor again in Seoul, the fourth floor was labelled floor ‘F’ (and contained another hotel) but there was a room 504. In Japanese culture four is ‘yon’ OR ‘shi’, however ‘shi’ is rarely used as it is related to death so I wondered if that was the same in Korea. I did a google search and it is a very similar reason, the sound for four does sound like the word ‘death’ in Korean.

DAY 17

After spending the afternoon the previous day sorting stuff out and doing some washing – the hotel had free access to a washing machine and dryer which was awesome, the room was a real budget room though, so small!

I started by visiting what is regarded as one of Seoul’s top sites, the Gyeongbokgung Palace (really struggled with the pronunciation in Korea I must confess). Amazing place, massive, only cost 3000 Won to enter which is around $3.50AUD. It has courtyards and buildings galore and you keep passing walls and gates to get to the main parts of the palace. It dates back to the 16^th century from memory and perhaps the most beautiful building is the raised pavilion which is the largest raised pavilion in Korea, set behind a lake.

If you didn’t want to pack the entrance fee, you can hire a costume and get in for free and boy, a LOT of people did. You can even hire a professional photographer to take your photos, although most opted to take the photos themselves or they were there with friends. It was a real thing – hundreds of people in costume, not just Koreans but also foreigners joining the craze!

I then walked to the Bukchon Hanok Village, a small part of Seoul full of traditional Korean houses where tourists flock to to get their selfies. The houses are so well maintained and do look beautiful, but there are so many (other) tourists there too I couldn’t help feel sorry for the residents who have to deal with the influx of tourists on a daily basis.

Another short walk took me to the Changdeokgung Palace, which was just as beautiful as the first palace, but not as crowded. Well, it was later in the day. Again a lot of people in costume and perhaps both palaces offer free entry if you’re dressed up. A different layout to this one but just as rewarding.

I made my way by bus and walking up another hill to the Ihwa Mural Village on Naksan Mountain. This part of Seoul is famous for, unsurprisingly its murals, although a number have been taken down to discourage tourists from visiting as obviously it was becoming a problem. There were still a few to see, but soon I wandered a bit to get to the Seoul City Wall, which in total was 17 km and lot of it has been restored and is popular for walks. There was also a little museum nearby which was worth a quick look. Free, didn’t take too long.

Finally I made my way via bus across town to the Seodaemun Prison History Hall. This is basically a museum now but very well presented and full of school groups. Learnt a bit about the history of occupation and afterwards, a worthwhile finish to a busy day.

DAY 18

I booked my tour of the DMZ through the hotel. It was a 730am start and the pick up was just around the corner which was handy. There’s a fair bit of driving involved into the bus with two groups inside, half on the English tour and half on the Chinese tour.

You have to get tickets (sadly not physical) at this area very close to the DMZ. There’s a bridge people returning to South Korea would cross, a train engine when the train used to go – to the border I think, a chance to buy North Korean money and stamps at what I am guessing are exorbitant prices (and yes, I did!) and then there’s an amusement park, cable car and a few other things. Korea (South) has realised they can make a bit of money off the DMZ, it fully converted into a tourist zone.

Next we headed to the observatory, with binoculars too see ‘into’ North Korea. We had a decent if not perfect day for sight and could certainly see the village just a km away (we were now into the 2km DMZ). Basically it was cool but the truth is you are paying to gawk at North Korea, from far enough away you can’t make out that much.

Finally, we stopped at the North Korean tunnel that was planned to eventually reach Seoul. This was discovered in 1978, but there are others found earlier and later too. The South Koreans has drilled their own access tunnel to monetize the experience, and it’s a decent and impressive tunnel because it’s pretty much all through rock. There’s even a little train you can pay for if you’re on the right tour down to the tunnel. And it is a fair way down so it’s not a bad idea, the walk back up takes a fair bit of energy. Sadly they don’t allow phones or camera in the tunnel.

There’s a monument or two, but the tour didn’t really allow time for bumming around at your own pace. The guide was a young guy and very knowledgeable. We were back in Seoul by 3pm. It was something I wanted to do, but it did feel all a bit weird.

Anyways, next time tune in for more of my time in Seoul! Thanks for reading today, take care wherever you are in the world, May the Journey Never End!