Up Hill And Down Town

Another sunny day. We stupidly decided to take a hike according to the Lonely Planet guide for Seoul; the Inwangsan Sharmanist Hillside Walk. Getting to the Dongmimmun metro station was easy but the instructions from there were, to be honest, rubbish. A maze of apartment tower blocks met our efforts to "Walk uphill past the golf driving range and grocery shops".

After placing ourselves relative to the Seodaemun Prison - easiest place that was obvious on our map -
we plodded up a steep hill past many apartment towers and eventually came to a an even steeper path which eventually got us to the start of a narrow, stepped walking path. This lead us past some interesting traditional houses and several religious sites. We decided not to follow the path to the top of the mountain and wandered back along a path beneath the Fortress Wall. Eventually we got to the wall and followed it for about a mile until, lunch calling, we dropped down to the main road and a decent cafe.

The metro got us to City Hall station where we watched the changing of the guard at Deoksugurg Palace. Standing about in the cold wind required a a brisk walk back to the hotel.

There was a large Buddhist gathering in Seoul Plaza which is opposite the City Hall. City Hall is a magnificent mixture of old and modern architecture. The old building looks like it is about to be swamped by a breaking wave.

Dinner was excellent, especially the pork dumplings in a delicious soup.

Some Places Are A Real Pleasure

We spend most of the day at Changdeokgung Palace and the associated Secret Garden. The place is huge and the garden should be called a park. There were hundreds of people and school-loads of kids. The reconstruction of the place is impressive and doesn't detract from the majesty of the buildings and courtyards; if you can call such large open spaces courtyard and not courtfields ...

The garden, park by my legometer, looked great with some of the trees turning to autumn colours. We entered with a tour of about 50 plus but were told we could wander as we wished ... we soon lost the herd and really enjoyed the place.

The Crown Price's quarters were the last complex we visited and this by itself was very impressive.

Lunch called and we enjoyed some of the tastiest steamed and fried dumplings we had. Coffee and a quick rest then off again.

Jogyesa temple came as a delightful surprise because there was a chrysanthemum festival going on. Jeff Coons may have got his "Puppy" idea from such festivals; there were two elephants and the most amusing "Tree" which really showed how to make these types of massed planting sculptures.

Jongmyo Picture

Royal Shrine And Sunshine

We took what was the first conducted tour of any sort. It was the only way to see the Jongmyo Royal Shrine. The woman guide was excellent; not too much detail and not jabber all the time. There were about 15 in the group so it was easy to hang back and have a good look at whatever took our fancy. No yanks ... maybe that's why the people in the group were deferential and not noisy ...

The shrine complex covers quite an area so that the hour was only just enough to get a brief, but informative, look around. The grounds themselves are very pleasant and the autumn colours just beginning ... all very peaceful considering that the complex is slap bank in the middle of urban insanity.

Dinner at the same restaurant ... very tasty and almost chili free.

Most places are closed on Monday so we had a lazy day.

Sunny and Cool - Ideal Weather for Wandering

Now rain today ... it makes a change. First the coffee cafe. Suitably charged, we wandered around the arty area of Insa-dong and had the pleasure meeting some chatty young artists who were looking after their shows. The final year students' ceramic works were especially interesting since the pieces blended traditional technique with modern designs. A very interesting exhibition of traditional fabric works gave the Mem time to talk to one of the artists, a delightful woman who spoke excellent English. So much to see ... some many good pieces of work.

A few more steps took us to a narrow lane which has many eateries. We chose one that served tasty steamed dumplings and the same but sort-of squashed and fried on both sides. A pleasant lunch is a noisy little cafe.

Wandering further took us to both the National Folk Museum of Korea and the Gyeongbokgung Palace.

The Gyeongbokgung Palace is an extensive site with confusion of buildings. The place was founded in 1395 and has a bewildering history of destruction and rebuilding. We spent a few hours in-and-out, in-and-out and yet more in-and-out of this building and another. Each one spectacular ...

Eventually we heard music and what sounded like a dramatic performance ... it, naturally, was in Korean so we had no idea what was going on. It turned out to be a reenactment of  the Palace Guard Inspection Ceremony which takes place in October every year. Very colourful. We just caught the last 15 mins.

Dogs were beginning to bark so that we knew it was time to find more coffee. Refreshed we went on to look at more art shows. Inevitably wandering back to the hotel brought us to some sort of folk performance; drumming and "dancing". Colourful and noisy would not do the performance justice.

Dinner was a delicious meal, unsullied by mouth scorching chili; bibimbap and bulgogi with a meso-like soup. We recommend this if you visit Korea and can't take lashings of chili. We've found that the best of chili cooling drinks is that old favorite ... beer.

Fire In The Hole!

Time for dinner. The local area is typical. More food per square whatever than you can poke a chopstick at. The weather was soaking so we wandered little and settled for a cafe that seemed to be popular with uni students rather than old men. I pointed to a picture that looked like vegetables and rice with some sort of meat. As seems usual, a small plate of pickles and the compulsory kimchi was placed on the table. Kimchi being the traditional chili-pickled cabbage; not bad once you get over the smell.

The meal was served piping hot on a sizzling cast iron plate; rice and ...? A small taste  and ... "Fire In The Hole!! Chili and chili and yet more chili ...

We passed it in and had a delicious tonkatsu ...

Beer seems to be the only thing to drink which calms the chili seared tissues.

Where Do You Get The Ferry?

This morning we were entertained by pouring rain. Paths like steams and in danger of being washed away by great gouts of water from passing traffic. Not to be put off by such inclemency, we donned out wet gear and strode forth into the waterfall. Everyone else abroad seemed to be intent on poking at least one eye out of the nearest individual with a prong of their umbrella. We strode on, our heads doing a fine impression of a Kung Fu expert ... missing this and blocking that pronged attack.

After a brief duck underground we surface at the door of probably that biggest book store we've seen. A sign from the immortals showed the way to the stores' coffee shop. We paid homage to the immortals and bought a Korean-English dictionary ... more of that later.

Onwards unbowed by the maelstrom, we continued the expedition into the unknown. The Lotte department store loomed through the downpour. With the promise of an extensive food court and supermarket our spirits soared. In we went and dis-waterproofed. Down in the basement we found "The El Dorado of Gastronomic Delights". OMG! Slaveringly magnificent! Where, oh where, to begin? The sight was so delicious that I almost had heartburn of the eyes!

We wanted some dried fruit for the most mundane of  reasons that only a hardened traveller can understand. This is where the point-at-the-book language technique come into it's own. Smile at the woman ... point at the words "dried" and "fruit" ... wait for a reaction. After a short time she took use to three charming young women, one of which produced her iPhone-thingy. I typed "dried fruit". Bingo! All of us understood. She pointed, we selected and paid. Problem solved ... bowels no doubt will smile in appreciation in due course ...

To lunch and don't spare the chopsticks! What to eat? After  several circuits through and around the many options, we settled down to an excellent lunch. The place buzzed with folk enjoying themselves. Totally brilliant ...

Re-waterproofing we returned to the downpour and wandered our way back to the hotel just to get completely dry.

Its mid-afternoon as I type ... its still hissing down!

JAL Does It Again ... It's Good For The Soul

Up at 5.30 AM ... not what we're fond of doing. Shuttle to Narita airport and off to Seoul for lunch. The flight? What can I say other than it was JAL? Excellent Japanese lunch on the flight:

Flying Fish Roe and Japanese Hornwort, Egg Thread, Pickled Ginger and Sakura Rice.
Flower Shaped Meat Dumpling
Simmered Taro Potato and Carrot
Marinated Komatsuna
Egg Omelette
Grilled Jack Mackerel
Five Coloured Pickles
Puff Pastry with Vanilla Cream

Washed down with an excellent Japanese malt beer.

The train/tube from Incheon airport took about 1 hour to get us to Jongno-sam-ga with a change at Gongdeok. Surprisingly, there are no lifts; only stairs. That was a bit of a struggle for two old crinklies. There seemed to be many down-and-outs (D-A-Os) ... maybe just oldies ... hanging about in the subway station at Jongno-sam-ga. One good thing is there is no ticket litter because you get the ticket with a refund once you put the ticket into the machine after travelling.

I got us a bit lost - went too far down the street. A friendly shopkeeper put us right and we found the Amare Hotel Jongno with little trouble. The room is all high-tech: two, yes two, computers plus WiFi, a huge plasma TV with G knows how many channels, air-con, sound system (I'll be leaving that off), monster sized spa-bath, several remote controls that switch-adjust everything except the all-singing-and-dancing loo.

The local street is very busy with food stalls as well as loads of restaurants - and loads of  D-A-Os.

Looks like we'll be exploring ...

Wandering Sakura

We took the train to Sakura and visited the National Museum of Japanese History. The building is a sculpture set in manicured grounds; modern architecture unafraid of using minimalist design and modern materials. We particularly liked Gallery 1 which had exhibits from Paleolithic age to the time of the Nara court in the eighth century. You would need hours to view all of the museum because it is vast in content. An Englich audio guid is available free - we didn't else we would still be there!

Lunch at a modern Japanese fast-food restaurant proved to be very tasty and coffee kept the energy levels sufficient for wandering about town gawking at buildings and the odd temple.

Back at the U-City Narita we started to re-pack for tomorrows travels ... once we were fortified by an excellent beer ..

Sleep ... Not Until Bed Time

The flight from LHR to Narita was excellent. Especially since, unusually, I slept for 8 hours after the dinner was served. Maybe it was the two double G and T's plus a belt of sake ...

The U-City hotel Narita is as pleasant as ever and ideally located ... the shuttle service makes for an easy transfer from the airport.

We wandered down to the main temple complex and gardens in warming sunshine. What a change from the pouring rain that greeted us at the airport.

Keeping awake seems to be the main problem after the 12 hour flight but, a couple of coffees seems to help ... plus a steady wandering pace from place to place. No doubt we'll be time-adjusted tonight.

The Art Of Waiting

Some folk think that it's all go when you travel. We'l no. It's a waiting game. Today was one of those when the only thing to do is drink tea, coffee or sparking water sopped up by the intermittent application of sandwiches, bagels and small meals of dubious parentage. The inevitable outcome is an intimate exploration of various plumbing facilities available at the time. Now you might think that travelling business or first class changes these activities ... not the case. The exorbitant price of those tickets include a regular supply alcohol and more exotic feeds but, the inevitable plumbing experience is the same.

So there you are ... exciting ... annoying ... essential ... so my advice? Don't travel if you haven't mastered "The Art of Waiting"

Change, Change, Change

We're all packed and stored  ... and knackered by the effort. It's of to the Premier Inn tomorrow and then down to Heathrow Premier Inn for a night-over rest ... rest? Er, sort of until we fly out to Narita on Monday. Fingers crossed as always.

A few days there will get us over the jet-lag and allow us to re-visit places we know and like in the area.

Then? ... let's leave that till it's time to tell ...

Countdown Begins

Here we are at the last week of  Sunny Sheffield. A week of packing and "we should have visited". All has been well worth the time, effort and spondulicks. Where to next ... well stay tuned and find out!