My first time in Seoul was in July 2002. I was transiting through Incheon airport en-route to Delhi from San Francisco. The break between connecting flights was 14 hours, and I had decided to explore the city. I had visited various areas in Seoul downtown then. It was fun, but I always longed to visit Seoul once more.
The opportunity came when I got a chance to attend the International Communications Conference (ICC 2005) in Seoul, where I had a paper accepted. This was May 2005. I arrived at Incheon airport in the wee hours of the morning of Sunday, the 15th of May. A limousine took me to the city air center, near the COEX mall. My hotel was the Samsong Co-op residence. Locating an address, is often difficult in Seoul. You must have a map of the location with you, because even a Seoul commoner will not be able to help you, if you tell him an address without a map. I was lucky to have read this advice from the Lonely Planet travel guide.
I had good sleep in the flight, and was not too jet lagged. My first destination in Seoul was the Insa-dong market. This area is famous for traditional Korean antiques, art galleries, and restaurants. The area was very lively. Having grown up in Delhi, India, and accustomed to the big-city life, I always enjoy mingling amongst the crowds, and exploring the tiny, crooked streets in big cities. Many shops had different kinds of Korean masks on display.
For lunch, I chose a Tofu speciality place. Here, I ordered the Tofu Kimchi, and Green Tea. I was truly amazed by the number of side dishes that are served in a Korean meal. I had merely expected a bowl of soup and vegetables, as appeared in the picture of the menu card. To my amazement, besides rice, and tofu curry, side dishes included two different kinds of kimchi, coriander leaves, soup, fish, egg, and some other items that I did not recognize. I was hungry, and the food was hot and really good.
After lunch, I set off to the neighbouring Changgyeongung palace. Most of the palaces in Seoul have been built in the Joseon dynasty which ruled Korea from 1392 till 1910. However many of the historical sites were destroyed during the Japanese colonial rule from 1910, till the end of World War II. Changgyeongung palace was largely restored in the 1980s, and offers only guided tours. The English guided tour was scheduled at 3:30 pm, and it was only 2:30 pm then. I took the one hour to loiter in the streets around the palace, and when I got bored, I walked back to Insa-dong.
The tour guide at Changgyeongung alace was very well informed, and aptly led us through the various palaces in the complex. The covered area is pretty large. She explained the importance of the dragon architecture, which finds its way in all buildings of the king's importance, but is absent in the palaces of the queen. After leading us through the palaces, we found ourselves at a lotus pond, and the entrance to the palace garden. We walked through the palace garden and landed back near the palace entrance. There is a small souvenir shop over here, which has numerous beautiful Korean artifacts.
Later in the evening, I took the subway to Itaewon market. The subway in Seoul is very efficient, there are 9 lines, directions and stops are well marked in English. Trains are very regular at most times. The subway takes one to most parts of Seoul and the suburbs, so it is very easy to use for tourist. I always prefer the subway as a means of transportation, besides being cheap, fast and reliable, it also provides a glimpse of the day-to-day lifestyle of the local inhabitants.
Itaewon market is the foreign quarters of Seoul. It is primarily famous for leather goods, and cuisines from all around the world. It being a Sunday evening, the market was crowded. As I was walking by, a couple of students from Korea University asked me for a survey on Koreans attitude to tourists. I had plenty of time, and struck up a nice conversation with them, while I answered their questions. Later I dined at Moghul, a famous Pakistani restaurant.
The next day I had decided to take a day trip to Suwon, a suburb of Seoul, and famous for the World Heritage Fortress. I reached the Suwon station just after noon. The food mart on the second floor of the Suwon railway station offers a lot to eat, but the majority is Korean without any English translation. Ironically, the word Food-Mart is written in English. I eventually settled down eating at a KFC, where I had to point at the desired sandwich in the menu to the cashier.
A local bus from the railway station takes you to the gate of the World Heritage Fortress. A four km hike takes you all around the fortress back to where you start. The fortress walls are on the top of a hill, and hence the views of Suwon city and surrounds are spectacular. On the way I met a German tourist, Frank, who was also destined for ICC. We became friends, and I did the remaining hike with him. The hike in the afternoon heat and humidity was exhausting, and I was happy to return back to my hotel that evening.
The next three days were the conference days. Besides attending several technical sessions, and presenting my paper, I hung around with my advisor, met a lot of people, and had excellent Korean food, an example being a lobster for dinner on Wednesday evening. The venue of the conference was at the CO-EX conference center, very near the CO-Ex Mall. The CO-EX Mall is a huge high-fashion mall, with hundreds of stores, particularly catering to the Korean youth. Even at 10pm in the night, you find a lot of activity here.
On Thursday (19th) night, I, my advisor Prof Biswanath Mukerjee (Bis), Prof Byrav Ramamoorthy (Byrav) and Dr Kim went around for a night view of the city. We went to the Tower 63, which is the headquarters of a Korean insurance company, where I ate the *Sangretan* (chicken and rice soup) at a Korean place. Thereafter we went for a river cruise on the Hang river. The Hang river is very wide, and very beautiful. Jogging and cycling tracks are on the sides of the river. If I had time, I would have just loved to rent a cycle and bike along the river. At night, the views of the Seoul skyline are amazing. We sailed past the Parliament building and headed north towards the World Cup football stadium. The river breeze was very refreshing. After about an hour at the river we returned back to the origin.
The next day, I decided to explore the various areas in downtown Seoul. My first destination was the Gyeongbokgung palace. This palace is probably the grandest and most impressive in Seoul. I witnessed the royal guard changing ceremony which is performed at the palace grounds each day. There are lots of things here to explore, and every building has an history to it which is mentioned in front of the building. There is also the National Folk museum, which I did not visit. Thereafter I took a walk along the outskirts of the palace, which leads to the presidential estate and the president’s blue palace. This building is majestic, it has a blue roof, and stands out prominently against the hills.
I took the subway to Seoul downtown. The City Hall is an important building here. It was hot and humid, and I decided to cool it off with an ice cream. I then walked towards the Namdemun Market. The Namdemun gate stands out prominently, but it was under restoration at that time. Namdemun is perhaps the most famous of all the markets in Seoul for cheap clothes, and leather goods. The market was jam packed with locals and tourists.
On Saturday, the 21st, I had booked a half day tour to the famous Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) which divides North and South Korea. The DMZ is a 4 km wide stretch of land located around the 38th degree latitude. The DMZ is165 miles long, and runs all through Korea. I left my hotel at about 7:25am. It took about half-an-hour to pick up all the passengers of the tour, and by 9:00, we were headed North, along the banks of the river. The first destination was the Jimsing Park, built in memory of all those who sacrificed their lives in the Korean war. Over here, is also a pillar in memory of the 17 killed in the assassination attempt on the South Korean president in 1983 by the North Koreans. There is also a gigantic bell, which can be rung by the tourists for a fee. Over here, we switched buses, and joined the bigger group.
The zone 9km south of DMZ, has restricted civilian activity. A soldier entered the bus and checked our passports. Thereafter, we crossed the unification bridge. Our first destination was the 3rd tunnel. A series of tunnels were dug up beneath the DMZ by North Korea in the 1970s, with the motivation to launch a surprise offensive against the south. The 3rd tunnel (named so, because it was the third in the discovered set of tunnels), was dug up between 1974 and 1978. when it was intercepted by the South Korean soldiers. This tunnel is about 70 feet beneath the ground, and 3 feet wide. 10000 soldiers may pass through this tunnel in an hour.
After putting on our safety helmets, a walk through a 350 feet passage took us to the entrance of the tunnel. The tunnel is pretty wet, with water dripping from the sides and the top, because of the abundance of ground water in this region. We observed pipes on both sides built to suction the water away. The tunnel stops at a dead end about 200 meters from the North Korea Military Line. Our tour guide was immensely knowledgeable and gave us a brief description of the various features of the tunnel. The walls of the tunnel were charred black, as the North Korean soldiers marked the walls with charcoal, while they fled the tunnel in order to give it the appearance of a coal mine. However, there is hardly a trace of charcoal in the entire region of the DMZ. The tunnel is at an angle of 3 degrees, sloping down towards the North Korean side, so as to provide drainage of water. Unfortunately, photography is not allowed anywhere inside the tunnel.
Our next destination was the Dora observatory, which is located on top of a hill, and from where we could get a view into North Korea. Midway through the climb up the hill, our bus gave up, and we resumed the climb on our feet. A couple of minutes later, a bus carrying school children arrived, and offered us a lift. Me, and a few more people boarded the bus, and were greeted by school kids, aged between 8 and 10. A few of them knew English, and asked us which country we were from.
At Dora observatory, we had a good view of the forested DMZ, and North Korea on the other side of the border. A soldier gave us a briefing, in which he explained the history of the Korean war, and the creation of the DMZ by the United Nations. He gave us some details of the North Korean side, a propaganda tower in one of the villages, the Kaseong valley in which the South Koreans shall soon be building an industrial plant, and a small inhabited village in North Korea. Unfortunately, photography is restricted to behind an yellow line, from where it is difficult to shoot a picture of North Korean territory. We also observed fences on both sides of the DMZ.
The next spot was the Dorasan railway station, the last stop of the South Korean railway line before the DMZ. This station has been built at a cost of $10 million symbolizing the hope of unification with North Korea, so that Dorasan station could be the gateway to South Korea from the North Korean side. The station is extremely modern, but with zero traffic except for tourists. There is even a vacant ticket counter for destinations on the North Korean side. A map shows the South Korean railway network, connected to the North Korean railway network, and then on to the trans Siberian railway network through Vladivostok, and then on to the European network. The dream is to have train services all the way to Paris and Lisbon from the South Korean side. President Bush and the South Korean President jointly inaugurated this station in 2002.
The only spot of importance in the DMZ, which was not a part of our tour, is the Panmunjeong village, at the intersection of the North and South Korean military lines. This place has the United Nations office, and a building which holds the bilateral talks between North and South Korea. On the way back, we changed buses again at the Jimsing Park, and finally were dropped off at the Iteawon market. I was starving by now, and went to the Itaewon Habib restaurant for a nice dish of bibimbap (rice along with stir-fried vegetables and meat on an earthen stone pot).
In the evening, I decided to hang around the Hongik university area to get a feel of the Seoul college crowd and night life. The area is also famous for bars and clubs. It was quite far from my hotel, and it took almost an hour by the subway to get there. But it was worth the trip, for the streets were jam packed with the Seoul youth. I hopped from street to street, checking out the crowd and the restaurants. I finally ate at a Korean place, where there was no English menu, and I had to point out the picture of the dish I desired. It was good food at a cheap price though. After hanging around for some more time after my meal, I headed back to my hotel.
The next day, Sunday, being my last in this fascinating city, I wanted to explore the shopping malls and buy some souvenirs. I headed for the Lotto Mall. This mall has an ice-skating rink at the ground floor, a Disney adventure park at the top floor, a bowling alley, a swimming pool, and numerous restaurants and shops. It being a Sunday afternoon, the mall was crowded. I decide to try Italian food, and had pasta with an excellent mix of seafood, which I found to be delicious. Later in the day, I visited the Olympic park, where there is the Olympic peace monument. This area is also very green and picturesque.
In the evening I checking in at the City air terminal, were a limousine took me to Incheon Airport. My flight was at 7:40 in the evening. Thus came an end to a amazing trip.
Amitabha