Seoul Searching!

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Sorry for being MIA lately...I had to go back to Wonju because it's time for my new semester at work to begin. ㅠㅠ So let's get started shall we? I'm gonna give you a few locations that I think tourists should go check out. It's typical tour book stuff but you get my amusing commentary and pictures instead :)

Biking the Han River


The place I usually go to rent bikes that is close to Hongdae is Yeouido Han River Park. It's a very big park and if you come out of the subway towards the exit for the park then just go across the park towards the river. Make sure you look at the map. The bike rental place is by exit 10 of the park. You need to go down towards the river. I don't have a picture but once you look at the map you'll know what I'm talking about.

Rental Fee:
Single Bike: 3000 Won per hour/500 Won per additional 15 min.
Tandem Bike: 6000 Won per hour/500 Won per additional 15 min. (I think that's correct...I never rent the tandem for more than an hour)

Cherry Blossoms in Yeouido (it rained this year)
Usually you have to give them an ID card or something to hold on to when renting the bikes. The gears feel like butter because you can't change the gears on the bike. It is such an easy ride it doesn't feel like you're doing anything except balancing. I think it's a really fun thing to do because you get to see a lot of Seoul along the river. If you start in Yeouido you can see the green parliament building (National Assembly) and the 63 building too. I haven't been to the 63 building yet but it's supposed to be one of those places to see. Oh...if you happen to come to Korea in the spring around late March or early April, you must go to Yeouido because they have a whole street lined with cherry blossom trees and it's amazing. It is so beautiful and definitely a must see. However there are other parts of Korea that have amazing cherry blossom trees as well, I just have yet to go there.

Jamsil location

Same bike at Jamsil location
There are many other bike rental locations along the Han River. If you find yourself on the other side of town in the Gangnam area, you can rent bikes at the Jamsil Han River park. Same prices and similar bikes. Here's a website for the subway. If you're at JK House and you want to go to Yeouido, depending on how many people are with you, you might be better off taking a taxi there. However if you don't want to take a cab, you can take Subway line 2 (green line) to Dangsan and from there take Subway line 9 (beige line) to Yeouido.

Namsan (Seoul) Tower

 Namsan Tower is really pretty at night. I've been there twice. The first time I took the cable car up and the bus down. The second time, we took the stairs straight up. It was the really LONG way but it was pretty cool. It was very challenging and it felt like the stairs would never end but finally...we were there. Oh if you're prone to attract mosquitoes and you're here in the summer, don't forget to bring some OFF! because on my way up I got bit 3 times. It's also very hot and humid in the summer so be prepared to sweat. I had to change shirts by the time I got to the top.
For hopeless romantics: Namsan Tower has an area where you can buy locks and personalize them. You can write your love letters and express your undying love for each other and then lock them to the chain fences they have there. I found there was an area in Paris that has the same thing! I wonder who came up with the idea...^^ 

Directions: 
Take the bus:
* Bus 02 or 05: Chungmuro Station (Subway Lines 3 & 4), Exit 2 or Dongguk University Station (Subway Line 3), Exit 6 
* Bus 03: Itaewon Station (Subway Line 6), Exit 4 or Hangangjin Station (Subway Line 6), Exit 2  
From JK House: Take Subway Line 2 (Green Line) to Hapjeong (one stop away) and transfer to Line 6 (Brown line) Take Line 6 to Itaewon or Hangangjin Station.

(2) Cable Car:
* Directions to the Namsan Cable Car
1) Myeongdong Station (Subway Line 4), Exit 3 / Take road to the right of Pacific Hotel and walk for 10min 
2) From Hoehyeon Intersection (Myeongdong & Hoehyeon stations, Subway Line 4) walk towards Namsan Tunnel #3 and take the free Namsan Oreumi elevator to the cable car station. 

Noryangjin Fish Market

Do you like raw fish? If you do this is the place for you. It's got live octopus and a whole array of fresh fish that will have some people excited and others feeling a bit queasy. This place is open 24 hours to satisfy your seafood needs. 

Directions:

From JK House: 
Take Line 2 (Green line) towards Dangsan.
Transfer to Line 9 (Beige line) towards Noryangjin station. Get off and take exit one. 
There is a bridge for you to cross and then you walk down the stairs into the fish market. By this time you should be able to smell it... If you couldn't tell I'm not a big fan of fish...or seafood so I have a bit of a bias. The only reason I went is because my sister wanted to try the raw octopus. (Don't go during the summer, it's really expensive because it's out of season!!) For foreigners who like weird foods, you should definitely give the live octopus a try. It really squirms in front of you. They give you wooden chopsticks to eat them with because otherwise it will just stick to the metal ones.

Here are just 3 of many places you should go check out when you find yourself in Seoul. I have a few more posts lined up so enjoy for now! ^^ Till next time...


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1 comments

  1. ShaimaaHISeptember 4, 2012 at 2:30 AM

    riding a bike .. of course is the first thing the one should consider on visiting Korea

    It really intresting .. I have did a search for the Han river before and I found that intersting site for any visitor to look at

    http://m.hangang.seoul.go.kr/main/index-en.html

    hope to go for that bicycle tour on a cherry blossom trees season.

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