I hope everyone had a good holiday! I ate way too much and my pants are really mad at me right now. However, I've successfully recovered from my multiple food comas, so I can now return to posting with some regularity.
Day 4 Activities:
- N Seoul Tower 엔 서울타워
- Namsan Mountain 남산 (南山)
- Lunch at Myeongdong 명동 (明洞)
- Dinner with a Korean family (at their house)
My fourth day in Seoul was much more laid-back compared to the
previous days, mostly in preparation for my upcoming hiking trip to
Seoraksan 설악산 (雪嶽山). I kicked off the day with some breakfast at a nearby bakery (I think it was called Tres something...) before taking the free hotel shuttle to the
Namsan Cable Car station.
Ibis Hotel's free shuttle service actually goes to lots of tourist hot spots. For example, we passed
Gyeongbokgung 경복궁 (景福宮) on our way to
N Seoul Tower. Definitely take advantage of this free transportation to save on taxi and subway fare. The only thing you have to do is to reserve a spot on the shuttle, which is actually just a van, the day before.
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| Gyeongbokgung |
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| Some sort of performance at Gyeongbokgung |
We made several stops and I wasn't really sure where I was supposed to get off, but as long as you tell the hotel where you want to go (and double check with the driver), you will be fine. After approximately 20 minutes, we arrived at the
Namsam Cable Car station.
* * *
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| Namsan Cable Car station |
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| Namsan Cable Car station entrance |
There are two ways to get to N Seoul Tower: 1) go by cable car and 2) walk up Namsan mountain on your own. However, to get to N Seoul Tower, you first have to arrive at Namsan mountain. You can take a free hotel shuttle, like I did, hail a cab, or if you're up for it, walk all the way to the base of the mountain from Myeongdong.
At Namsan, I opted to ride the cable car to the top. A lot of people I talked to beforehand advised hiking up the mountain to avoid feeling like a caged animal in the cable cars, but since I got there early in the morning, I figured the crowds wouldn't be so bad. I also wanted to save my feet for my upcoming two days in Seoraksan.
Round trip tickets cost 7500 won per adult and are good for the entire day. Alternatively, you can purchase a single trip ticket and hike your way back down.
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| Namsan Cable Car ticket |
The ticket booth workers speak English and I only waited around 5 minutes for the cable car to arrive. Even though there weren't any long lines, there was some slight pushing and shoving as people tried to make their way to the best spots in the car. I don't think it mattered that much though because there were full pane glass windows on all sides of the cable car.
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| Going up to N Seoul Tower on the cable car |
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| Passing by another cable car on its way down |
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| View of Seoul from the cable car |
The cable car ride itself took a short 3 minutes. After you get off the cable car, you still have to walk up a flight of wooden stairs to get to the base of N Seoul Tower.
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| Walking up the steps to N Seoul Tower |
You can actually just hang out there at the top if you want, without even going up to the tower, because the view is just as good. There are also several things to see there, such as aerial sculptures and the infamous "locks of love" fence.
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| N Seoul Tower |
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| N Seoul Tower |
Here's probably where you will get the best view if you don't want to pay to go inside N Seoul Tower.
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| Smoke signal stacks (I think?) at the base of N Seoul Tower |
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| Top of Namsan Mountain |
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| View from the top of Namsan mountain |
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| Pavilion at the base of N Seoul Tower |
If you look up, you can also see these aerial sculptures. They freaked me out at first because I wasn't expecting to see dangling, dismembered human body shapes floating in the air. But upon closer observation, they actually looked pretty cool.
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| Aerial sculpture and N Seoul Tower |
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| Aerial sculptures at N Seoul Tower |
You get the feeling that this place is frequented by couples in love because there are tons of I-heart-so-and-so inscriptions everywhere you look.
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| Love notes at Namsan |
And now, prepare to be overwhelmed by all the locks of love. Couples come here and put a lock on the fence to symbolize the eternity of their love. It's kind of funny because there's also a big sign that reminds you to keep your key, you know, just in case you guys break up. If you didn't bring a lock, you can always buy one on site, although for a very large and unreasonable markup.
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| Locks of Love at N Seoul Tower |
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| Dizzying array of love locks |
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| Wouldn't it be cool if this lock belonged to you? |
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| But, do not throw your key away! |
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| The love fence actually stretched a long way around |
Before you buy your ticket to N Seoul Tower, make sure you take advantage of any discount coupons. I found one on
Visit Korea (you just have to register for free) for
10% off. There is also a
Teddy Bear Museum, but I chose to not see it.
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| N Seoul Tower ticket |
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| N Seoul Tower entrance |
N Seoul Tower was actually much smaller than I expected it to be. You go down a flight of stairs through the entrance, walk through a short green hallway, and take the elevator all the way up to the observatory.
Here is a scanned copy of the N Seoul Tower brochure that explains all the different levels.
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| N Seoul Tower observatory |
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| N Seoul Tower observatory |
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| N Seoul Tower observatory view of Seoul |
It was kind of cloudy when I went, but the skies cleared up a little more towards noon.
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| View of the Han River from the N Seoul Tower observatory |
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| View of Seoul from N Seoul Tower Observatory |
And even though people said the Sky Restroom was a must-see, it was rather small and disappointing.
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| N Seoul Tower Sky Restroom |
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| N Seoul Tower Sky Restroom |
There are also little cafe stands and souvenir shops inside N Seoul Tower. If you missed out on the locks of love fence, you can make love tiles for the love tile wall.
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| Love Message Tile Board at N Seoul Tower |
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| Wall of love tiles at N Seoul Tower |
This place really rubs it in your face if you happen to be single!
After walking out of N Seoul Tower, there was a performance at the smoke signal stack area. I only caught the end of it, but you can take free pictures with the performers after they finish.
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| Performance at N Seoul Tower |
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| Performance at N Seoul Tower |
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| Taking pictures with the performers |
You can also buy some cotton candy or try on
a hanbok (unfortunately, not for free).
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| Cotton candy at N Seoul Tower |
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| Trying on hanboks at N Seoul Tower |
I returned to the cable car station and decided to walk back to my hotel (the hotel shuttle only takes you there but doesn't bring you back). At first, I was a little confused as to how to get further down the mountain after you get to the station, but there is a set of stairs and an elevator for you to take. If you didn't ride the cable car to N Seoul Tower, the cable car elevator is almost just as cool.
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| Stairs down from the cable car station |
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| Elevator from cable car station |
To get to Myeongdong from the cable car station, walk straight towards the right (your right if you stand facing the street). You don't have to cross any intersections, just keep walking and pretty soon you'll see this:
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| Shinsegae Department store from Namsan to Myeongdong |
And then you'll pass this fountain and the oldest bank in Seoul:
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| Fountain near Myeongdong |
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| Oldest bank in Seoul |
Soon enough, you'll see Ibis Hotel in the distance:
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| Walking back to Ibis Hotel from N Seoul Tower |
I stopped at a little shop along the way to buy some
hodu 호두 snacks. These are tiny walnut shaped pancake batter treats with a red bean paste and walnut center. They're served warm, but taste good hot or cold. Relatively inexpensive (5000 won for a box) I would recommend trying some
hodu if you've never had it before.
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| Hodu snacks in Myeongdong |
Another popular street snack is
hotteok 호떡. It looks like a small pancake, only filled with sugar and peanuts. I didn't really like this because it was way too sweet.
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| Hotteok street stand in Myeongdong |
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| Eating hotteok |
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| Some other kind of street snack in Myeongdong |
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| Street food in Myeongdong |
I then ate lunch at Myeongdong Gogung 고궁 (古宮). This restaurant is famous for its
bibimbap, but I actually thought their
pajeon tasted better. More on Gogung
here.
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| Myeongdong Gogung Restaurant |
In hindsight, I probably should have eaten at
Bulgogi Brothers instead. The menu looked pretty good and price was reasonable, but on the high side, for
bulgogi.
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| Bulgogi Brothers Restaurant in Myeongdong |
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| Bulgogi Brothers Restaurant in Myeongdong |
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| Bulgogi Brothers Restaurant menu in Myeongdong |
After lunch, I wandered around Myeongdong for a bit and passed by the famous cathedral.
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| Cathedral in Myeongdong |
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| Walking around Myeongdong |
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| More walking around Myeongdong |
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| Who knew Spider Man also moonlighted as an advertising board? |
Then I bought a bouquet of flowers (for only $12!) to bring to my friend's house for dinner later that night. I was told that if you are invited to dine with a Korean family, it is polite to bring either a box of fruit, some nice chocolates, or a bouquet of flowers. I went with the flowers and chocolate.
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| Roses from a street vendor |
In double hindsight, it's good I didn't go to Bulgogi Brothers for lunch because my friend's mom made the best bulgogi and kimchi I've ever eaten! If you get a chance, it's a really great experience to eat true homemade cooking
not from a restaurant.
That pretty much sums up my fourth day in Seoul. Sorry these posts are so long, but I thought it would be annoying to break up each day into several parts. I went to sleep really early that night because I had to wake up at 5:00am to catch a 6:30am bus to Sokcho the next day. More on my hiking adventures in
Seoraksan, the most fun I had in Seoul, in the
next few posts.
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