10 day break in Seoul

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On our first day we had a rest and chilled out in Mark's flat, which was quite cool because we could watch some crap amercian tv. We had some food and then decided to head out for a bit and explore. We visited the City Hall near the centre and we visited Deoksugung Palace, it was really eerie walking around the city because it was a national holiday, apparently lots of people go home (those at uni or who come here just to work) so it tends to feel a lot emptier. At the palace there were some kids playing 'keepy-uppy'  and Jamie joined in and some kids clapped and they seemed impressed but he wasn't sure if they were taking the piss!

Balloon near City Hall
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The next day Mark took us on a tour of Seoul. We visited Sungnyemun gate, Gyeongbokung Palace and walked through Namdaemun Market which was quite deserted, apparently not as busy as it usually is. We ate in a traditional korean restaurant and tried 'kimchi' which is a speciality and is spicy cabbage. You get lots of small dishes, it's a bit like tapas (but a lot spicier!). Jamie chose a beef dish which he was well impressed with and we also got a seafood pancake.

Nice & Modern, lots to see and good bars!

Bev at fountain
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We decided to visit the football stadium which Jamie was disappointed with because he couldn't go inside and the ticket booths weren't open so a game didn't seem to be on very soon. There is a big park at the stadium and a big shopping mall. On the way we had a go and street exercise machines (see photos!) which were good fun! We met Mark for dinner and then went out for some drinks till the early hours which was great fun especially with Mark's american friend Jason, who was hilarious. We tried some 'monkey balls' which were not hairy at all! (Don't worry- it's a kind of shot)

Deoksugung Palace
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We headed to the National Park (Bukhansan) which was an early start (well, we got the bus at 9.30 and had to eat so it kind of was). We met Mark at his uni and then headed up there. It was a lot steeper than I thought and I found it quite hard especially because I was wearing stupid shoes!! Not only that but I am the biggest wimp ever and got really anxious when we started to come down. But then again the koreans did wear hiking boots and had sticks so I think I did quite well! We saw some amazing views of Seoul, the highest point we reached was about 500m which was good I thought, although we felt like we were a lot higher. We went for dinner at a Steakhouse which was so yummy, the best food we had in ages, sorry to say it but it was nice to have some chips and Jamie was well pleased with his steak. It also made a really nice change, no rice!

Seoul Gate
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After breakfast (of egg and soldiers!) we got the train to Chandeokgung Palace and Secret Garden. We arrived just in time for the english tour, the only annoying thing was our group was full of americans and they kept talking over the tour lady which became quite irritating. It was good that we could have an explanation about the different buildings but not so good that the other people in the tour get in the way when you are trying to take a photo and you feel a bit rushed because you can't look around at your own leisure. The secret garden looked beautiful which we wanted to see more of but there wasn't time, which was a shame.

View of Seoul from Palace
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The next day we visited the 'Korean Folk Village'. We unfortunately missed the shuttle bus by a few minutes and ended up getting the public bus there (which took a little longer) but we still got there in good time. We watched a traditional korean wedding and then watched the people performing whilst riding a horse which was quite impressive. The traditional houses were interesting as was the display of old tools. I had a 'buttercorn' which was horrible (think it was cooked in butter but ended up tasting of rubber!). The funny thing was all the children kept saying 'hello' to us and when we replied they would giggle to their friends, this happened all day!

Deoksugung Palace
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We headed to Insadong the following day and were in Jongno, which is a lovely street to walk down with food stalls and jewellery stalls. We had dinner in a place called 'Han's Deli' and I ordered a veg cutlet (thinking they would be like the veggie ones you get in India) and it had meat it in! My own stupid fault because I should have checked, Jamie was well pleased because he had 2 dinners!

The next day we were to fly to Bangkok so had to frantically pack our stuff and try and tidy up Mark's flat a little for his return. The only thing with Korea was the lack of veggie food which left me fed up with seafood and longing for tofu.