My second and last post about Seoul will show you a different side of the city. My previous post focused on the palaces and the old culture. This post will focus on the modern landscape and the views over the sprawling city.

Seoul City View

You might notice a bit of a pattern. Whenever I reach a city, especially if it’s one as large as Seoul, I like to climb on top of things to see the layout of the city. Before my visit to the capital, I went up the Busan Tower. Seoul has a similar tower called the N Seoul Tower in Namsan.

There are two ways to reach the tower. The first is to hike up a hill, which according to the Lonely Planet is not too difficult. I would like to beg to differ, because I took the cable car which is the second option, and to reach that you have to walk up a very steep hill which isn’t easy.

The view from the cable car alone is pretty spectacular. I was overtaken by a super enthusiastic crowd of tourists, who managed to secure the front row. What I didn’t know then but what I know now, is that the first row is crucial to get a good view. Luckily, I’m tall so I could take photographs over their heads.

After disembarking from the cable car, the first thing you’ll see is the lock madness. There are locks everywhere you look. Fences are filled to the brim with locks, and special structures have been built for even more locks.

People have taken the lock madness a bit too far. I wonder if there’s still space for new locks. Even when there’s a structure that can’t accomodate locks, people write their lover’s name on the structure itself. Madness!

The madness clears as soon as you reach the top of the 236m high N Seoul Tower. I spent around an hour walking around the 360 degree indoor viewing platform and buying cute souvenirs from the shop.

I went on the cable car during sunset so by the time I reached the top of the tower it was dark. It was a nice new perspective though, and I liked it.

Dongdaemun Design Plaza & Park

After one day of palaces & the old culture, I wanted to dedicate one half day to urban renewal. I decided to start this half day by taking the metro to Dongdaemun Design Plaza. The building is a showcase for Korean and Internation designs, inside there are galleries and art exhibitions galore.

I decided to stick to the outside and to make my way to the Dongdaemun Design Park.

In the park there are also museums, but I didn’t want to linger around too long and there was nothing that peaked my interest. Instead I made my way to the pinnacle of urban renewal in Seoul:

Cheonggyecheon Stream

A raised highway was torn down and cement roads were removed in the urban renewal project to provide more daylight to Cheonggyeocheon Stream. I started my walk down the stream near Dongdaemun Plaza and made it all the way back to the start of the stream near Gwanghwamun Square.

It’s bizarre how far removed this area seems from the city, even though it’s in the middle of city centre. People like to come here, to just relax and to get away from the hustle-and-bustle of the big city.

This is the only place in the city where I found wildlife.

Other than that, the walls of the stream are decorated with colourful art.

Near the start (or end whichever way you look at it) of the stream, there’s a waterfall and it’s much busier. If you’re looking for quiet, you’re better off walking further along the stream.

The moment you climb to the top of the stairs, you’re surrounded by big city busyness.

Gangnam

I can’t possibly wrap up my final post about Seoul without mentioning my shopping spree in Gangnam. Even though I focused more on nature and on the old culture, Seoul is a great city for shopping. There are amazing malls (COEX Mall for example), and Gangnam has a particularly nice shopping street called Garosu-Gil. This tree-lined street has many famous brand-name stores and fashion boutiques.

Conclusion

That’s all I have on Seoul for now. I had so many big plans for the city. I wanted to go to Suwon for a day to visit the UNESCO Site Hwaseong Fortress. I wanted to go to Namhansanseong. However, after two weeks of non-stop walking and exploring, I was tired. That’s why I took it somewhat easier. I still did two days of walking, but nothing too crazy.

I managed to see a lot of sights in the city and what I like most is how easy it is to escape the big city madness.

My next and last post about my trip to South Korea in September 2016 will be about the DMZ & JSA. In this post I’ll show you a little bit of North Korea.