Seoul

Days 10-13
Unfortunately, Seoul has been a little bit of a disappointment. It may have something to do with the fact that I've recently been in Beijing, Shanghai, Hong Kong and Tokyo so it's possible my expectations were set too high and I'm a little burned out on Buddhist temples, imperial palaces and ancient Asian culture as a whole (next stop is Taiwan so I'm sure I have more of the same coming my way!) While there are distinct differences between Chinese, Japanese and Korean cultures and I don't want to take anything away from that, but they are all starting to blend together for me.

I came across a Catholic church, so had to snap a picture. As it turns out, 25% of Koreans are Christian and 28% are Buddhist. An interesting stat.


The food has been very different in the various Asian countries I've been to recently - Chinese is good but very oily (at least northern China), Japanese has been my favorite but I've always loved sushi, and Korean has been my least favorite by a long shot...not liking the kimchi and I normally love spicy foods. Fortunately Japanese cuisine is very popular in Seoul so I've resorted to more sushi restaurants.

Even though Seoul hasn't been my favorite Asian city (probably to no fault of its own), there have been some highlights that I'll share. For starters, I'm staying at the Grand Hyatt which is very nice and in a good location at the base of Namsan Park (where the Seoul Tower is located).


The Hyatt is a little bit of an eyesore set amongst a very traditional neighborhood, but it made it easy for me to find my way "home."


View of Seoul Tower from my room.

The Grand Hyatt is located near the US Military base which in and of itself isn't an attraction, but the Koreans have built an international district (Itaewon) near the base. A wide variety of restaurants, night clubs and shops - all with an international flare. An Iranian restaurant next to a French restaurant next to an Italian restaurant. Everywhere I ate had great food and great beer...especially the beer at the Rocky Mountain Tavern where I enjoyed a nice frosty Coors Light (shout out to you Doug!)


As I walked around throughout Seoul, I kept coming across a burger chain called "Kraze Burger." After doing a little research I found out it's a Korean based company with 47 locations in Korea (and only Korea). Of course, I had to check out how well a Korean company did making an iconic American cuisine - the hamburger. I have to say, it was really good! The main sauce they use is called a BBQ sauce but had a little curry kick to it. Sounds weird, but it works.

I'll note here, that I haven't been saying "South" Korea. I noticed relatively quickly after arriving in Seoul, that most references to the country are "Korea" not North or South Korea. Addresses, references on local marketing material, etc. almost always say Korea rather than South Korea. Again, a little research and I learned that most Korean's consider North and South to still be one country - temporarily divided. Hard to believe after 50+ years, they still consider it temporary, but I learned that tens of millions of families were separated between the two countries and millions of children were orphaned. No communications between the two, but they still hold out hope that they will once again be united.

Speaking of the division between North and South, I'm sure you've all read about the increased tensions between the two governments. It hasn't been a concern at all for me - no one else seems to be worried so I'm just going with the flow. In fact, I found out that the USO does a tour of the DMZ (demilitarized zone) and the tour even crosses into North Korea (a town run by a joint security force - JSA). I tried signing up, but the USO needs to give the JSA 4 days notice of everyone that will be entering into North Korea so I couldn't go. One of the downsides of traveling the way I am, I don't really know when I'll be where so I'm not able to plan too far ahead. Everything that I read about the tour sounds awesome, so if you ever come out to Korea, be sure to sign up for it in advance. I would feel safe knowing that it's run by the USO and is for American Military personnel and American civilians are allowed to "tag along" if there's room.

Another interesting "hot spot" was the Namdaemun Market:












These pictures don't really do it justice, but it's basically the "back alleys" of downtown Seoul and packed with little vendors selling everything from shirts and hats to luggage and jewelry. The interesting part is that even though the alleys are completely packed with people, motorcycles will just drive through the middle of crowds...at relatively high speeds! It amazed me they weren't running people over, but somehow they always seemed to zig when the pedestrians would zag!

I got completely lost several times which I fully blame on the Korean government! And I mean "lost" as in, I have no clue where I am, the street signs are telling me I'm in one place, and the Google map on my iPhone is telling me I'm somewhere totally different. Apparently the government decided to revise the romanization of their language in 2000 and not all signs throughout the city have been revised...and some local businesses refuse to change. For example, I get off a subway stop called Jamsil. I walk around for a few hours then try to find that same subway stop but can only find Chamsil. How the heck am I supposed to know that those are the same stop? Especially when there are two completely different stops like Samsung and Samseong (both using the new romanization method). Here's a snapshot of a portion of the subway map just to show how confusing it can be!



Trying to find your stop is like playing "Where's Waldo" except your stop is not wearing a bright red and white striped shirt!

Overall though, the subway system was very easy to use - as it was in the other Asian cities I've been to. I'll note that so far on this trip, I have yet to hail a single cab! I've taken buses, subways, trains, or I've walked (a cab ride from the Tokyo airport to my hotel would have been $260 USD - I paid $28 on a bus!) I don't think I can keep that streak going for too much longer, but for those of you that know me well, know I'm a guy of convenience and not always concerned about what that convenience costs me. I'm learning to be more like you Geoff! Are you proud of me?

On that same note - it's obviously impossible to pack for 5 months so I packed for about 10 days and expected to do laundry along the way. Since I'm lazy when it comes to doing laundry, I decided to use the hotel service (there's that convenience thing!) W3,400 (about $3.00 USD) to wash a single pair of socks! Since I brought 10 pairs, that's $30.00 just for my socks! Granted I'm at the Grand Hyatt so I would expect it to be expensive but $30.00 to wash what is probably a fifth of a load is ridiculous. So instead, I went down to Itaewon (the district I mentioned above) and found a street vendor that sold socks - Nike socks (Scheffel, I'm sure they are the real thing - so no need to file a lawsuit for copyright infringement). They were only W10,000 - about $8.30 USD...but that's for 12 pairs!!


They'll probably disintegrate after the first time I wear them, but hey I have 11 more pairs!

I leave Seoul in the morning (Sunday for me since I'm 15 hours ahead of Mountain Time) and I'm heading to Taipei, Taiwan for a few days before going to Singapore. Should be interesting!

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Location:Itaewon-dong,Seoul,South Korea