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After our last trip to the DMZ was cancelled, Angelos booked us on another one. To be honest, what with Recent Events, I was hoping that it would be cancelled again so I could have a lie in. But it was not to be. On our final full day in South Korea, we checked in with the tour company at a hotel near City Hall and got on a coach that headed north. The barbed wire coastal defences intensified as we got closer and closer. Along the journey, our tour guide gave us the historical context to the DMZ and the current situation. It only took around an hour to reach our destination, showing just how close Seoul is to the Danger Zone.
We passed through one checkpoint, then another, our passports inspected on both occasions. North Korea was now visible across the other side of the river, including the “propaganda village” built on its banks. Our time in the JSA (Joint Security Area) was understandably brief. There were only two occasions we were allowed to take photos. One was outside the meeting rooms, and there was a sole NK soldier visible on the other side of the area. There were around a dozen soldiers on “our” side, mostly facing north. We were told that the NK soldiers usually travel in pairs, each facing the other to ensure they do not defect. The other photo opp was inside one of the meeting rooms, where if you walked to the far side of the room, you were technically across the border and in NK. “Come back to the safety of the South!” joked our guide as we queued up to leave. One of our party asked the guide/soldier if they were on high alert at the moment. His response was perfect - “we’re always on high alert, that’s the whole point of this area”. We were joined throughout our visit by a second group of tourists from Japan. Amongst them, one party of men were laughing and joking their way around the whole area, which felt really inappropriate.
Back on the bus, past the security checkpoints and a stop at the inevitable gift shop (you’ve seen the war zone! NOW BUY THE T-SHIRT!!) we were driven to lunch in a nearby cafe, and ate a perfectly acceptable bulgogi. From there we were taken to Imjingak park, built for families to gather and remember relatives that they have been separated from after the border was put in place. I could understand the memorials, but the fairground? Not so much. There was the “freedom bridge” in amongst a park that included hundreds of prayers and flags woven into a barbed wire fence, plus the remains of an old steam engine. The railway bridge actually makes it’s way into North Korea, one of the few physical links between the two countries. On the bus back to Seoul, I caught up with some sleep. It was strange to be travelling with other Non Korean people and hearing so much English again.
Arriving back at City Hall, a huge protest was taking place, the relatively small area transformed into a sea of people and flags. I never did find out what it was about, but I’ll guess it was to do with the upcoming election. We were on a tight schedule, as we had booked ourselves on a tour of the Secret Garden at Changdeokgung Palace - a secluded area that is only open a few times a year. It was a dash, but we made it, and I’m so glad we did as it was one of the highlights of the trip. As the gardens are so rarely open, there was a huge crowd to get in, but this gradually spread out into the massive grounds, home to ponds, pavilions and thousands of trees, many over 300 years old. We took in the whole area with an English language tour guide, adding some historical context to this unspoilt paradise. After the tour ended we had a little time to continue exploring before the gardens closed. It was incredibly relaxing.
One of the dishes I had yet to try was Chimaek, literally “chicken and beer”. Heading back to Noksapyeong, we found the perfect place to take this in, dining on cheese fried chicken with cheesy chips. It doesn’t sound like much, but it was delicious, a perfect final-night meal. We sat in an open front restaurant, taking in the evening. The street was packed with restaurants and bars, alive with people beginning their night out. I suddenly realised it was Saturday, and that I hadn’t paid much attention to the days of the week on this trip. Wanting to revisit past glories, we went for final beers at The Booth, on a street where each bar and shop was spilling on to the street, with dogs of various sizes and English voices shouting the loudest. A final drink was had at Made in Pongdang. I was feeling reflective and was trying to coax Angelos into talking about the highlights of the past two weeks. On the way back we got off the metro a stop early to walk to our hotel a different way, seeing our neighbourhood in the other direction.
Our flight wasn’t until the afternoon, so we had plenty of time. The final day began with a leisurely stroll around our hotel’s neighbourhood, seeing shops and markets coming to life. Then it was on to the Airport Railroad, with a little trip on the Maglev train when we got there. Magnets are the future apparently. Incheon airport was naturally enormous, so we killed time walking around the stores before settling on some fishcakes for lunch. I was pretty relaxed about going home, perhaps not about going back to work, but definitely back to a country where I could understand people and that also contained my cat. The journey back was long, our Sunday lasted six extra hours than normal, but my entertainment screen worked without a glitch, a first! We finally got home to York at around 4am, this whole adventure starting to feel like a crazy jetlagged dream.
In conclusion, if you hadn’t guessed, we had the time of our lives and I’d definitely recommend it to anyone. We didn’t speak much Korean, but people were more or less happy to provide us with whatever we were trying to point at. It was interesting to see, for the most part, people hung out with their own gender. I didn’t see many mixed groups, outside of family outings. The most common non-Korean language I heard was German by far. I kept comparing this trip to our Japan holiday, but there are several differences - I wouldn’t say Koreans were rude by any means, but Japanese people seemed to be more falling over themselves to please and serve.
Looking back through what I’ve written, and the 1,800 photos I took, I can’t quite believe we did all this. It was an experience I’ll never forget.
Korea Blogs: Part 1 - Part 2 - Part 3 - Part 4 - Part 5
On the following day it was time to move on, this time by plane. The flight wasn’t until the early afternoon, so we had a slow start to the day before taking the light rail to the airport. I was still unable to withdraw money and getting more and more frustrated. Ahead of us was a mere 40 minute flight to the island of Jeju - South Korea’s most popular domestic holiday destination. After we landed I was greeted by a cash machine that finally put out, so that made me happy right away. A wrong bus then a right bus took us to our hotel, which had no TV in the room. Never heard of such a thing.
Walking around windswept streets, we eventually found the local market which was vibrantly coloured with the local speciality - oranges. Everywhere you looked the volcanic nature of the island was evident - black paving slabs and rock walls bubbled with air from aeons ago. We walked along an empty seafront, planes going over our heads every five minutes. There was a ridiculous number of flights landing, possibly a result of the ferry disaster a few years ago. We arrived at Yongduam rock, which is shaped like a dragon. The sun was beginning to set so we caught that magical golden hour. Our long walk home took us through tree lined neighbourhoods with quaint little stores. We dined just round the corner from our hotel, eating fried squid with a ridiculous amount of garlic.
We had two nights on Jeju, and a better sleep made me feel more human again. We hopped on a bus to the east of the island to get on a boat to Udo, a tiny island just off the coast. We ended up walking around the entire thing, which felt like an achievement even if it was only around 5km. The island’s port offered hundreds of bikes, mopeds and electric buggies to hire. The locals must hate them, they were a menace. The walk was beautiful though, taking in a lighthouse, a black sand beach and some crystal blue waters. I ended up deceptively sunburnt.
Back on Jeju, we headed towards Seongsan Ilchulbong Peak. From a distance it loomed over you like something from prehistory. So with the Jurassic Park theme in my head, we moved closer to then find the inevitable car park with coach loads of screaming school children and selfie stick tourists. As far as peaks go, this was far easier to climb than the heights we had conquered recently, so we happily overtook wheezing locals and got a good view from the top, especially of little Udo that we had just circled. On the bus back I saw a monk with a smartphone, which was interesting. Dinner was near the hotel again, this time at a swish chain version of the BBQ-it-yourself restaurant. Not feeling too dead, we explored for a drink. The first place was a dive karaoke bar that was thankfully silent, and then we went to an Irish bar that was playing hip hop and basketball.
Up until the next day, the embedded calendar app on my phone had just listed the days containing Holiday, Holiday, Holiday. Then, for the first time, our flight home appeared on the horizon. This was the beginning of the end. It began with aching sunburn (when will I learn?) and a bus to the airport. I consumed some “crisps” that was more like eating a bag of honey nut cornflakes, not that I was complaining. It was was possibly the shortest flight I’ve been on - 30 minutes after takeoff we landed in Gwangju and went to the airport subway, which was completely devoid of life. Heading for the station, we took a KTX train (older than SRT but still better than anything in the UK) to Iksan, and local train to our destination of Jeonju. Like the roads, the railways seemed to be mostly bridges and tunnels.
Jeonju is an UNESCO city of gastronomy - basically it’s right good at food, like. Unfortunately it was also starting to rain. We saw several prominent and touching tributes to the 2015 ferry disaster, not realising that it was the second anniversary the previous week. Rain persisting, we walked around another recreated Hanok village. It was very nice, but perhaps it was the persistent drizzle adding to my fatigue and making me feel that we’d seen this kind of thing already. Giving up, it was back to the hotel to dry out.
An hour or so later, we more or less retraced our steps in the dry, making our way to Hankookjib which has a Michelin recommendation for its bibimbap (a bowl full of rice, meat and vegetables). Ordering the heated bowl version, I was informed by one of the staff that scraping the dried rice off the bottom of the bowl at the end is a delicacy and also “the best bit”. It was washed down with a local take on makgeolli which is brewed with cinnamon and other spices and was delicious beyond description. Wandering around the Hanok village at night, we found a dessert cafe and finally got to order Sulbing, another speciality - ice cream, shaved ice, biscuit and cocoa. We had eaten well that day, incredibly satisfying. We finished the night by visiting the beautiful light displays at the traditional arts centre. What started as an average, tired and grumpy day turned into something spectacular.
The volcanic under floor heating and some fucking noisy neighbours meant not much sleep. To add to the first world frustrations, this hotel tapped into a public wifi network as opposed to having its own dedicated service. We all know that slow wifi is somehow worse than no wifi. It was good to leave that behind, we attempted an early start again to make the most of our day ahead. I somehow managed to have a currywurst at the train station. Our first destination was Suwon, a city further north almost swallowed up by Seoul. It had its own ancient walls and temples, but the fatigued “seen this already” feeling was continuing to drag me down. So a visit to Mr Toilet House was in order - literally a house shaped like a toilet, founded by a man acclaimed for promoting sanitation in public conveniences. It was definitely something different.
We were then back on the familiar Seoul metro, heading for the same hotel we stayed in at the start of the trip. They remembered us! But they can’t get that many Swedish guys with their ginger giraffe companions through the doors. A rammed rush hour metro took us back out to Incheon, this time visiting the place rather than the airport. We walked through Chinatown and found a restaurant recommended in one of the guides. We stood silently and politely in the foyer while no one came to seat us. Eventually we just went ahead and sat down. Finally we were experiencing the shoes off low table thing. The room was surrounded by a fish tank and fountains, occasionally the fish gathered in gangs to stare at you. After translating the menu with a phone app, we ordered the “soy sauce set menu” that gave us at least a dozen dishes to get through. A short walk through a park lit up cherry blossoms put us back on the metro into the city, as we had an early start tomorrow.
Korea Blogs: Part 1 - Part 2 - Part 3 - Part 4 - Part 5
We were now halfway through the holiday, so it was nice to mark it with the best breakfast we’d had in awhile, with real tea and everything. Ditching the buses, finally we were taking a high speed train. Like in Japan, the high speed stations are built on the outskirts of towns and cities so that the lines can stay as straight as possible. We got on a brand new SRT train, the standard class seats a level above UK first class. The journey only lasted around 30 minutes, speeding past a landscape that seemed to be mostly cranes and building sites constructing more and more montone highrise apartment blocks. If every place we stayed had something in common it would be this - crews of workers building more and more concrete blobs.
Our destination was Busan on the south coast, the second largest city in the country. Check-in wasn’t until 4pm which felt cruel and unusual, so we had plenty of time to kill. Seeing that it was due to rain tomorrow, we swapped round our plans to do all the outdoor activities today - it pays to keep an eye on the forecast kids! We started with yet another climb up many steep hills to reach the Gamcheon Culture Village, on our way we were treated to a fine view across the foggy city below. The village was a former slum town that was re-built to attract tourists, so cue stores of tat and miscellaneous food stalls. Don’t get me wrong, it looked very pretty, and there were even more great views from the top, but something felt a little bit empty about the whole thing. Again, these were people's homes that had to put up with hordes of noisy slow movers. The focus also only appeared to be for the road running along the top of the village, our exploration on lower streets found closed stores and a more abandoned feel.
Moving back into the city centre, we went for a walk around the massive fish market. Stall after stall of seafood in various states, stacked on ice, hung out to dry or very much alive in tanks. I saw a bucket full of octopi, and one made a valiant attempt at escaping before getting into a fight with the stall owner who did her best to shove it back in the water. Walking through the Oxford Circus-style packed city streets full of stalls and shops, we snacked on street food and walked past a sock stall that appeared to be run by a cat. Heading to the central Yongdusan park, the viewing tower was closed for repairs (not that we would have shelled out for that anyway). The very top was hidden in cloud rolling in off the sea.
Our hotel room availability still several hours away, so we ventured north to Beomeosa temple, perched high in the mountains that surround the city. This was home to an order of monks and was undoubtedly the most calm and serene temple we had visited so far. We passed streams flowing around massive boulders and gravestones pitched on top of stone turtles. Hundreds of hanging lanterns decorated the space, and several people were offering prayers to the various statues. Even though it was in the middle of preparations for an event or celebration, the peace I felt was beautiful. The whole place was free to enter, or we accidentally didn’t pay. Either way, bargain.
For the past couple of days, we had been struggling with cash withdrawals. We both have the Halifax Clarity credit card which is great for taking out cash abroad, or at least it was until halfway through this trip. With little other option, when we got into our hotel I had to fire up Skype on my phone and sit on hold for over 30 minutes. When I eventually spoke to a human, I got no decent explanation as to why both our cards stopped working, and were just urged to “keep trying at like banks or something”. Great advice, cheers. I tried to play the “I’m trying to have a honeymoon here” card and all I got was “congratulations on the wedding”.
Still, we had just had a morning and afternoon packed with the most activities and distance covered pre-check in, so now it was time to think about food. Firing up TripAdvisor, it turned out that the #2 restaurant for the whole city was just round the corner, so we went out to find it. The name was not in English, so it took three walks up and down a street until we finally found this haven. We ate delicious bowls of meaty soup with various sides, so incredibly tasty. After that we went for a walk around the crazy neon city streets, noise and people shouting at you from every direction. For a Sunday evening it felt more like a Friday night. These are streets that felt abandoned during the day, it looks like there is more of a night time economy here.
To round off the evening. we took the metro out to the beach at Geumnyeonsan to wait for a light display to begin over the Gwangandaegyo bridge, and accidentally saw a fountain/laser show at the same time. Both confusingly and worryingly, the Russian flag was broadcast across the bridge at the end of the sequence. The beach was busy with people making the most of the warm evening and, naturally, taking selfies with the light show in the background. Walking around the waterfront we came across a whole area filled with people having their own late night picnics and BBQs. This was going on for 10pm and it was still rowdy and full of life. Continuing our walk we came across not one but two Trump Towers. Sad. This was taken as a sign to head to bed, ending our busiest day for a while.
Finally we had two nights staying somewhere again so there was no rush to pack up and move on. I’d managed to get Hola to access the iPlayer and download new Doctor Who, but this wizardry would not extend to the Chromecast, so I had to make do with watching Bill Pott’s introduction on my phone. The expected rain had arrived, but we were ready for it. What we didn’t expect was for the museum we wanted to visit to be closed. Check your opening hours kids! So we went to a shopping mall which was meant to have a viewing tower, which was also closed. But every metro station seems to be a mini mall in itself, so we walked up and down the stalls in the dry, thinking what to do.
Remembering that we walked past a cat cafe the other day, we went there only to be told to give it another hour for cleaning. So we went across the road for lunch at Octopus Chicken. You can imagine what we ordered. It was a platter so big I didn’t really need feeding for the rest of the day. Heading back to the cafe, we were greeted by a basement full of cats in varying degrees of friendliness. Unfortunately one decided to piss all over my coat as soon as we sat down, but what else are waterproofs for? We spent the next hour or so making some new friends, with one curling up on Angelos’ lap for most of our time there.
The weather was still grim and we were reaching for things to do. Cue overpriced aquarium! On the subway out there, we go talking to an old guy. He had brilliant English, but kept apologising. “You won't understand me, my English is very poor” he said in better English than anything I could say in Korean. He was a retired high school English teacher who had never been to the UK, but a trip to USA put him on “cloud nine”. He eventually asked if we were married, I’m almost definite he meant to women, to which we said no. We didn’t want to risk a poor reaction. It got me thinking that, As A Gay Person, you never stop coming out. Or sometimes you just bite your tongue and feign heterosexuality. I’d never had an existential crisis on the way to an aquarium before.
The Sea Life centre was pretty much what you would expect, with the price tag to boot, but it beat walking around in the rain. Feeling a little drained, we went back to the hotel to recharge for a while. The evening was kicked off with a beer at a Galmegi Brewing Co bar near our where we were staying. We then went out to the Film Festival Centre to admire it’s rainbow projected roof, walking past what claimed to be the largest department store in the world. There was supposed to be another Galmegi bar not to far from there, but that was closed. It had been a bad day for that. So we went back to our local Galmegi for a couple of drinks and some snacks, as we were still mostly full of chicken and octopus.
Korea Blogs: Part 1 - Part 2 - Part 3 - Part 4 - Part 5
After three days, we had come to the end of our initial time in Seoul. Staying there a few days, I had started to get to know my way around. This tends to happen everywhere I stay, a few nights in any city and I feel part of the furniture. However you don’t cover much ground staying in one place, and we had a country to explore. It was time to move on, so we went to the main bus station for a two hour trip to the other side of the country. The bus was large and comfortable, and even gave us a snack break along the way. The internal terrain was all fields and mountains, with the roads mostly made of bridges and tunnels. We arrived in Sokcho and immediately set out to find a specific restaurant mentioned in one of the books, apparently the best place to eat Ojingeo Sundae - squid stuffed with meat and egg. The Abaimaeul area sits next to the docks, tight winding streets squeezed full of houses and restaurants. We found our intended destination and went to go sit in the shoes off, low table area, before being bustled over to the more western “normal tables” section. The inside of the place was covered in graffiti, I’m guessing from people praising what they had just eaten, this would turn out to be a common site across the country. The food was, simply, sublime. It was very early on in the trip to say Best Meal Ever, but it was definitely up there.
After finding our hotel, probably the first place I have stayed that could be described as “boutique”, we took a bus down to Naksansa temple. What stood out for me here were the rows and rows of colourful prayer lanterns. Also, I like the tradition of adding to piles of stones alongside paths in temples, just like cairns on mountain paths. In the evening, we walked around a massive lake that sits just outside of the city centre, lined with cherry blossom trees lit up by street lamps, and passed by many joggers. Later we had an all-you-can-eat BBQ buffet, cooking our own food as we went. It was a mixture of meat and fish, and the more seasoned meat was really tasty.
For the next few days, we just had the one night in each location, moving on the following day. The morning’s bus took us past several military exercises. During our two weeks in South Korea, I would see several young soldiers out and about - a result of their military service. We passed through the region that will host next year’s Winter Olympics, with the mascots plastered on every bus top and instructional videos played to locals asking them to be friendly to tourists. We eventually reached Reunification Park, a small area containing a former US warship and a captured small North Korean submarine which somehow contained 30 people. Walking south from there, we followed a fenced off coast line, complete with barbed wire and guard posts. This is what most of the Korean coast looks like, intended to keep out invaders or defectors. It’s probably what some people want England to adopt. We attempted to enter a local Rail Bike Park - stretches of railway where you can hire a car and go up and down the track - but it seemed to be abandoned. We were slightly ahead of peak season, but it was weird to see it so empty. Walking further along the beach we saw the answer - part of the track bed had been washed away. We were now in Jeongdongjin which I was surprised to discover was where we were staying for the night.
This sleepy town only contains a few streets, a museum of time described as “avoidable” (so we avoided it) and a large sand timer that flips round on New Year’s Eve (that evening also sounds avoidable). It’s main selling point, seen for miles around, is the Sun Cruise hotel - a gigantic cruiseliner ship that has been built on top of a big hill. We spent the afternoon in a slowly rotating bar, taking in the view and the sunset with a couple of Erdingers, finally relaxing after busy few days. This was a definite highlight, I really felt like I was on holiday in that bar. Dinner was another do-it-yourself BBQ, this time entirely consisting of shellfish which I was convinced I wasn’t cooking properly.
You think you’ve conquered jetlag, then you don’t sleep. Either it was the gale force winds blowing overnight, or some self inflicted food poisoning, but that wasn’t a pleasant rest. In the morning, expecting some kind of self service breakfast, I found an abandoned hotel reception and a toaster. There was one old man walking around that I thought was a member of staff, he kept pointing at the toaster and pouring me glasses of some wheat-milk (tastes as good as it sounds). Turns out he was a guest as well. We ate as quickly as possible and left, quickening the pace as this man started walking behind us and shouting in Korean louder and louder. A train and two buses took us to Haesindang Park, also known as the “fertility park”, or more accurately, “Penis Park”. Something to do with making wishes for a bountiful sea harvest has turned into the valley of the dongs. It was difficult to take it too seriously. As we’d been travelling all morning, I was in some serious hanger pains, so was relieved to see a convenience store on the other side, and devoured a massive bag of onion rings. A couple of buses and a walk took us to Samcheok beach front, where we were staying the night.
The area surrounding the beach looked faded and out of season, not helped by the overcast sky that evening. We went for a short walk as it started to gently rain, and tried to decide on a place to eat that night (I’d had my fill of cooking my own food). We chose an Italian restaurant that sat on the top floor of a building that was currently under construction. Completely missing the lift, we walked up stairs covered in dust and building debris, initially missing the entrance to the restaurant and ending up on the roof. Eventually finding our way back down and to a table, we had a generously portioned meal only tainted by the rusty table water and an ignored beer order. Retreating back to our hotel (which gave us condoms in our welcome pack, thoughtful or seedy? You decide) it was an unexpected surprise to see the beach bathed in purple lights after the sun went down. Children were playing and fireworks were let off. It looked beautiful, and showed me that sometimes the most average looking places can surprise you.
I finally have a good night’s sleep, which was a relief. It was much needed, and we had a long day of travel ahead of us. There was a choice between buses, and the best decision we made was to get up early and get going. We walked past an army base that had put up temporary additional defences and gun turrets at its entrance. The soldiers eyed us as we walked by. Over the next five hours we took two buses to get to Gyeongju, including one trip sat close to an old woman who belched so much she’d give Rick Sanchez a run for his money. So far I’d seen plenty of old people hock up in the street right in front of you as well. Clearly DGAF. Now that we were much further south it was noticeably warmer, and I prepared myself to get sunburnt again.
We started with a bus out to Bulguksa temple and the first of many maniac bus drivers, quick to use the horn and even quicker to slam the breaks on. The temple was busy with families climbing the steep hill up to the temple, one of the older sites we had visited so far. Like the others, it managed to convey an air of tranquility amongst the crowds that surrounded you. We snacked on some kind of delicious fried crab meat and went back into town to ditch our bags. Our hotel appeared to be in a street of “love motels” which looked creepy even in the daylight hours. I thought “would I need a jacket?” and decided to go out in just a tshirt. Cue thunderstorm.
Before the storm hit, we walked among the Silla burial mounds. When I first saw these massive earth structures from the bus, I wondered what they were. Angelos said “graves” and I began to panic over what atrocity happened here. Turns out a more accurate description would be “tombs”, as it was the burial place of ancient royalty. Shortly after that, it started to rain, then pour, then thunder, then hail. I was soaked through and miserable, but it didn’t last that long, and would be the only time I was caught in the rain without my jacket. We went for a walk around the history museum and back through a park that had fields of blooming yellow flowers that are like catnip to Koreans, they can’t stay away, taking a lot of time to get the perfect photos, including one or two wedding shoots. I had my heart set on a well known local restaurant that served 20 dishes per sitting, but lost track of what day it was - Saturday - meaning everyone was out with their families and there was a long wait. We didn’t walk far before we stumbled across a restaurant called Awesome, which thankfully was just that, the waitress showing us their menu through their Instagram account. We had a brightly coloured meal and some delicious makgeolli. Ignoring the rain it was a great day, and we could not have fitted in that much activity if we’d gotten a later bus.
Korea Blogs: Part 1 - Part 2 - Part 3 - Part 4 - Part 5
Finally it was time to go on our honeymoon. We hadn’t had a two week trip anywhere since Japan in 2012, and this was the first time we were attempting to go away for this long with just hand luggage. With five years of adventures under my belt, I felt much more clued up on what to bring and what would just weigh me down. So packing as light as possible, we flew Lufthansa from Manchester to Frankfurt, then on to Seoul. The flights went as well as they could, although I got cursed with a dodgy entertainment screen yet again. We were placed immediately behind the Economy Plus seats, a little bit “see what you could have had” although that seemed to be just a bit more space, a better screen and a chocolate bar. Wasn’t too envious.
With hardly any sleep we landed at around 11am, spaced out in Seoul Incheon airport. There we purchased the TMoney travel cards which worked on suburban railways and buses across the country - an absolute lifesaver and such a fantastic system. Denmark has something similar in operation. One card to get you everywhere...why don’t we have that here yet?? It was also easy to pick up a sim card and top it up so that we could utilise maps and travel schedules on the go. It was weird to see Google Maps not work very well out there - it would give you directions using transport, but refused to give you walking routes.
Like Japan, Korean subway and metro stations are all numbered as well as named, with all signs giving names in English, and station signs tell you the proceeding and following stops, so it’s easy to work out where you are. We got on the slower (cheaper) train and headed for our accommodation near Sinchon station on the inner city loop. We had a simple, functional hotel in a neighbourhood of convenience stores. It was reassuring to see our old travel buddy 7-11 on hand again to satisfy our snacking needs. And snack we did. Hello Butter Caramel Pringles!
Our first bleary eyed destination was Anguk to walk up a hill full of recently built Hanok houses. A trend across the country, whole neighbourhoods are encouraged to rebuild or renovate their homes to match the traditional style of the Hanok, and this brings many tourists their way, selfie sticks at the ready. There were plenty of notices around asking people to be quiet and respect that these are people’s actual homes. It sounds like hell to live there. The hill leading up to the houses was lined with street food stalls, but I wasn’t feeling awake enough to sample anything yet. The houses looked nice, and far better than an ugly high rise tower, but they all looked so new and pristine, something didn’t quite sit right. Perhaps when they’re more weathered and worn in, this will pass. One building courtyard was filled with blooming cherry blossom trees, so again we had to navigate ourselves around the many, many people taking photos of themselves next to the blossom.
Starting to feel hungry, we set off in search of a good meal, walking past the Portuguese embassy which appeared to have a bowling alley in the basement. Walking through empty streets, I was convinced we were going the wrong way, until we found our destination and I realised where everyone was: Kwangjang (Gwangjang) Market. This palace of food was packed with every stall imaginable - each with a small area to seat around a dozen people. It was divided up into different styles and tastes, so all you had to do was walk to the area of food you wanted and pull up a chair. We went for a platter of savoury pancakes and a beer. It was amazing. This was early Sunday evening and it was heaving. Some places busier than others - locals clearly have their favourite spots, other less busy stalls practically want to drag you to a seat as you pass by.
Feeling not bad for no sleep, we ended the day with a walk along a stream / storm drain that runs next to the market exit, which was also busy with families strolling and joggers making us all feel unfit. Back at the hotel, we made the most of the Chromecast - one of the best things we brought with us, it plugged into the TV everywhere we stayed. This meant we could continue working our way through Star Trek TNG with Patrick Stewart’s pleasing baritone telling the universe to ruddy well get on with it.
Our hotel offered a free self service breakfast, so as full up on Frosties and jam on toast as it is possible to be, we set off for Gyeongbokgung palace. This was the main palace of the most influential ruling dynasty Korea had, and one of the many destroyed during Japanese occupation. We arrived just in time for an English language tour to start, which added some context to the surroundings and managed to tell a real narrative as we went around. I saw the first of many ridiculously beautiful buildings and gardens, which felt frozen in time despite that fact that they were all (fairly) modern rebuilds and surrounded by swarms of tourists. We also caught a changing of the guard ceremony before heading off.
Seoul has several famous streets that each specialise in a different dish. I can’t remember which dish street we set out to find, but we failed, instead stumbling across a small restaurant whose owners looked bemused as we stared blankly at the Korean menu. They pointed at something, we nodded, and within minutes we were eating a perfectly fine meal of something in a bowl with rice and stuff. It was around this time I realised I was never going to get along with kimchi, which was a shame because it was severed with every meal everywhere.
Later In the afternoon we took a look at the main Seoul station - the original building now an art gallery, sitting next to its giant modern successor. Then we walked to the city wall in Naksan park. We climbed the hundreds of stairs ascending Mount Naksan at sunset, getting spectacular views of Seoul at dusk, with lights starting to come on across the city. At the top is a deceptively short viewing tower - a benefit of being built at the top of a mountain I guess - with all the usual tourist traps. It’s fascinating what tat some people which chuck money at. Walking down the other side of the mountain, we then went to check out the Banpo Bridge Rainbow Fountain. One of the many bridges crossing the mighty Han river, this gives a water cannon show day and night, with lights added in the evening. Finally we made it to the food court of a nearby mall just before it closed. One owner seemed keen to shoo us away, whereas his two companions told us to ignore him and order what we liked. A delicious bulgogi and stir-fry was enjoyed. If I thought that was exhausting, I was not prepared for the next day…
We were booked to go on a visit to the DMZ that morning, which would have meant getting up at 5am. I wasn’t really looking forward to either prospect, so was quite relieved when it was cancelled. Before we left, I got several comments about this being an “interesting time” to visit Korea, if you just read the news you would think that this was a country on red alert in every sense. However, being there while all this was going on, you go the impression people just got on with their lives, ignoring their noisy neighbour. Later we would pass through a bus station that had a TV showing coverage of the North Korean military procession, but people were far more interested in the TV that was showing a US baseball match.
As a replacement activity, Angelos suggested that we “go for a walk in a park”. Sounds good, I thought. We got the metro to the outskirts of Bukhansan National Park. An entrance was next to the station, and within minutes the city sounds had vanished and you were in the middle of nature. Entering the park itself and dining on some quality snacks including honey crisps and cappuccino Twixes, we passed a map detailing the various walks and peaks you could take one. It was at that point I realised he wanted us to climb the highest mountain in the park, and in the Seoul area in general. Baegundae stood proud at 836 metres, and I’d never climbed a mountain in my life. Willing to at least try, we set off through streams, trees and rock formations, gradually getting steeper as the journey progressed.
We passed and were overtook by various hiking parties, all kitted out to the nines in multicoloured walking gear, sticks, gloves and visors. I was left to feel very unprepared in my jeans and tshirt. It was a baking hot day and luckily I sourced some suncream from the convenience store we lunched at. The heat brought a haze that didn’t give the clearest views as we reached higher ground, but the natural beauty of our surroundings could not be faulted. The final section was labelled “expert”, and a little way into this I had to bail. The rock became more vertical and all you had was a thin metal cable to cling to, at a height where the slightest breeze felt like a gale force wind. I had no problem recovering in the shade for a while, leaving Angelos and the other experts to it. The view from where I got to was still pretty stunning. Angelos reported that there were some cats at the summit, acting like they owned the place.
Making our way down the other side of the mountain, naturally a lot easier, we made it back into the edge of Seoul. A bus and a train took us to Noksapyeong, where all the best bars were gathered. Mountain climbers deserve good beer! We sampled three pubs recommended by one of the guide books, each serving up delicious beers brewed in house. Highlights were Made in Pongdang and The Booth, the latter full of young people enjoying enormous pizzas. Maybe it was the bar scene or the US Army base situated the next street over, but this area had the most non-Korean people we’d seen so far.
Korea Blogs: Part 1 - Part 2 - Part 3 - Part 4 - Part 5
Lisbon and Porto, Portugal, March 2017
We both had holiday days to use up before the end of March, so a cheap European break was on the cards. Inspired by a Portuguese colleague and an episode of Michael Portillo’s Continental Railway Journeys, we settled on a few days in Portugal.
Our flight out was full of that modern menace - the Stag Lads. It was 7am so they were mostly docile, but that level of unnecessary posturing always makes me feel uncomfortable. The flight was short so we arrived at Lisbon in no time. Unfortunately our first interaction with the locals was a bossy metro ticket guard who forced us into buying the wrong ticket. Bit frustrating, but if we wanted to get past him we had very little choice. Lisbon has Oyster card style top up payments (called Viva) for its metro, and this integrates with most of the other means of travel around the city, which was such a convenience.
We landed at around 10am and our check-in wasn’t 2pm, so we had a few hours to explore before we could ditch our bags. We started at Martim Moniz with a view to getting on one of the famous old trams, but the queues soon put us off that. Each tiny carriage was rammed to bursting point, which looked uncomfortable, especially as we were still lugging our bags around. So we decided to follow the tracks instead and walk our way up to Castelo de Sao Jorge. Again, once up there the crowds put us off actually going inside the castle itself (a recurring theme). Instead, we made our way back down the cobbled streets to the waterfront. The city was bustling with people taking in the sights, but it never felt too crowded. You just had to turn a corner to walk down a more quiet street. It was around this time we were asked if we wanted to buy weed for the first time, to then be repeated on what felt like every third street corner. I’ve felt less hassled in the Stone Circle at Glastonbury. Apparently possession is legal out there, hence the brazen pushing.
We caught a ferry across to Cacilhas, getting a better view of the impressive Golden Gate-esque Ponte 25 de Abril. It was then a brisk climb through winding alleys up to the imposing Cristo Rei statue. The elevator to the very top was shut, but it was that windy I doubt I could have coped with it. Heights scare me at the best of times, and being on top of Massive Jesus would not have helped. Still, it was a great view of the bridge and across to the city, just a shame it was so cloudy.
It was finally check-in time, so we went to our hotel and heard the word every traveller longs to hear: “we have no record of your reservation!” Thankfully they could see we clearly had booked, and they had a spare room to give us, so it was only a brief panic. We were right next to a metro station, which is all you need in terms of quickly getting around the city. Some lines have a better train frequency than others, we were on the blue line which was one of the more regular ones.
Bags dumped, we went back for a walk under increasingly heavy skies. What started as a drizzle turned into a full on thunderstorm, so we hid in a nearby craft beer pub. It was also a hostel, so naturally it was full of Stag Lads, with all the joys they bring. It was like I’d never left York! Still, the beer was good. We went round the corner to Cervejaria da Trindade initially for a drink, but took one look at the menu and ended up staying for a meal. It was a former monastery that became a brewery, and the food was sensational. I had garlic fried prawns followed by a delicious cod/potato/scrambled egg concoction, washed down by a few pints of Sagres. Absolute heaven. I thought they were incredibly generous giving us complimentary pesto and cheese, but then they turned up included on the bill. Totally worth it, one of the best meals I have had on any holiday. It had been a very long day, so we finished up at another bar with a stein of Super Bock to see us off.
Saturday began with a bus ride to Jerónimos Monastery and a lesson that you should always check your Viva card has enough money at the start of every day. Luckily we had some change. It was a short walk down the road to the famous Torre de Belém, another attraction you can get more than enough enjoyment from outside for free rather than paying to get in. Another walk along the waterfront took us to the Padrão dos Descobrimentos monument which looked absolutely pristine, you’d never guess that it was actually built in 1960, and again no real need to pay to go up to the top.
A short train ride got us back to the city centre and to the important issue of lunch. We went to the Time Out Market which was naturally overflowing with hungry tourists. Finding a quiet corner, we had croquettes with a variety of fillings before the main event: pastel de nata from Manteigaria - the best of the best. I was in heaven. By the end of the trip I must have eaten dozens of these sweet bastards, but these ones were definitely the superior stock.
Recharged, we went for a big walk. Like I said, we don’t feel the need to pay to get into places in order to get “a nice view”, because you can so often get them for free, and a hilly city like Lisbon is no different. First we walked up steep hills to Miradouro da graça which had a glorious panoramic view of the city, and then we headed for Miradouro de São Pedro de Alcântara to get a similar vista from the opposite direction.
Over the weekend, the city was filling up with Hungarian football fans over for the qualifier. If it was England, I would have been worried, but these guys were no trouble at all. Our meal in the evening was the one place I booked in advance - Coimbra Taberna. My Portuguese colleague recommended this as the best place to see the “fado” style of singing that was advertised in many bars and restaurants. I booked the table for 7pm, and we arrived to a near empty restaurant, albeit one with most of the tables also reserved. It turns out the performances didn’t start until 10pm, so we had a little while to wait. In the meantime, we had another spectacular meal. I had a baked cheese with balsamic bread followed by fried fish with a chickpea puree. And several Super Bock. It had been another long, exhausting day, so unfortunately we didn’t have the energy to stick around for the singing. It was a shame, but also gives us something to do next time we go back. We did have time and energy for one more drink, spent in a small bar up one of the hills. A combo of Pulp, Pixies, Bowie and free wi-fi made me feel right at home. Walking back, we panicked that the metro has closed, but found out that most stations just close one of their entrances after around 9pm.
Sunday had the worst weather, and the worst hangover. Hopping over to Estação do Oriente, we boarded a high speed train to Porto in the north. The 300km journey was covered in less than three hours on one of their high speed trains - sleek, cheap and beyond comfortable. As someone who spends most of his life crawling between York and Leeds on TransPennine “Express”, I remain in deep envy of continental Europe’s approach to high speed rail travel. Still, only around 20 years until HS2 (maybe) gets to Leeds.
Arriving at Campanhã, we made the short Metro journey to our hotel at Trindade. Porto has their own top-up payment card for travel too, but as it has a much more compact city centre, we found ourselves not using transport so much. The rain wasn’t doing much to begin with, so we went for a walk through the city centre to the Ponte Luís I, designed by the same man who made the Eiffel Tower. As the showers picked up, we headed underground to one of the many cave tours showcasing the city's signature drink. Full disclosure, I don’t think I’d ever tried Port before, but our tour at the Croft Port centre won me over. Naturally my favourite turned out to be the most expensive one. It was now chucking it down, every attempt to stay indoors to dry off was ruined the moment you stepped back outside. Remembering that we’re making a half arsed attempt at vegetarianism at the moment (excluding holidays and hangovers) we went to DaTerra to sample their meat free buffet. I don’t think I’ve ever eaten so much for 9.99, there was an amazing range of dishes, naturally washed down with Super Bock.
Monday was thankfully drier, so we took in the rest of the city, stopping off at The Most Beautiful McDonalds In The World, the Jardins do Palácio de Cristal, then back along the river to see the bridge in clearer skies, before walking over the very top level to get another reminder of just how terrified of heights I am, especially when there’s a breeze on. It had been an exhausting few days of walking and drinking, so we had a few hours back at the hotel to chill, watching subtitled imports of late night US talk shows. After a quick beer to wake us up, we went on another walk up to Praça Mouzinho de Albuquerque and then back down through more side streets and shopping arcades. Passing through these retail areas and quirky architecture made me feel like I was seeing more of Porto compared to Lisbon, where we felt we were walking through tourist-aimed stores or residential areas and little in-between. Porto has a bit more character from what I experienced. Acting on another tip from our local knowledge, we headed for Lado B and “the best Francesinha in the world”. If you have never experienced this taste sensation before, it is advertised all over the city, but Lado B claim the best. I would not argue. It was another unbelievable meal, somewhere between a cheeseburger and a toastie, covered in chilli sauce and a fried egg to boot. Food was certainly the highlight of this trip, never has it stood out so much before.
Our final holiday days are usually get up, go to the airport, go home. This time, our flight wasn’t until gone 4pm, so we had most of the day to explore, bags now back on our backs. We walked up to Serralves, skipping the museum to have a tour of the gardens for only five Euros. The best weather was finally shining down on us as we walked around the beautiful grounds with sculptures, forests, ponds and immaculate lawns. It was very relaxing and near silent, you’d never believe a city was just beyond the gates. From there we walked to the beach and along the coast, stopping for lunch in a restaurant looking out to the Atlantic sending in some fierce waves. The holiday was beginning to end, but I was impressed with how much we fitted in, sights and distance wise. A short metro journey took us to the airport, and then home. I’d recommend a similar long weekend to anyone.
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