A City Beaneath The City N Respect For Others
Trip Start
Dec 01, 1999
1
66
103
Trip End
Aug 31, 2000
Loading Map
Seoul,
Korea Rep.
Monday, March 13, 2000
WOW!
I now sit Seoul City in South Korea!
Unbelievable!
I'm actually using a computer in a computer shop as I haven't been able to find any internet cafes. I came in here to ask if anyone knew where to find a net bar but they told me to use this computer instead.
Cool!
The funniest thing happened at the airport in Tokyo. I spent most of the day there as I wanted to catch up on my diaries and give my feet one last rest day. So there I was in the airport for most of the day and when it came time to check in I fell asleep and was woken by the sound of my name being called over the loud speaker.
I looked at my watch and after saying 'Holifark' I ran to check in.
It wasn't as bad as I thought as I was near the check in counter and they knew it had to be me as I had been there for many hours and one of the girls was just about to come and wake me up if the speaker didn't.
Could anyone else but me be late for a flight they had been at the airport for many hours prior to!
The flight from Tokyo to Seoul was smooth and seemed to be over not long after it began. The stewardesses were totally gorgeous and if they are what Korean girls are like then I'm going to be a happy boy! When we reached Seoul airport I was very surprised at the lack of security for an international flight.
Basically grabbed my bag, changed some money and straight out the door.
In the foyer I rang a few hostels and found them all full. As the airport was closing the security was doing their best to make it known that I had to leave NOW! I thought I'd pretend to play the dumb foreigner for just a few more minutes and rang one more hostel which thankfully had a bed for me.
So I headed down into the subway and thought I'd make my way to Seoul Station.
On the train a lovely Korean lady came to sit with me and we started to chat about Seoul and where I was from etc. I found out she was a Missionary here in Seoul and she gave me her phone number just in case I got into any trouble. How sweet some people are! Oh yeah, how clean are the trains here in Seoul! The seats are even warmed. Try doing to a Melbourne train and it would be demolished right away! At Seoul station my friend explained the subway to me and I then changed trains and made my way to Kwanghwamun Station.
Here is where the fun began!
The guy on the phone had given me some instructions but as the airport security was doing their best to usher me out I didn't get as many as I obviously needed. After leaving the subway I began following the instructions and no matter what I did or where I went I couldn't find the Yoinsuk (Hostel). I then asked a group of guys if they could help me, none of them could speak English but they were happy to help after I showed them the Hostel address.
They obviously didn't know where it was either as after telling me to stay put they all rain off in different directions. It was so funny and like a scene out of a movie.
A few came back saying No No and then run off again. Another couple returned saying No No and finally after about forty minutes of this one of them had the bright idea of ringing the hostel which is what I asked them to do in the beginning. I couldn't stop laughing when we found out it was down a laneway that was about twenty meters away from us.
No one had thought of running down there either!
When I arrived it was pretty late but thankfully there were still people up watching TV so after dropping my pack on my bed I joined what was obviously most of the people from my little dorm. It is cold, actually a lot colder than Japan. One great thing though is the floor of every room is actually heated. It is such a great idea and there is no chill in the air at all.
This morning when I woke I joined a group of people in the sitting area outside my dorm.
It seems everyone here is Japanese except my self and Francesca from Switzerland. We met over a bowl of noodles and got along great. She spent three months travelling across Russia and travels with only a sleeping bag and a change of clothes.
WOW!
Now that's traveling.
Even though I would like to travel lighter I don't think I could travel that light!
We have spent most of the day walking around the city and a heap of little back streets. It seems she loves walking as much as I do and also has a huge love of finding little back streets and alleyways just like me. It always makes me so happy to find people who have a huge love of walking and exploring and not busing and taxing.
We didn't bother with lunch as we have spent most of the day snacking on all the sidewalk snacks.
One thing both Francesca and I have noticed is that no one stares at us. I explained to her about the STARING in Vietnam, China and Japan (especially in China where half the time you feel like an escaped circus freak!). So part of the fun we had today was to try and find someone who was staring at us. Once we began searching for them we actually found quite a few but unless you search for it you don't notice it.
Another strange thing is the Koreans are actually considerate of everyone around them!
There is no yelling, spitting, litter, grafitti etc and I thought Japan and its people were beautiful and clean. Another thing that Francesca noticed was that they don't yell into their mobile phones and like us back home it seems they actually don't want anyone to listen to their call.
Privacy, they actually respect privacy!
It seems Seoul (as I can see so far anyhow) is a mixture of both China and Japan. At nights the streets are full of glitzy, flashing and colourful neon lights. There seems to be a lot of technology here but like China the streets are lined with little stalls. Some stalls are food stalls and others are nick knack stalls from which a family will live off the sale of what ever they can sell.
The roads are bloody huge mate!
Seriously, they have so many lanes in them, I'm sure they would be eight or so lanes wide in the middle of the city! Unbelievable! Oh yeah, it also seems that there is an entire city beneath Seoul. On most roads you don't actually cross the road, you go beneath the road using the underpass.
BUT!
This is more than just an underpass.
Under the road you will find supermarkets, clothes stores, food stores etc and this continues for several city blocks. The first one I came across I thought that it was a special underpass and then the next was the same and then the next and the next and the next.
What a fantastic idea.
Why doesn't every city have another city beneath it!
Anyhow, that's it for now.
I'm here, I'm happy and most of all I am safe!
Tonight we are of for a traditional Korean dinner with some of the Japanese guys whom are leaving tomorrow.
Man I love travelling, there really isn't anything like it in the world!
Beers N Cheers toya.....shane
Accommodation:
Inn Daewo
26 Tongju - Dong
Chongnu - Gu
KWANGHWAMUN AREA
Ph: 735 7891
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The soundtrack to this entry was a totally awesome band from the 80's
The band was The Pretenders
The album was 'Retro Night Romance'
