Gangnam Style @ Seoul

Our train journey took us back to Seoul, after which we made our way back to Andy and Vijola's flat in Gangnam. Gangnam, apart from being part of the title of what must be the most internationally most famous piece of Korean music, is one of the 25 districts that Seoul is made up of. It is actually the richest part of Seoul (some people say it is to Seoul what Beverly Hills is to L.A. - based on what we saw I wouldn't say it's a very good comparison...), and a busy business district full of restaurants and bars. Similarly to Japan, come night-time, the streets get pretty busy with drunken office workers dressed in black suits.

We started our exploration of Seoul by taking the mandatory "Gangnam Style" photo (the sign is located just by the tube station exit, near Andy and Vijola's flat), and then headed off on foot to explore town. We made our way down to the Han River, which neatly cuts Seoul in two (Gangnam is south of the river, most of the touristy stuff is north of the river). We checked out the famous Banpo rainbow bridge, the longest fountain bridge in the world (hmm, I wonder how many of those there actually are in the world? ;-) ). The fountain wasn't turned on when we were there, unfortunately. We did check out the floating islands - artificial floating islands with interesting modern architectural structures connected by pedestrian bridges) - pretty cool.

We crossed the river, enjoying the splendid riverside views (the sun was out, which helped as well!), and headed off to check out Yongsan Park, a massive park, a bit of an oasis of peace amongst all the hustle and bustle. The National Museum of Korea is located in the park, which we took the opportunity to visit (since it was free). A pretty interesting place, with plenty of interesting artefacts highlighting Korea's history.

After a decent lunch at the museum restaurant, we decided to make our way to the War Memorial Museum (it looked to be pretty close on the map - but getting there on foot turned out to be a bit of an expedition, partly due to the fact that there was actually a US military base between the National Museum and the War Memorial museum!). We made it in the end...

It's a pretty interesting museum that charts all the military conflicts Korea's been involved in (and there are many - Korean history is a pretty turbulent with plenty of conflict with its superior neighbours Japan and China). Unsurprisingly, a lot of the museum covers the Korean war of 1950-1953. I was a little bit disturbed by the somewhat nationalist / glorifying overtones often present at the museum - not something I would expect in a democratic country. Outside the museum there was plenty of military hardware on display - including a B52!

Before heading back to the flat, we decided to check out Seoul's biggest night market (can't remember the name of it just now...). It's a pretty cool place, one of those places where they sell pretty much anything, for a reasonably price. Reminded me a bit of the Grand Bazaar in Istanbul.

For dinner, Andi and Vijola had a real treat planned for us. They took us on a bus ride to Seoul's biggest fish market, where we got to eat some REALLY fresh seafood. The concept is pretty cool - you basically pick your fish at the market (including in our case a live octopus!), then you take it to a restaurant, where they cook it for you as you want it. We naturally had the octopus raw - which basically means they cut it up for you, but the tentacles still keep moving while you eat it. Yummie! :)

The next day, we decided to check out one of Seoul's five imperial palaces - Changdeokgung palace (a bit of tongue-twister, that, but one gets used to that in Korea!). Built during the Joseon dynasty, it was the favourite palace of many rulers of Korea. It's certainly an impressive and painstakingly restored place (it was heavily damaged during the Japanese occupation leading up to World War II). It's a pity that the palace interiors cannot be visited.

The highlight of the palace was definitely the Secret Garden, for which we had to pay an extra entrance fee (well worth it!). It was basically the King's private garden - even high officials were not allowed without special permission from the king. These days, thankfully, it's open to the public. The beautiful autumn colours added to the beauty of the place.

The mandatory palace visit out of the way, we continued our exploration at the nearby Bukchon, a historic area of Seoul, which houses plenty of historic Hanok houses.

What's great about this neck of the woods, compared to say Jeonju, is the relative lack of crazy Koreans dressed in traditional Korean dress and taking selfies... (am I obsessed with the Korean people's obsession for selfies?)

To check out something completely different, we decided to head to Dongdaemun Design Plaza, a show-piece of modern architecture that looks like something out of a science fiction movie. It's a multi-purpose convention centre that houses various exhibitions and information centres. A pretty impressive piece of architecture, to be sure!

Two days into our visit of Seoul, I'm rather impressed. Seoul definitely ranks up there with the top cities in Asia I've visited so far (Tokyo, Singapore, Hong Kong)...