Day 7: Fri 8 Sep - Seoul

After having a relatively late breakfast we met in the lobby at 9am to catch the subway into the city to where the Hop on-Hop off (HOHO) bus departed from. We successfully interrogated the subway ticket machine and boarded a very clean carriage. People are quick but polite and orderly when exiting and entering the trains. The platforms are all sealed possibly to prevent anything nasty (CBR) from escaping to other areas? Or maybe just for safety? There are lots of gas masks around though so you do have to wonder. Found the HOHO bus departure point and bought our tickets.

First stop was Korean War Memorial with free entry. This is a very impressive three-storey building with seven indoor exhibits.  Unfortunately, we ran out of time and were unable to get to view the outside area of the museum which looks just, or maybe even more, impressive than the inside.  The indoor exhibits concentrated on the war between the North and the South, with very detailed descriptions. 

Our second stop was at the Namsan Seoul Tower, a communication and observation tower on Namsan Mountain in central Seoul. It was built in 1969-71 and its peak is 479.7m above sea level. We had lunch at a fast-food type restaurant that served only chicken – in various forms, before going up to the viewing platform. Although it was still a bit smoggy we did have some spectacular views. Again, time was not in our favour, so we only did the viewing platform on T4; we missed the viewing platform on T5 and the revolving restaurant on T7. 

Our third stop was at the Changdeokgung Palace, another UNESCO World Heritage listed palace which was probably the best palace/shrine of the whole tour. We opted for the self-guided tour and whilst not nearly as informative, we were at least able to wander and do and see our own things rather than being directed.  The palace is touted as being the most unique Korean palace built in harmony with the landscape. Constructed in 1405, it was destroyed during the Japanese invasion between 1592-1598, and then rebuilt in 1610 and served as the main palace for 270 years. Attached to the palace is a Secret Garden which we did not survey, as once again, time was running out.

From the palace, we walked to Insadong – a well-known shopping mall in Seoul with modern galleries and tea shops; it was once the largest market for antiques and artworks in Korea.  Now, it is mainly a tourist shopping street with many souvenir shops.  I did buy some t-shirts to take home.

From the end of the mall, it was a short distance to the subway for the ride back to the hotel.  After stopping at the supermarket for beer on the way from the subway to the hotel, we were home by 6:30pm, and was gone again by 7pm for dinner with Steve, Regis and Ann (Sylvain and Jane attended the Council dinner).  We decided on what looked to be a Vietnamese restaurant quite close to the hotel.  I ordered what I thought was Pho, but it was quite different and very bland.  The others had fried rice which smelled a lot tastier and probably was.  We were all quite knackered after our full day, so after a nightcap, we all went to bed.



Gas mask vending machine in the subway



Entrance to Korean War Memorial

War Memorial courtyard

Painting






Seoul Tower

Seoul from the Tower

Part of the Seoul City Wall

From Seoul Tower


Wendy, Ann, Steve

Sylvain, Régis, Wendy

On the bus

Entrance to Changdeokgung Palace

Changdeokgung Palace

Throne Hall at the Palace

Seonjeongjeon: King's Council Hall

My not so tasty 'Vietnamese' dinner

Subway ticket

HOHO bus ticket



I think we took the Blue route



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