Nearly Neutral Travel

After a week in Seoul, it was time to get out of the city and explore a different side of South Korea. The doors of our express bus to Sokcho closed with military precision one minute before our scheduled departure and then we pulled away just as the clock ticked over – we still can’t get over how precise and efficient this country is! We had so much legroom that I could barely reach to kick the divider between us and the driver (probably for the best…) so it was a very comfortable journey. Oli was fast asleep before we’d even left the bus station and then later enquired whether I’d had a nice nap as he noticed I “fell asleep quite quickly”. Huh!

When we reached Sokcho, we transferred onto a local bus (after missing one because we were faffing, obviously) and made our way to Seorak-dong, the small town near the entrance to Seoraksan National Park.

We’d read that in season, this was a lively small town complete with a selection of karaoke bars (I’m determined to get Oli into one by the end of our month here). However, we were prepared for it to be a bit of a ghost town in late November, which was lucky because it really was dead – we saw no one else out on foot at all. Our hotel was eerily quiet – we’re still not sure if anyone else was staying there – and there were no open restaurants nearby. Thankfully, Korean convenience stores are totally amazing and we completed a supermarket sweep at the neighbouring 7-11, which did us very nicely for dinner.

The next morning was bright, clear and very cold, with a forecast daily high of -1°c. The views were already pretty spectacular as we walked along the road towards the entrance of the national park and we were excited about the day ahead.

On our way into the park, we passed through an ornate entrance gate with a banner that paid tribute to the victims of the Halloween crush in Itaewon. We also saw a bronze statue of Buddha that formed part of the Sinheungsa Temple and a bear statue. This seemed to be a popular point for photos, so we joined in briefly, before getting down to the more important business of shopping for makgeolli (milky-coloured rice wine), which we’d read was an essential component of Korean hiking.

As we started our hike, we passed by the main Sinheungsa Temple complex and very nearly didn’t go in, as we were keen to get going (in typical style, it wasn’t exactly an early start). I’m so glad we did as it was stunning – while the decoration was similar to some of the palaces and temples we visited in Seoul, the dramatic setting was something else.

We wandered amongst the buildings and peeked into the interiors, marvelling at the ornate decoration and enjoying the tranquil atmosphere. It wasn’t until we were on our way out that we noticed the Four Heavenly Kings holding a lute, sword, dragon and pagoda (photos 4 & 5), who had been watching over us from inside the entrance gate. I have no idea how we missed them on the way in, as they were enormous and very brightly coloured.

Finally, it was time to begin what had been described as a short but strenuous hike up to Ulsanbawi (873 m), a series of six rocky outcrops at the summit of Seoraksan Mountain.

Actually, it was a pretty gentle uphill stroll alongside the river for the first half-hour or so, before abruptly transforming into rough rocky steps that led steeply upwards through trees and only got steeper the further we went. It was pretty hard work! In the final stretch, when we were climbing the granite cliff itself, we followed a metal staircase that was bolted into the rocks and I just tried not to look down (having developed a recent fear of heights that I’m doing my best to ignore).

When we reached the summit, the views of the national park and all the way down to Sokcho and the East Sea were absolutely spectacular – we’d certainly chosen a good day to come. It was also incredibly cold, with an utterly freezing wind lashing the rocks (and us). We suddenly understood why no one else had stayed at the top very long – we’d seen lots of people descending already and had been wondering why.

Apparently on old maps, the area was marked as Cheonhusan (wailing sky mountain) because of the sound the wind makes when whistling around the peaks. It certainly did make a racket! We heard sounds like the noise you can make blowing on the top of a bottle, interspersed with booming thunder-like roars. Ice sat in deep, round pools that had been formed by erosion of the rock.

In what felt like a very British moment, we determinedly ate our lunch of gimbap at the peak while cowering behind a rock that provided very little shelter from the freezing wind. We had decided to have our picnic at the top, so we weren’t giving up even though it was far too cold to enjoy it properly!

Next, in what felt like a very Korean moment, we drank some of our corn-flavoured makgeolli, since we’d read this was the thing to do while hiking. The strong smell of yeast emanating from my backpack reminded us that it was there, at which point we realised it had been leaking. Whoops! It was sweet, tangy, chalky and slightly carbonated, and went down very well. We were too cold to stay for more than one hurried cup at the peak, but we stopped for two more on the way down and it helped us warm up considerably! The steep stairs and rocks got mysteriously more difficult to negotiate, though.

On our way down, we took a pit stop at Heundeul Bawi to check out the huge boulder perched on the edge of a ledge – apparently it’s possible for a small group of people to rock it back and forth. Between the two of us, we couldn’t make it move at all, which was probably for the best. We were irrationally nervous about being the people who finally sent it tumbling down the mountainside!

Nearby was Gyejoam Temple, which was partly set into a cave in the rock. Every available rocky surface around the temple was covered in small statues of Buddha, and people had perched coins on tiny crevices in the rock. Buddhist chanting echoed around the whole area, which was so atmospheric. Next to Heundel Bawi (the boulder) was a flat expanse of rock covered in engraved characters. We assumed these were religious messages, but sadly our Google Translate wouldn’t work on the engravings so we don’t know for sure.

Our final stop of the day was at one of the cafes near the park gate, where we had a hot chocolate to warm up after our chilly day outside. This concluded our time in Seoraksan, and the next day we headed south to the city of Gangneung.

As Sara mentioned, the food in Korea is incredible, and you don’t even have to look very hard to find it. On top of that, Seoul feels so big that even if you had a few years to eat your way around the city, I bet the food scene would have moved on and there would be a whole new set of dishes to try. Still, we did our best to do Seoul’s food culture justice during our six-night stay. This post recounts our favourite meals and snacks, half of which unsurprisingly came from market stalls.

Myeongdong market

On our first night in Myeongdong we couldn’t help but end the day at its famous night market. While the pandemic has clearly had an effect on the number of stalls, the market is starting to grow back as tourists return to the city. We happily grazed our way along the two busy streets, stopping to try whatever took our fancy amid the sensory overload of light and sound from the surrounding shops.

The foods that surprised us the most were also the simplest. The tornado potato was not just impressive to the eye, but it was also beautifully crispy and rolled in a salty barbecue rub. I also enjoyed the Dalgona (a patterned cookie made from only baking soda and sugar) way more than I had expected – it was essentially a thin piece of honeycomb, and I’m glad it was the last thing we tried as it took about 20 minutes to detach the sugary glue from my teeth.

Myeongdong Kyoja

The following morning we stumbled out of our Airbnb for lunch after watching a late-night World Cup game. We’d heard that the dumplings at Myeongdong Kyoja were good enough to justify the queue, and sure enough a line had formed down the stairs by the time we arrived. Still, it moved quickly, and it wasn’t long before we were sitting in front of a steaming bowl of kalguksu (noodles in a meat and dumpling broth) and a basket of mandu (meat dumplings), accompanied by the obligatory kimchi (fermented cabbage). I think this meal epitomised Seoul in that it was both on our doorstep, and according to Sara was “everything I’d dreamed of” when we were planning this trip.

Chimaek (fried chicken and beer)

Fried chicken and beer has skyrocketed in popularity since South Korea jointly hosted the World Cup in 2002, to the point where the combo now has its own Wikipedia page. I’d raved to Sara about the raucous crowds I’d seen enjoying Friday-night Chimaek on a previous visit to Seoul, but the restaurant we ended up at was somewhat lacking in atmosphere. Still, the chicken was delish, and indeed went down very well with a crisp draft lager.

Determined to do our Friday night justice, I led Sara down what appeared to be a dark and deserted alley towards the Euljiro district, but we didn’t have to go far before the alley was lit by the many neon signs hanging from each venue.

The stumbling of our fellow punters suggested that we’d come to the right area, and then the artwork outside of Euljiro Brewing confirmed this. The craft beer on offer was excellent, and they even had an imperial stout for Sara.

Gwangjang Market

Just northeast of the Euljiro district lies Gwangjang Market, a huge, covered market containing many fabric shops and restaurants. Despite its size, the market stalls that lined the centre of each thoroughfare squeezed the crowds down tiny alleys between fryers and restaurant benches.

The sheer number of options was a little overwhelming, and in lieu of any further research, we joined a queue that had formed outside Park’s Mung Bean Pancake restaurant. Unbeknownst to us, this restaurant had been featured on Netflix’s Street Food: Asia series, which somewhat explains its popularity. Our menu selection consisted of the namesake’s Bindaetteok (Mung Bean Pancake), Tteokbokki (chewy, cylinder-shaped rice cakes in a sweet and spicy sauce) and Gimbap (rice and vegetables wrapped in seaweed and drizzled with sesame oil). I absolutely loved alternating bites of the crispy Bindaetteok with the heat from the Tteokbokki, while Gimbap was Sara’s surprise favourite of the meal. Looking around at other tables, we realised such a meal should be accompanied by a bottle of Makgeolli (rice wine), which we drank out of the small metal bowls in the corners of the picture below. For once, I felt like we got our order spot on, and this turned out to be my favourite meal we’d eat in Seoul.

Korean BBQ

No trip to Seoul would be complete without a trip to a Korean BBQ restaurant. While normally you’d cook your own meat over a grill in the centre of your table, Suwolga offered a bespoke experience whereby the chef would grill the pork in front of you, with the help of a blowtorch for additional charring. The grilled pork was accompanied by a couple of tiny dishes containing salt and wasabi for dipping, along with a handful of vegetable sides as well. While this meal wasn’t the DIY BBQ experience we’d read about, it was way more relaxing knowing that our food was being cooked to perfection by a professional. We even made it on the restaurant’s Instagram page – please don’t judge my BBQ hamster cheeks though, I was mid-mouthful!

Gamekol Son Wangmandu

Following our hike around Namsan Mountain Park, we went looking for some sustenance at Namdaemun Market. While many of the clothes shops were closed on the evening of our visit, the restaurants and food stalls were fortunately still going strong. We joined a queue that had formed outside Gamekol Son Wangmandu, although it quickly became clear that the queue wasn’t moving and the staff weren’t working either. That was until a timer went off, and the whole kitchen sprang into action. Trays of steaming hot dumplings were passed out from the ovens, which were subsequently packaged up and handed over to our fellow customers. While most people seemed to be taking the dumplings home, ours didn’t make it more than a few metres from the kitchen before they were devoured. The dumplings themselves consisted of puffy dough surrounding a minced pork, onion and kimchi filling, which perfectly satisfied our stomach rumblings.

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There was so much more good food in Seoul that we just couldn’t fit into this blog post. Still, we needed to burn off the calories somehow, and for that, we headed to Seoraksan National Park in the north-east of (South) Korea to hike up Ulsanbawi Rock.

We made it to Seoul! As it’s my first time here, I thought I’d write about what has struck me since we arrived. Oli has visited before, but the only things I really heard from him were that he visited a poo-themed cafe 🤷🏼‍♀️ and that he too-enthusiastically embraced the cultural norm of post-work beers and then left his laptop in a bar…

All in all, I was keen to see it for myself!

It’s big. Like, really big

By some measures, Seoul is one of the largest cities in the world. Sure enough, when we climbed Namsan Mountain, we could see high-rise buildings spreading as far as the eye could see – and it was a clear day, so we could see a very long way. In itself, this isn’t that impressive – this is the case in many cities. However, as we explored the summit as night fell, we could see that the high-rise extended like this in every direction, weaving around and beyond the mountains that used to encircle the city. It was pretty mind-boggling.

…But the towels are tiny

Seriously, I mean really tiny! Don’t expect anything larger than a tea towel to use for drying off after a shower. We haven’t quite got to the bottom of this one yet, but apparently it’s a South Korean thing. We stayed our first night in a nice hotel and we had what we would consider normal bath towels there, so I guess they knew that the small towel peculiarity wasn’t popular with visitors! For obvious reasons, I won’t enclose a photo with this, but just know that I’ve tried various toga methods with the towels we’ve since received in other accommodations and none achieve acceptable coverage…

the toilets are as good as they say

Small towels aside, the bathrooms here absolutely redeem themselves with their spectacular toilets. I’m not even sure we’ve seen the best of them yet, but let me tell you, it’s pretty disconcerting to hear the toilet power up as you approach it! I’m still chuckling about the tale of one of Oli’s colleagues who got in a pickle with his toilet controls and managed to squirt water out of his bathroom and into the wardrobe.

Public toilets are also plentiful, well signposted and immaculately clean. What a dream!

There’s a warning sign for everything

Everywhere we turn, we see another instructional or warning sign. We started by translating some of them (because surely, if it’s important enough to have a sign then it must be something we needed to know!) until we realised this simply wasn’t going to be necessary. Our favourites are the pictoral signs that demonstrate the potentially dramatic consequences of everyday activities.

To be fair, we first noticed quite how many signs were around on our first full day, when we hired a tandem and cycled around Yeouido Island and on some very narrow cycle lanes across bridges. We probably deserved some warnings then!

everything has a face

‘Cute’ is big here. If there’s advert or illustration of a foodstuff, a mode of transport, a piece of electronics, a natural landscape… you can pretty much bet that it will be drawn with eyes and a cute expression. I really wish I’d taken more photos – they are everywhere!

It’s modern, efficient and extremely orderly

In huge contrast to Central Asia, Seoul feels incredibly modern. There’s well-designed automation everywhere, from the ordering systems in coffee shops to Myeongdong Kyoja, a restaurant that is somewhat of an institution, trying out robot delivery to tables. We very much enjoyed watching the only other tourists in the restaurant hesitate for a long time about whether to take the food from the robot that was loitering near their table. We could feel their mortification from the other side of the restaurant when the waitress had to come over and take it back from them!

We also went to watch South Korea play Uruguay in the group stages of the World Cup one evening on big screens in Gwanghwamun Square. I think there was naturally some caution after the Halloween crowd crush in Itaewon in October (the originally planned fan festival had been cancelled in response) but we were still staggered to see that all of the fans were calmly seated cross-legged on the ground! This pretty much summed up our experience in this very well-organised city.

…but it hasn’t forgotten its past

Wandering away from the main streets, it is easy to find a version of Seoul that is still rooted in tradition. Just next to our accommodation was a low-rise area filled with tiny shops operating noisy old printing presses, which are still very much in demand. In other areas, we saw rows of traditional shops for mending electronics and repairing sewing machines, and the markets are fantastic – my favourite was Gwangjang, which combined food and fabric (dreamy!)

South Korea’s military history was on display at the War Memorial of Korea. Outside was a fascinating collection of aeroplanes, helicopters, tanks, missiles and ships. Even fresh off an uncomfortable overnight flight, exploring this collection kept us occupied (and awake) for quite some time.

Inside the museum were comprehensive exhibits explaining the context of the Korean War (officially 1950-1953 but in reality, still largely unresolved). I was fascinated by the two cars on display (below centre) – the near one was a gift from the USSR to North Korea’s Kim Il Sung, and the far one was a gift from President Eisenhower to South Korea’s Syngman Rhee, who was the Republic’s first President. It really highlighted North Korea’s relationship with Russia, and South Korea’s relationship with the United States (and elsewhere in the west). In a poignant moment, a man who had approached us for a chat thanked us earnestly for the United Kingdom’s support as part of the UN’s response to the war. It was difficult to know what to say, but it really brought home how this is very raw and recent history for many Koreans.

It’s easy to navigate

It might not feel like an obvious tourist destination, but we found Seoul incredibly easy to navigate. There is English signage almost everywhere and, in some areas, there are even roaming tourist information officials to point people in the right direction. We still managed to jam the lock of a metro station locker with our backpacks inside and then go to the wrong bus terminal to leave Seoul, but some people just can’t be helped…

people are super friendly and helpful

Of course, we’ve met nice people everywhere on our trip, but we were really struck by how many people went out of their way to help us while we were in Seoul – this isn’t exactly typical big city behaviour. When we hesitated over a Korean-language ordering system in a restaurant, a friendly woman hopped up from her table to help us enter our order (I’m working on learning the Korean alphabet, but I’ve still got a little way to go!) And when Oli and I were in the midst of a debate about where to go next while standing in a park, an enthusiastic man produced a map and gave it to us. We weren’t actually lost, but it was very kind of him! We got the impression he’d been keeping it in his bag ready for just this moment. And finally, when we were in a right pickle with all our worldly possessions jammed in a locker that wouldn’t open, a women stopped to check we were ok and called the support number to get it sorted for us.

All of these just made us feel so welcome. We love it here!

the food is incredible

Finally, I couldn’t really write a post raving about somewhere without mentioning the food. We haven’t eaten a single bad meal since we arrived in South Korea, despite our sometimes haphazard planning. I’ve already developed a real appreciation for kimchi (having always been a bit suspicious of it previously). Even better, many meals come with multiple free sides with unlimited refills (below was a particularly good haul)! The cuisine is just so delicious – spicy, sour, rich and complex – that we think it deserves a post of its own, coming soon(ish)…