My Korean Odyssey

Changdeokgung Palace and the Secret Garden When we rented Hanbok for a morning we raced around some locations to grab a few good photos without really stopping to appreciate where we were. As a consequence we hadn't really visited a palace as such. This I remedied by a guided tour of Changdeokgung and Changgyeonggung palaces, and the Secret Garden,  so called  because of its private access only to the royal family. Lovely architecture and gardens and informative guiding made this a very worthwhile morning, as early spring transitioned towards later spring. Terraces contrasted with a more modern greenhouse affair modelled on the Victorian Crystal Palace, whilst the ubiquitous rooves, elegant trees, blooming flowers and a distant view of Namsan Tower completed the vista. Itaewon memorial Manu and I managed a fleeting visit to Itaewon but I'd wanted to visit the site of the Halloween tragedy of 2022, and that part of Itaewon that is one of the more lively cosmopolitan areas than ...

Songdo As I left Manu at Incheon airport for her flight home, I briefly, as already mentioned, detoured to Paradise City, and the iconic yellow building. I also saw a food stand there prescribing GimBap (one of Manu's favourites and the equivalent of a sandwich - highly versatile on fillings but includes rice wrapped in sheets of seaweed rather than bread). Next brief stop was Songdo because I had some time to return the car and before Gangnam checkin.  Songdo was built some 20 years ago specifically to be a 21st Century, technologically advanced and fully integrated city. One example of the innovations is trash making it's way through underground suction tubes that deliver it to central recycling plants. I'm sure there's more than I was able to glean in my very short stopover, but it felt like a bit like Seoul, without the vibe. Apparently people haven't been rushing to live there, and that makes it feel a bit empty. Time will tell how Songdo evolves but miracle mo...

Accommodation My Solo 10 days were based in Gangnam. I used my 1 bed studio apartment on the 5th floor of a high rise, about 3 minutes walk from Gangnam Subway Station (당남역), as a base to explore parts of Seoul not yet explored and also revisit some of those with which I was beginning to feel a little bit more familiar.  Doorstep Shopping Rather than post in a chronological order, from hereon I'm going to post on more functional aspects, beginning with the Gangnam area itself. The subway station has a transfer between 2 lines, a north south and an east west. I suppose I'd walked between the lines and the exit nearest my apartment (Exit No 6), about a dozen times before appreciating, whilst following the signs to the exit or the platforms, that I'd never actually covered the same ground twice. By chance I came across a map that explained the reason. The montage below shows two views of Naver Map (like Google Maps but Korean, with some very clever bells and whistles). You can...

South Korea unquestionably takes pride in its culture. Even though its history is as troubled as any, it still seems able to reflect on its past in ways very different to my own experience of western culture, particularly nowadays. One way they do this is by the designation of intangible cultural heritage, which they allocate to skills and activities and artisan expertise. Perhaps we have something similar in the UK, but if we do, I haven't been touched by it. Singing is something also that pervades; not all the time but quite naturally, in different settings. I've not included a music piece for a few posts, but here is an example of a song which is part of a series of 'immortal' songs, meaning in this case, I like to think, as having enduring resonance. This song, I think it is contemporary, conveys the idea of a forward looking determination in spite of hardships, the universal idea of harbouring a positive outlook. I think you can see from the audience reaction that ...

The first two items I've already mentioned in my EK duplicate post. But I'll add some other pictures here. Suwon, and its famous Hwaesong Fortress, described as a worthwhile day trip from Seoul, was included also due to its relative proximity back to Incheon and Manu's flight on the Saturday. Thursday was therefore going to be trees and a longish drive. Friday was to tour Suwon and relocate to a near airport hotel for Manu's last night.  Ahopsan Forest Bamboo groves are this location's main draw. But the forest on the side of a mountain has been tended for generations by the same family. Whilst well tended parks and woodland, whether on public or private land, exist in UK and no doubt the world over, in the UK such places now seem to form part of polarising ideological debate rather than areas of nature to be appreciated. In UK they are too remote, too inaccessible, insufficient parking or toilets, too middle class and non-diverse, and littered. In South Korea - the...

Our road trip ran from Monday 29 April to Friday May 3. This post goes up to Wednesday evening. Monday morning started with an early run around Lotte Park and use of the outside gym just beside our apartment block.  Then there was renting a bike again to go and collect a hire car, about 6km of enjoyable integrated pedestrians / cycles / scooters and then some riverside underpasses. Arriving at my destination I then had to overcome the fact that the high-rise world means offices and garages are squirreled away on floors and in basements, with very little being a visible shopfront as we might consider it. This is still an aspect that presents many challenges. The hire car place took some searching out. Then negotiating my first taste of Seoul traffic, including its initially very scary fast bus priority lanes on the outside lane, and complex traffic light arrangements, including turning right on a red being permitted, but watch out for pedestrians, who are very disciplined. Many of t...