Seoul, Korea Rep.

When we were planning our trip, we found that we had to go through Seoul to get to Vladivostok, which I was not keen to do. All I knew about Seoul was whatever I had learnt from watching MASH (that would be nothing), I knew they ate Kimchi (Yuk!) and …, nope that’s about it! So I was rather nervous about spending a few days there.

In hindsight, I wish to apologise to Seoul. We had a great time! It was eye-opening, especially after having spent time in the chaos of Bangkok. But Seoul was clean, orderly and not crowded. Traffic obeyed road rules, Koreans were friendly and polite, and even the plethora of markets were almost non-Asian! No chaos to be seen anywhere!!

We mastered the intricacies of the Seoul train network – thanks to our friend Di Sinden for her briefing, and ended up travelling quite a bit on the underground. Just image the Paris Metro but cleaner and with all the signs in a different script. A single trip anywhere was only 1,150 Won, which is about $1.15, so that was whether you travelled one station or had to change across 3-4 lines to get to your destination – transport was cheap.

We saw some fascinating cultural out-takes – the changing of the guard at Doeksugung as well as a rehearsal for the appointing of the Gate Guards at the Palace for 2013 We visited the National Palace Museum as well as doing a tour of the Royal Palace at Gyeongbokgung. The only down side was the time of year – it would look absolutely gorgeous in about 1-2 months, when the grass is green and all the gardens and trees are in bloom.

We also explored a number of markets (Dongdaemun, Namdaemun, Itaewon and Yongsan), spending a bit of money and tried a variety of food at different street stalls. We discovered a couple of new eateries, some of which I would recommend (Paris Baguette) and some I wouldn’t (California Pizza Kitchen).

We visited the DMZ but because of the requirement to register 3 days before the trip, we couldn’t visit the JSA and Panmunjom so we were limited to doing the Half-Day Tour which takes to you the Demiltarized Zone (Sorry, but in my head I just keep hearing Robin Williams in “Good Morning Vietnam”). We got to visit the cleanest, emptiest and most underserviced train station in the world (Dorasan Station), Nick went down the 3rd Infiltration Tunnel which was dug by the North Koreans and was 73m underground, and we got to stand at a lookout and peer through some binoculars towards North Korea. I even got to show my sore finger to the North Koreans!

When I say that the market were un-Asian, I am not referring to the markets held every night in the streets around our hotel at Myong-deong. It was fascinating to walk around and I do not understand how a nation can need to buy so many socks! At EVERY market we went to, it seemed like every second stall sold socks of every colour, pattern and length.

Nick managed to tick off another on his World Tour of McDonalds – yes, he was adventurous and had a Big Mac meal. At least, I ordered their local burger which was a Bulgogi Burger (pork with lettuce & Korean BBQ sauce). In fairness to him, Nick has been sampling the Big Mac in every new country ever since he first went overseas in 1877 – oops, I mean 1977! Even in the world of Economics, the Big-Mac Index in a recognised way to gauge to cost of living in different countries.

The weather was kind to us, cool but not too cold – just enough to know that you weren’t in Brisbane any more. I got many opportunities to practise my only phrase in Korean (“come sum ny da” – that’s my phonetic spelling anyway) but it is a bit daunting when they giggle at your attempts. But on the whole, we found the Koreans to be a very friendly people and more than happy to have foreigners visit. All in all, we had a great time.