Ragnar's World: Seoul-searching, Gangnam style!

When taking the Seoul-train to Seoul station, one might be tempted to believe our destination was Motown. But this was an oriental town, not occidental. Although with its modern looks and design, it is no doubt this South Korean capital has opened it doors to the world's influence.

Almost every year, a friend of mine and I go for a short oval weekend trip somewhere in the world. And this time, Seoul was the target. It was a long flight from Europe, with too little sleep. When flying east, the day (and night) is way too short. We had originally planned to go to Seoul a few years back, but those plans failed. But finally, we were able to visit the southern part of the Korean peninsula, 6 years after I visited the north.

I have Won!

Going to Seoul station!

We took the train from the airport to Seoul station (...) and after some wandering about in the heat, we decided to just grab a cab to the hotel and drop off our bags before doing anything else. It was also getting late. We were a bit surprised by how little crowdy Seoul was, until we learned that we had arrived on the South-Korean equivalent of thanksgiving. So almost everyone had left to visit their parents and/or the rest of their family.
Our taxi-driver spoke English and told us about the corruption and how he didn't like the government. Just like everywhere else, I guess. Except a few hundre kilometer north, where it would have meant "reeducation" if you even considered talking like that. And in those sentences, the main difference between the two brother nations became all too obvious.

Our hotel had a name that was all too fitting :

And we got a room with a view.

After dropping off our bags and changing into something more apporpritate and less sweaty, we headed out. The city felt dead. My friend had found a place he wanted to visit, so we took the subway there and found excactly nothing. That is, we found the place, but there was nothing there. We walked thought the front door, and just a big empty space greeted us. And a guard. He pointed towards an escalator, and we rode it DOWN into the ground. Suddenly, we were in a shopping mall and cineplex underneath the ground. Complete with the Hulk and Ironman fighting it out...

...and an indoor slide...

...and green-tea-flavored ice-cream! Yummy!

If I could speak Korean, this movie would probably have been my choice.

But we were too tired to watch any movie. Unless the co-audience would like some life-like snoring sound-effect to their movie. We opted for returning to the hotel for some sleep...

After a couple of hours sleep, we were ready to take on the world again. At least a new day. And this day, we had planned to go to the Namsam Seoul tower. A towering (...) construction on a mountain overlooking the city. We took the subway to the nearest station, and walked the rest to the cable-car that would take us to the foot of the tower. Even though most people had left the city, the line for the cable-car was, like, forever. But we finally got ur tickets to ride. My friend learned that many couples would bring padlocks and lock them on the fences by the tower. So he bought a padlock with a heart on it, dedicated to him and his wife. He photographed it and sent the picture to his wife. She loved it.

Fences packed with padlocks from couples.

An elevator inside the tower lifted us up to a viewing platform 140 meters above the ground. Luckily, I do not have a fear of heights...

Not for the shy or men with fear of heights. But then again, the latter would never
see this bathroom...

After coming down from the mountain, we walked around the city, taking photos and enjoying the street life and buildings, old and new.

Part of the old city wall. This was one of the entrances.

Lots of visitors to the old city. Many with natiional costumes.

Cool design on the buildings.

In more detail

Even the river was "designed"

Is this a way to make sure office rats get out more?

Ok. If you need an iPad that bad, maybe you should see a shrink

Hmmm. Not sure if I want to trust an ATM from this bank... I need
no more woories...

We walked into a narrow street and found this restaurant....

...serving typical Korean cousine. I had tried this in North Korea. Delicious!

After the delicious meal at the side street restaurant, we walked back to our hotel. Shooting some more pictures on our way. We decided to walk a side street again instead of the main roads. And that was a good call. We suddenly found where all the people were hanging out...

Hanging roof...

Rose petal ice-cream! The guy scooped flat scoops of ice and
formed this rose. Cannot remember the flavor, but it was delish!

So this is were all the people were hiding!

Bustling street!

Next morning. We had booked a VIP bus for the airport. Originally we planned to take the train again, but when the receptionists offered VIP bus, how could we resist?
The breakfast wasn't fast at all. Enjoying the view from our table, we sat talking and enjoying the last meal before heading home.