Saturday In Seoul
Trip Start
May 10, 2007
1
39
Trip End
Jun 25, 2007
Seoul,
Korea Rep.
Sunday, June 24, 2007
First things first, a shower & to Krispy Kreme for breakfast. Even though I'm having a great time with someone I used to refer to as my Miserable Brit friend whom I've barely talked to since xmas 2004, I will still be ready to go home in just under 49 hours from now!!! My travels are coming to a close, but S. Korea is finishing it all with a great bang!
10:45AM We walked to Krispy Kreme for a green tea powdered, lemon-filled donut and milk. When the HOT DONUTS NOW! sign is lit up you get 1 FREE glazed donut! Why don't they do that in the US?!
It's a gray day and will probably rain.
We took the subway to Insadon to shop at busy sidewalk shops. We watched a demo to make kkultarae, a honey, powdered sugar treat with a nutty filling. I purchased a scroll, traditional masks and a few small other souveniers. We ate chicken on a stick and watched some traditional dances while eating a pressed rice treat called ddok.
We then the bus to Jongno, then subwayed to our first "walking" tour. The Lonely Planet directions said to "take the first winding road on the left". We should have stopped right there. We looked behind some construction and saw our destination at the top of a mountain lying directly ahead of us. We worked up a good sweat while working our way up this hill into a Buddhist village in search of a temple. The incline was nearly 45° up to the top where the mountain was adorned with large boulders resembling monks. We walked along the old fortress wall to the city and then came down the mountain. I tried some green tea that tasted like grass and dirt, trying desperately to accept its' taste. We found an old gate that used to mark the entrance into the fortress. We saw an old prison where Japenese were held from over 100 years ago.
We tiredly walked along the street for a big, eating more pressed rice until we found a subway station and headed from Namdaemun to see a palace and one of the 4 entrances to Seoul. We first went down a side street and found the Namdaemun Market where I eyed an England soccer jersey, but held off on the purchase.
The Palace was interesting, but not as ornate as I had hoped. I don't really know much history of this palace, so that might have made a difference on my impression as well.
We took the subway to a communal bathhouse, called a jimjilbang. It only cost US$6. I went into the women's locker room, took off my shoes and placed them in a locker. Taking the key from the locker, I found the locker that went with the key that the receptionist gave me when she handed me some oversized pink pj's and 2 small towels. I changed into the pink t-shirt and shorts, then locked up my belongings and put the stretchy key ring around my arm. I met james back in the lobby and we went into the spa area. The main area had a t.v., mats on the floor, massage chairs for $1 and food stands. On the right were two round stone huts.. or oven because they were 60°C in one and 70°C in the other!!!! We sat in the cooler of the two sweat rooms for about 10 minutes. The floor was HOT! We were sweating profusely. We decided we could have probably taken a roast in there for dinner with us, too. There was a women doing exercise in there, too!! Crazy!!
We left the oven and went into the chill room where the walls were lined with frost-covered pipes. Maybe only 5 minutes in there before sitting in the middle room. Some people were sleeping and you actually pay to sleep there overnight. We drank a sweet, but bland, rice beverage, then sat in the massage chairs having our backs drummed and calves pulled. Such a GREAT feeling! We went back into the hotter of the two oven rooms briefly and then back into the chill room. Lastly, we laid in a dark room on hot gravel. We got the giggles and ended up laughing histerically. Maybe we were delirious.
After over an hour of relaxing, we split off back into the locker rooms. I derobed and joined a huge room of Korean women. I tried the hot tub, the cold tub and the warm massage bath before finally showering the day off. My skin was red and splotchy from laying of the gravel and switching so much from hot to cold. I was quite relaxed and tired from our day of walking/hiking, as well as from the entire trip so this is JUST what I needed!
James & I met back in the lobby and walked to a nearby sushi restaurant to have the perfect dinner to finish off the day. We hadn't eaten lunch and were famished. We split a plate for 14,000 Won of 6 sushi rolls, 16 pieces of sashimi and a delicious, thick-noodle soup.
Stuffed & sleepy, we headed back to Migeum. We stopped off at the Happy Liquor Pier Bar for a bottle of apple coktail soju. Very delicious!
We walked back to James' apartment and planned for my trip to the DMS tomorrow. I briefly checked my email and by midnight we were both asleep in out respective beds.
