2/28 Seoul

2/28/2013: Feeling guilty about wasting a day in Seoul by just working in my hotel room, I decided I needed to go big the following day. I've been feeling a little burned out on the touristy stuff (palaces, temples, etc.) and I also felt like I needed a break from huge crowded cities. I had read earlier that there is a fortress wall that surrounds Seoul, and that all of it could be hiked, 18.2 km in total. Myung-Lan and Eun-Huye had recommended the northern section of the wall, where I think it is actually in a national park that borders the northern side of Seoul. I grabbed a bagel and coffee from one of the 800 coffee shops near my hotel and hopped on the subway back towards Anguk station, where I had spent the 26th at the palace. I was walking right past the tourist information center so I stopped in to say hi to my Korean lady friends but only Myung-Lan was there (the one with limited English) so I didn't stay for long. I showed Myung-Lan the route I was planning on doing and she estimated it would take 5 hours, but I thought that was pretty conservative (I think I ended up hiking along the wall for 3 hours).

The history of the wall goes back to the late 1300s, and it was improved throughout the years into the 1700s. The info pamphlet states, "The Seoul Fortress Wall was originally designed to protect the capital, but during the Imjin Waeran (Japanese Invasions), the wall didn't fulfill its rightful function." In reality, though, the Japanese didn't really destroy much of the wall - modernization just led to the removal of sections. Seoul is now in the process of rebuilding the various parts that were removed. The wall supposedly connects the four mountains that guard the city. My plan was start at the northernmost section, then follow it west and then south and back into Seoul.

I kept walking north to the park entrance and must have missed a turn because I ended up intersecting the wall farther east than I had intended. By the time I met up with the wall I had already climbed a decent amount out of the city. There were a number of little exercise "machines" along the way, just like the ones we saw all over China. And just like in China there were tons of elderly people getting after it. I hiked west alongside the fortress wall and eventually hit the entrance gate (Sukjeongmun) to the main section. I had to provide my passport and contact info, and they gave me a tag. This area is an active military zone, so it was strict about where I could and couldn't go, and I could only take photographs in designated areas. I embarked from the check-point and it quickly became apparent that it was definitely an active military area. I was never out of sight from someone. There were a lot of young men in all-black clothes with radios just manning their stations along the wall, and then there were also guys in fatigues with big assault rifles and helmets that were keeping watch from various points along the wall. It's hard to feel relaxed in nature when you know you are being watched by men with big guns. At every spot where there was a nice view, there was a sign that said "No Photo." I decided it wasn't worth taking the risk and sneaking in a photo of the   view of the Seoul skyline. This particular section of the wall goes up and over Mt. Bugaksan, so it was a significant climb up a lot of stairs. The forecast high for the day was around 55 deg F, and the sun was sort of shining through the haze/pollution, so I was sweating pretty hard by the time I reached the top. Finally at the top we were allowed to take some photos of the surrounding mountains and the Seoul skyline. After descending from the top to Changuimin Gate, I returned my badge and "checked out." The wall continues south to Inwangsan Mountain, which about the same height as Bugaksan Mountain. I climbed to the top of that mountain and had a nice view at the top where I was allowed to take pictures. I descended towards the south and ended up in the western part of the city. I meandered through some alleys and saw some interesting old houses before finding my way into the more modern section with skyscrapers and offices.

I grabbed some lunch in an underground shopping area where I had some Korean pizza (more like a pancake with veggies and squid and other seafood that I couldn't recognize). The owner was a nice guy who lived in NYC for a few years and spoke pretty good English.

I kept heading east back into the city and found the main street that runs north-south and leads straight into Gyeongbokgung Palace. I saw the "changing of the guard" at the palace entrance and then spent some time in the "palace museum" but most of it was in Korean so I couldn't make sense of most of the exhibits. I wandered back south and stopped in a bookstore in a subway station and found a Lonely Planet book about Seoul. It recommended "Craftworks" as one of the best places to get a beer in the city, so I decided I'd try to find it. I kept wandering south-eastish, was side-tracked for about 30 minutes by a display on one of the streets about the Korean war which was really touching, and continued through a big market where apparently Korean girls make their boyfriends go to carry their purses while they shop. At this point the sun was starting to go down and I didn't really know where I was in the city, and I didn't know where Craftworks was either really, so I figured I'd try to find some WiFi and regroup with some coffee. I picked one of the many coffee shops and went inside to order. The owner was a nice woman that had studied English literature in college and spoke really good English. She said that she was the first person in the neighborhood to open a coffee shop, which was around 2008, and since then she says 16 more have opened. She was excited because Hailey Loren was coming to town and doing a signing session at her coffee shop. Hailey Loren is supposedly a popular American singer/songwriter that has a large following in Japan and is becoming popular in Korea. "We love her because she has beautiful voice and is also very beautiful!" I hadn't heard of her, which was surprising. She told me to watch her on YouTube. She was excited to have met me and gave me some of her homemade soap as a gift, and I continued on with the new plan to just take the subway because I was tired and nowhere close to Craftworks.

I finally found Craftworks around 7:30 and discovered that it was extremely popular and that it was in the "foreigner" neighborhood, so everyone was white. There were no spots at the bar, so I went to another bar nearby where I was not warmly welcomed by the Korean couple running it  ("you know there's an American bar close to here…too many Americans!"), but they warmed up after I wowed them with my 2 Korean phrases. I had a beer and they gave me some edamame for snacking. I finished my beer and tried Craftworks again but it was even busier, so I went to another bar nearby called "Concorde." It, too, had only white people in it, but it was less busy. I sat at the bar and asked the Korean girl behind the bar if they did "bombs" (as described by Eun-Huye) but she said they don't do that there, so I had a Rogue Dead-Guy Ale. I talked to MJ pretty much the whole time (things were slow). She had been to America and loved it and is applying to school in Portland to get her MFA. She told me I had to go to some clubs while in Seoul, but I was carrying my backpack and was pretty tired from all the walking, so I hopped on the subway and found my way back to my hotel as it started to rain.