Why Can't We Have Nice Things

Seoul Day 3, 4, 5

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Morning

So this is kind of unheard of. It's 6:45am and I'm waiting across from Gyeonggokbung Palace waiting for a bus to take me to what is hopefully the correct mountain this time. I have to wait 10 minutes! I'm honestly shocked. Of course there is a faster route via the subway but I'd have to walk a bit and transfer. Let that sink in, a ten minute wait for a bus is an extraordinary enough occurrence to warrant special mention and there's a faster route available and I'm going to the edge of the city to a literal forest in a national park.

Last night had a couple interesting batch cocktails at Pomme and chatted with random other foreign visitors and bartenders before heading off to another night of half sleep but thankfully before that stopped at a billowing cloud of streetside steam for some fantastic spicy pepper dumplings.

The accessibility of absolutely fantastic cheap food cannot be overstated. I got a dozen absolutely fantastic dumplings at a thriving city spot, got to eat them right there on the sidewalk with some delicious pickled radish for $4. My only regret was not getting another order of dumplings but I am trying to temper my natural inclination to order for two and feel compelled to eat every bite. Woe is me!

Waiting for a bus

The Right Mountain

I climbed the correct mountain! The bus ride was a pleasant pass through the city. I am constantly impressed by the random omnipresent art installations. The bus quickly packed up with other hikers, most of whom seemed to be hiking in groups.

The trail layout was well marked with difficulty levels for all ages and abilities laid out. The trail started with a modest well-paved wide road but I soon arrived at the Bukhansanseong Course.

경기 고양시 덕양구

https://naver.me/FwA3Eg7u

And given an option between a moderate difficulty and a hard difficulty course. I, of course, chose the hard course. This was a tough hike. Four kilometers nearly straight up over hard, uneven stone with the jaggedness and height requiring a lot of flexibility and strength to navigate.

The hardest parts of the course even went beyond this with steel rope cables to pull yourself up along the sheer rock face. I understood too late why so many of my fellow hikers wore gloves. Although I did see some particularly balanced folks doing without the cables, I made discretion the better part of valor on the ascent and descent. This was a real burn especially on an empty stomach, but I comported myself well, no one passed me on the way up.

Of course, the trail was immaculately maintained with incredible infrastructure. On the way up there were numerous picnic areas and stop offs. Near the top there was even an entire system of staircases to support the cables.

The view at the top was amazing. Exposed rock over forests with the entirety of Seoul laid out in a panorama below. It was also fun to see so many people picnicking and relaxing at the top on the exposed rock.

Going down was tough as well with tired legs and knees dodging the much busier traffic of folks heading up. I strongly recommend beating the heat and getting to the trail before 8am because it did get both busier and hotter the later it got.

Baegundae

Nice Things

Heading back I was able to enjoy an impromptu landscape painting exhibit in the subway tunnel. Why can't we have nice things like this?

Next up was Hongdae which is the "young people's area". A quick aside, it seems that nearly everyone in Korea is incredibly fashionable, from the old to the young. Obviously I looked and smelled like I just got off a brutal hike but even on the subway the clothes are spotless, the outfits curated and tailored, balanced and accessorized. With most of the exceptions being calculated such as Crocs and hoodie aesthetics. It definitely feels like its in the running for most stylish nation.

I did have one bad meal of forgettable fried chicken. I made a new friend and we walked down the street drinking a couple beers. Why can't we have nice things?

We ended up over at the Han River which goes through the middle of Seoul in the Mangwan Hangang Park.

[NAVER Map]

Mangwon Hangang Park

서울 마포구 마포나루길 467

https://naver.me/5MCz04Nq

It was incredibly nice. We took an elevator down from the road level to the park. The outdoor park gym not only had the usual assortment of machines but actually had benches, plates, and free weights. There were lots of bikers and walkers on dedicated paths along the river and so many kids playing on playgrounds, soccer fields, and basketball courts. People had their blankets out and were picnicking on the grass, drinking wine or enjoying portable hot pots. Even in the middle of the city it was relaxed, serene, and spotless.

We grabbed a couple more beers and enjoyed the beautiful view over Seongsam bridge at sunset as the shadows lengthened. There were also plentiful public restrooms. Why can't we have nice things?

We sat and watched the sunset and discussed the complex history of Seoul and how land had been appropriated and people forcibly relocated to build this shining city and asked the question of the Omelas.

Park

Also, had an interesting discussion of contemporary politics and the current president "K-Trump". It was very much the story of Trump's election and first term with Korean characteristics. Maybe the Eagles could sum this situation up.

Afterwards, fantastic (Korean) barbecue. The place only had three main items in the menu. Pork, thin sliced beef, and thicker beef. It clearly falls into the traveler's trope but it really was better. Very simple meal of banchan, two kinds of beef, roasted garlic and white onion but everything was perfectly flavored and delicious.

I booked a last minute Airbnb and only got one wrong address and knocked on two incorrect doors trying to figure it out. In all cases, the aggrieved residents were forgiving and helpful.

And I finally got something approaching a decent night's sleep.

Art

Waking up it was time to head to the Leeum (Rium) art museum.

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Rium Art Museum

서울 용산구 이태원로55길 60-16

https://naver.me/GUDSpPvX

But before that I stumbled into another fantastic exhibit at the PACE gallery.

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Face Gallery (it's definitely PACE)

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The exhibit Correspondence: Lee Ufan and Mark Rothko was fabulous. I don't know how you "stumble" across six Rothkos but it was incredible and Lee Ufan was an amazing find. Having only seen one of his paintings before it was fantastic and the works truly were complimentary. Sadly photography of the Rothkos was not allowed.

Lee Ufan

Next up was the Rium museum. Absolutely fantastic. Great architecture and huge. The classical celadon and classical collection has never been my cup of tea but the gold inlaid Buddhist sutras were pretty impressive.

The main exhibit by Annika Lee was fantastic. Weird biological and machine juxtapositions in many cases created through bacterial, fungal or other organic processes. An absolutely exhibit where it truly was worth watching and seeing every piece and video.

Rium 1

The basement, contained a Winchester house facade replica filled with "spooky art". To give you a sense of scale the basement contained one exhibit which was a full-sized speed climbing wall.

Rium 2

Break

Giving myself a break I stayed at a nice hotel for a change.

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Lotte City Hotel Mapo

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https://naver.me/xHnIU1Lb

The hotel was conveniently located directly above a subway stop with an enclosed mall and grocery store. So convenient! The room was nice. I had the pool to myself and there was a coin operated laundry. Just remember to bring a swimming cap (thankfully a beard cap was not required).

After a long swim and laundry break it was off to the fish market.

Fish

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Noryangjin Fish Wholesale Market

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So the absolute best thing about this fish market is that everything was alive! The tanks were clear and well-kept. This made for a better fish market experience than I've ever had in the past, it just makes sense to get things alive to ensure freshness.

The key understanding I missed too that I will definitely take with me for next time is that you can buy whatever you want at the market and take it to the restaurants to make for you.

I bought a couple live octopi and selected from the dozens of restaurants at random by looking for what was busy and getting dragged in by one when they saw my bag. I ended up at #7 by virtue of an assertive owner, a good local presence, and the omnipresent plastic covered tables.

They made quick work of my octopus, slicing it into a delicious plate of wriggling sashimi. It was delicious with sesame oil and salt. the feeling of having it move in your mouth and the little suckers still clinging to my mouth was amazing.

Next up was a giant plate of sashimi. Admittedly I could have missed this but it was rockfish, flat fish, and some type of razor fish or mackerel.

After some confused Google translate and ultimately showing my server some pictures, she ran off to the market and returned with a spoon worm. Proudly holding it by what can only be described as it's foreskin and letting the heft of the member descend in an oozing, elastic fashion in what I can only assume was a sign of quality. Then off to the kitchen with it to make up some surprisingly mild sushi which had a texture very similar to calamari or clam.

At this point I was mainly just idly sitting around being stuffed and idly watching what my fellow diners had chosen to eat, either sashimi or seafood hot pot. When I began to be plied with items. Other guests I can only assume being concerned about this ravenous, wild-eyed lonesome foreigner. First an off-duty policeman came up with something delicious wrapped in a shiso leaf and some soju.

Noryangjin

Then the loud, boisterous group of guys at the next table sent over some flower crab. That turned into soju. I bought a bottle of soju to share in turn and they invited me to sit with them. Through broken English, even more broken Korean, and Google Translate we managed to determine we were a mix of hardware, software, and product managers. After that it was flower crab in soup, flower crab claws stuffed with rice, shrimp, scallop, and they were even nice enough to give me whole abalone! Everything was delicious; Mass-Ineun! The conversation was friendly despite some Trump/Harris tension with Korean characteristics and a whiff of the tensions of the manosphere.

I got back to the hotel in one piece and even managed to get a nice, long, sobering swim in before bed.

DMZ

I slept for a change with my alarm actually needing to wake me up. Due to stupid cellphone issues I lost my route and had to run back to find WiFi but I only held up the tour by five minutes although I was the last one on.

Relations have deteriorated significantly between North and South and it was a national holiday so my experience I think differed from folks who have previously visited.

The red suspension bridge was a nice opportunity to stretch my legs and do some sprinting up the hill in a nice wooded area but was otherwise a bit touristy.

It was fun hearing about the petty back and forth between North and South. Propaganda balloons from the South. Garbage balloons from the North. World's highest flagpole spoon worm measuring competitions. Kpop and propaganda loudspeakers vs. aggressive noise. It’s also shocking how cheap it is to develop a nuclear weapon.

After that we went to the Odusan Unification Observatory. It was scenic and it was interesting seeing into North Korea.

DMZ 1

The barrenness and lack of sophistication on display was impressive. To compare the depth, sophistication, and crowd of the Southern side with the adobe homes, small farmers, and lone cyclists going down dusty unpaved roads was remarkable.

Next up, in a fitting twist was the DMZ remembrance/ theme park site. It was fun riding the gondola and seeing lovers swinging on a heart-shaped swing right next to a giant red sign pointing to an unexploded mine.

DMZ 2

Overall though, I hate tours and should probably avoid them in the future. It was rapid fire stop to stop to stop and the guide while good didn't in the group setting have the time or opportunity to really dig deep. Even if I hadn't seen as much either skipping and reading about it or trying to find a self-guided approach would have been better. But if tours are your thing it was good.

https://www.tripadvisor.com/AttractionProductReview-g294197-d14861389-Best_DMZ_Tour_Korea_from_Seoul_Red_Suspension_Bridge_Optional-Seoul.html

Leaving

Getting back to the city was fine and they were nice enough at the hotel to give me a pool pass even though I was already checked out so I got in another swim, showered and changed. And took the subway to Incheon Airport. Going to Gimpo in the future saves about an hour getting into the city but it's the same train line and at least I am flying into Haneda. For future reference, Gimpo -> Haneda is definitely the best all things being equal but it was much more expensive for me. So Incheon to Haneda is the second best. Avoiding Narita with the long commute and expensive train is often worth it.

After my initial airport struggle I didn't need much cash at all and managed to get by on about 250,000 won or about $200. I would definitely get a Naver account next time. And Google Fi provided consistent 5G or LTE when working but I sometimes needed to mess around with the network settings and let it reset itself to get back in business.

At the airport now. Ate Burger King because I am a fool. It was every bit as bad as back home.

My overall impression of Seoul is this is what you get from investing in transit, building dense cities, and really investing in your citizens, public infrastructure, and cultural soft power. And you can do all this despite being embroiled in an expensive, protracted, frozen conflict. It was nice, safe, clean, kid friendly, easy to navigate. I wish LA could have more of Seoul’s amazing qualities.

I feel like I only scratched the surface of Seoul but it was an amazing trip. Highly recommend.

Tokyo here we come!