 1 Wednesday 9 June, 2010 Here we are at Sydney airport waiting to board our flight to Korea. I have planned this trip over the past 9 months and now it is nearly time to go. Bob and Anne drove us to the airport leaving at 4.15 this morning. Ouch |
 2 Wednesday 9 June, 2010 While we wait for the time to pass, we grab some breakfast. Since making this web album, I have made a book about our 2010 trip. Click to go to the Blurb Website to review Volume 1. |
 3 Wednesday 9 June, 2010 The flight to Korea was on a 777-2000 and it wasn't too bad (except for someone dropping hotties). Once we passed over New Guinea, it was over water all the way to Japan. The flight took 10 hours but without much of a time zone shift. |
 4 Wednesday 9 June, 2010 Seoul Incheon airport is another amazing Asian airport. I've been to quite a few in Asia and they all make Sydney's airport look like a country shed. |
 5 Wednesday 9 June, 2010 Customs and immigration was without incident or intimidating officials with guns. |
 6 Wednesday 9 June, 2010 The cab ride in was interesting. I asked for a quote first, his English was very poor and we thought he had said the equivalent of A$90. On the way in I noticed the meter turning over furiously and asked him about it. He reckons he said A$190. |
 7 Wednesday 9 June, 2010 We paid $180 for the most expensive taxi ride ever but, having said that, it was a long ride in. The first 30kms was over a very impressive 8 lane motorway until we got to the city outskirts. The last 1/2 hour was over 8 lane city streets. |
 8 Wednesday 9 June, 2010 I always wondered about the Korean flag. The centre is called a Taegeuk and it refers to the ultimate reality from which all things and values originate. It is surrounded by four trigrams that mean sun, moon, earth, sky; spring, autumn, winter, summer; father, son, daughter, mother; and so on. |
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 10 Wednesday 9 June, 2010 We made it to our hotel, the Ibis in downtown Seoul. It's not too badly priced at $150/day including breakfast. |
 11 Thursday 10 June, 2010 Breakfast is included in the price so we visit the restaurant on the top floor. |
 12 Thursday 10 June, 2010 It overlooks one of the many 8 lane thoroughfares through the city. This is looking south. |
 13 Thursday 10 June, 2010 We are staying at an Ibis hotel in the Myeong-dong area. |
 14 Thursday 10 June, 2010 Looking south is the Seoul Tower; we visit this later in the day. Air quality was one of the few things we did not enjoy during a stay in Seoul. |
 15 Thursday 10 June, 2010 We actually have a plan for this morning's activities. We intend to look at the Cheonggyecheon stream and to visit Tapgol Park to see the ancient Pagoda. |
 16 Thursday 10 June, 2010 Very near to our hotel is a metro station. If you cannot read Korean, then all you need to know is that this is Euiljero-1 station on the green line. Jenni is standing at exit 6 and there are eight exits in all, one on each corner of both streets. |
 17 Thursday 10 June, 2010 This, believe it or not, is the entrance to Euiljiro-1 station. It is sparkling and orderly. |
 18 Thursday 10 June, 2010 We follow the English/Korean map that we got from the hotel with ease. The streets signs are also dual language. |
 19 Thursday 10 June, 2010 We enter one of the world's great rehabilitation schemes, the Cheonggecheon Stream |
 20 Thursday 10 June, 2010 This what the Cheonggyecheon stream looked like in the early 20th century: a dump. |
 21 Thursday 10 June, 2010 First the stream was concreted over during 1948-1960 and then in 1968-76 an elevated road was built on top of that. The roads cut the city in half, added to congestion and brought with them noise, air and visual pollution. |
 22 Thursday 10 June, 2010 Now it's a pleasant oasis in the middle of the city. |
 23 Thursday 10 June, 2010 The water is sparkling clean; there is no graffiti, vagrants do not inhabit the area and there are no smells of excrement under the bridges. |
 24 Thursday 10 June, 2010 In one of the most embarrassing moments of the trip, a man appeared and offered to take a picture of me. I kept saying "It's OK" meaning no thanks but he heard "OK" yes thanks. I out-and-out did not trust him with my camera thinking he might run off with it. He then went back and sat with the woman in the photo and only then did I realise he was being genuinely helpful. As we moved on we waved him good bye; I felt so stupid. Still, travelling in Spain does that to you. |
 25 Thursday 10 June, 2010 The tiles on the wall opposite tell the tale of an ancient battle. |
 26 Thursday 10 June, 2010 Presumably the good guys won. |
 27 Thursday 10 June, 2010 As we head towards the Tapgol Park, we walk through some of the smaller streets. These are usually a combination of store fronts and garbage bins. |
 28 Thursday 10 June, 2010 These smaller streets are sometimes the more colourful, particularly at night. |
 29 Thursday 10 June, 2010 We turn into Jongno-gil (street) and happen to notice the Jongno Tower. It is an office building built in 1999 with 24 stories above ground and 6 below ground. |
 30 Thursday 10 June, 2010 This place is spotless. No dog poo or cigarette butts anywhere. In fact, smoking is not prevalent in Seoul at all. |
 31 Thursday 10 June, 2010 This is the pavillion in Tapgol Park, formerly Pagoda Park. |
 32 Thursday 10 June, 2010 This park was once the site of a Buddhist Temple. The word tap means "pagoda", and the park gets its name from the Wongaksa Pagoda, a 10 storied stone pagoda located in the park. |
 33 Thursday 10 June, 2010 Tapgol Park is historically important because it was the location of the first reading of the Korean Declaration of Independence in March 1, 1919 while Korea was still under Japanese occupation. |
 34 Thursday 10 June, 2010 Tapgol Park is a popular place for demonstrations of various types. It was the termination point for the Grand Peace March for Democracy on June 24th 1986 that led to the acceptance of free elections by President Chun Doo-whan of South Korea. |
 35 Thursday 10 June, 2010 The pavillion contrasts with large city buildings and the nearby rail station on Lines 1, 3 and 5 of the Seoul Subway |
 36 Thursday 10 June, 2010 We wander into the Myeong Dong shopping area located behind our hotel. The lady in front of us is selling pancake looking things for about 7¢ Oz money. |
 37 Thursday 10 June, 2010 It is one of Seoul's major shopping districts and motor traffic is excluded from the area. |
 38 Thursday 10 June, 2010 The "Korea Fighting" poster is all about Korea's role in the World Cup Soccer currently in progress. |
 39 Thursday 10 June, 2010 It's a fantastic place for women's clothes, women's footware, women's skin care, women's jewellery, women's hairdressing and so forth. |
 40 Thursday 10 June, 2010 Jenni buys Bonnie's 60th birthday present in this shop. This was the only photograph I took because the sales girl forbade it. |
 41 Thursday 10 June, 2010 We come back again to see the Myeong Dong at night time after we visit the Palace and the Seoul Tower. Our next point of interest is the Gyeongbok Palace. |
 42 Thursday 10 June, 2010 We need to catch a train to Gyeongbokgung subway station to see the palace but we are confronted with this ticket machine. |
 43 Thursday 10 June, 2010 There were ticket machines that displayed and spoke English. The trains pull up behind sliding glass doors and for a Sydney-sider, this is amazing 21st century stuff. |
 44 Thursday 10 June, 2010 It was dead easy. The ticket machines were dual language and the announcements on the train were also in Korean and English. The platforms are spotless and there is no sign of litter, dirt or graffiti anywhere. You have to be impressed. |
 45 Thursday 10 June, 2010 When we get off at Gyeongbokgung Station, we walk through this pedestrian subway to get to the palace. |
 46 Thursday 10 June, 2010 Everything sparkles. I wish the Koreans would come and show our dumb lot how to run a public transport system. Notice that walls are not covered with Graffiti? They probably have tough laws preventing the sale of pressure pack paint. Yeah, that's gotta be it. |
 47 Thursday 10 June, 2010 The Gyeongbokgung Palace is one of five palaces in Seoul. This is Geunjeongjeon Hall , the throne room, and it is constructed mainly of wood. In the courtyard are two columns of stones that indicated where the court officials were to stand according to their rank. |
 48 Thursday 10 June, 2010 These are the Royal Palace Guards. They don't really guard anything but the uniforms and ceremonies keep alive ancient traditions. |
 49 Thursday 10 June, 2010 This is the changing of the guard ceremony. In ancient times, the royal guards of the Joseon Dynasty guarded the entrance gate of the Gyeongbokgung Palace and a ceremony marked the changing of the guard. The ceremony began in 1469 and the re-enactment of the ceremony began in 1996. |
 50 Thursday 10 June, 2010 Historical records were consulted to ensure that the re-enactment reflected the original ceremony as much as possible. |
 51 Thursday 10 June, 2010 The guards are dressed in traditional costumes and are armed with traditional weapons - the two guards at the rear carry bows and arrows. |
 52 Thursday 10 June, 2010 Well behaved school children tour in colour coded groups. Their teacher gives me the peace sign as I take the photo. Well, I presume it was the peace symbol and not some sort of Korean two fingered salute. |
 53 Thursday 10 June, 2010 The Palace was nearly destroyed by the Japanese government in the early 20th century during the Japanese occupation of Korea from 1910-1945. Japanese occupation ended with the defeat of Japan in WWII. |
 54 Thursday 10 June, 2010 The palace complex is slowly being restored to its original form prior the destruction. As of 2009, roughly 40 percent of the original number of palace buildings still stand or are being reconstructed. |
 55 Thursday 10 June, 2010 Geunjeongjeon Hall, is the throne hall of Gyeongbokgung where the king formally granted audiences , gave declarations of national importance, and greeted foreign envoys and ambassadors during the Joseon Dynasty. The building was designated as a Korean national treasure in 1985. |
 56 Thursday 10 June, 2010 Geunjeongjeon was originally constructed in 1395 during the reign of King Taejo, but was burned down in 1592 when the Japanese invaded Korea. The present building was built in 1867 when Gyeongbokgung was reconstructed. The name Geunjeongjeon means "diligence helps governance." |
 57 Thursday 10 June, 2010 The Gyeongbokgung Palace is a complex of buildings that include the Queen's quarters, the King's quarters and many other buildings. |
 58 Thursday 10 June, 2010 This building, situated on a beautiful artificial lake is the Gyeonghoeru Pavilion, a hall used to hold state banquets. |
 59 Thursday 10 June, 2010 Bugaksan Mountain is a 342 metre granite mountain in the background. It's proximity to the presidential office saw the area closed because of security concerns for 40 years until April 2007. |
 60 Thursday 10 June, 2010 The first Gyeonghoeru Pavillion was constructed in 1412 but was burned down during the Japanese invasions of Korea in 1592. The present building was constructed in 1867. |
 61 Thursday 10 June, 2010 The Gyeonghoeru is made of wood and stone and the building itself sits on top of 48 massive stone pillars. The outer perimeter is supported by square pillars while the inner columns are cylindrical to represent the idea of Yin & Yang. |
 62 Thursday 10 June, 2010 The Gyeonghoeru survived artillery fire during the Korean war. |
 63 Thursday 10 June, 2010 There are many carp in the lake. |
 64 Thursday 10 June, 2010 Beautiful traditional costumes worn by ladies whose prime purpose is to . . . |
 65 Thursday 10 June, 2010 . . . pose with the tourists. |
 66 Thursday 10 June, 2010 Gyeonghoeru is depicted on the 10,000 won Korean banknotes (1983-2002 Series) |
 67 Thursday 10 June, 2010 More well-behaved colour coded kids learning about their history. They were also very friendly many times yelling "Hello" to us in English. |
 68 Thursday 10 June, 2010 The Gyeonghoeru (Pavilion of Joyous Meeting) is the oldest and most famous of Gyeongbokgung's pavilions. |
 69 Thursday 10 June, 2010 Three stone bridges connect the building to the palace grounds, and corners of the balustrades around the island are decorated with sculptures of the twelve Zodiac animals. |
 70 Thursday 10 June, 2010 Sajeongjeon hall. The King retired here to conduct day-to-day state business. |
 71 Thursday 10 June, 2010 Cheonchujeon (with the chimneys) was a private royal residence built by King Gojong in 1873. It was demolished by the Japanese government in 1909 after which it was accurately reconstructed and opened to the public in 2007. |
 72 Thursday 10 June, 2010 Inside some of the buildings are traditional works of art. |
 73 Thursday 10 June, 2010 Inside the buildings is also highly decorated. |
 74 Thursday 10 June, 2010 They were somewhat smaller in those days. |
 75 Thursday 10 June, 2010 Reconstruction continues even today and it is unlikely that the palace will ever regain the grandeur it twice possessed over its 600-year life |
 76 Thursday 10 June, 2010 Beautiful intricate carvings. If everything looks relatively new, it's because it is relatively new. |
 77 Thursday 10 June, 2010 The back garden of the palace once contained the Japanese Governor-General's residence during the Japanese era. With the establishment of the Republic of Korea in 1948, President Syngman Rhee then used it as his office and residence. |
 78 Thursday 10 June, 2010 In 1993, after President Kim Young-sam's civilian administration was launched, the Japanese Governor-General's residence was dismantled to remove a major symbol of the Japanese colonial occupation. |
 79 Thursday 10 June, 2010 This was a very interesting visit cut short by my increasing inability to walk. Next we visit the Seoul Tower |
 80 Thursday 10 June, 2010 We return to the hotel have some lunch at a nearby Starbucks, and catch the hotel bus to the Seoul Tower |
 81 Thursday 10 June, 2010 The Seoul Tower is about 15 minutes away from our hotel to the south. |
 82 Thursday 10 June, 2010 Our hotel is near the Lotte Building. |
 83 Thursday 10 June, 2010 The ticket to the tower cost around A$7.00. Cheap when compared with Sydney's tower at $50. |
 84 Thursday 10 June, 2010 It got to be a bit hot - around the high 20° mark. |
 85 Thursday 10 June, 2010 At the end of the cable car ride, it is s short walk up a few stairs to get to the top of Mount Namsan. |
 86 Thursday 10 June, 2010 The peak of Mt Namsan used to be crowned with fortifications, but they are long gone. |
 87 Thursday 10 June, 2010 The tower was built in 1969 at a cost of approximately $2.5 million and opened to the public in 1980. It is 236 metres tall and the top is 479 metres above sea level. |
 88 Thursday 10 June, 2010 There are four observation decks. The fourth deck is a revolving restaurant that rotates at a rate of one revolution every 48 minutes. |
 89 Thursday 10 June, 2010 We have never seen anything like this before; the locks of love: padlocks with couples names and declarations of undying love secured to the fence. |
 90 Thursday 10 June, 2010 Only 8,286 kms to Sydney. |
 91 Thursday 10 June, 2010 Seoul is an incredibly big city. All of Australia's cities could fit within its metropolitan area. The Han River is to the south of us. |
 92 Thursday 10 June, 2010 Seoul is a megacity with a population of over 10 million and it is one of the largest cities in the world. |
 93 Thursday 10 June, 2010 The Seoul National Capital Area is the world's second largest metropolitan area with over 24.5 million inhabitants, which includes the Incheon metropolis and most of Gyeonggi province. This is larger than Australia's total population. |
 94 Thursday 10 June, 2010 Paris is 8,900 kms away; we are not even halfway there yet. |
 95 Thursday 10 June, 2010 Almost half of South Korea's population live in the Seoul National Capital Area, and nearly a quarter in Seoul itself, making it the country's foremost economic, political, and cultural center. |
 96 Thursday 10 June, 2010 Seoul is a leading global city, ranking among the top ten global cities in the Global Cities Index of 2010, just behind Sydney in ninth. It is one of the world's top ten financial and commercial centers and home to major multinational conglomerates such as Samsung, LG and Hyundai-Kia. |
 97 Thursday 10 June, 2010 It is intetresting to compare Australia's GDP with Korea's. At Purchasing Power Parity Korea's GDP is larger but Australia's GDP is larger at nominal (official exchange rates). |
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 99 Thursday 10 June, 2010 It is sobering to think that South Korea is one of the richest and most politically stable countries in the world while their wretched cousins in North Korea are starving with a GDP/Capita (PPP) of $1,900 or 154th in the world. South Korea is also a member of the G20 rich club of nations. |
 100 Thursday 10 June, 2010 After visiting the tower, we took the inclinator to the bottom of the hill and walked back. Unfortunately, the walking inflamed my ankle which had been quiet for a few weeks. I continued to the hotel while Jenni engaged in retail therapy. |
 101 Thursday 10 June, 2010 This is one of those Asian mega-minimalls that we don't see in Australia. |
 102 Thursday 10 June, 2010 They are huge modern downtown buildings filled with hundreds of tiny stores - some of them with a staff of one in a space of about 2 metres wide. Next we visit Seoul in the night time |
 103 Thursday 10 June, 2010 Night has fallen, we have had dinner at the hotel, a bit of rest and now we are ready to spend our final hours shopping in the streets of Myeong-dong. |
 104 Thursday 10 June, 2010 There are lots of nice snacks available at small eateries like this. |
 105 Thursday 10 June, 2010 I'm looking for a pair of designer label walking shoes as they are much cheaper here. |
 106 Thursday 10 June, 2010 Jenni is successful and buys a very nice pair. |
 107 Thursday 10 June, 2010 I walk into shop after shop and see many shoes that I would like to have bought but, in shop after shop they did not carry my size. I wanted size 45 but most of them carried nothing larger than size 43. |
 108 Thursday 10 June, 2010 Police here do not carry guns. |
 109 Thursday 10 June, 2010 The streets of Myeong-dong are a blaze of colour at night. |
 110 Thursday 10 June, 2010 It is a bit crowded but orderly. |
 111 Thursday 10 June, 2010 As an aside, every store we went into spoke English. We did not feel the least bit foreign here nor unwelcome. |
 112 Thursday 10 June, 2010 Jenni was tempted but no, she did not buy anything. |
 113 Thursday 10 June, 2010 I thought this was amusing, the ubiquitous mobile phone. |
 114 Thursday 10 June, 2010 Seoul is definitely one of the better cities of the world and one that we would like to come back to. We sure packed a lot into a single day though. |
 115 Thursday 10 June, 2010 Impressions of Seoul: We did not do it justice by planning only one day here because it has so much to offer. It is spotlessly clean, safe and the people are friendly and helpful - unlike Iberia which is none of those things. It is a fully developed, first world country with a high GDP/capita and it should be grouped with Japan & Singapore and not the rest of Asia. And, it's not that expensive for an Australian tourist. |
 116 Friday 11 June, 2010 It is now the next morning and, having learned a costly lesson, we take the bus back to the airport. It cost $9 each for a saving of $162. Next stop Frankfurt, Germany |
