Seoul: Pottering around Jogno, Baekasil Valley and the World Cup Parks

A couple of weeks ago I spent a relaxing weekend in Seoul, the Saturday morning  I simply wandered around Jogno committing iphoneography on the locals. I started in the area around Jongno-3 ga, exit 6, one of the last remaining well-preserved few streets of Hanok houses in the Jongno area. I then visited Tapgol Park where the Independence Proclamation was read. The independence movement relief plate and the statue of Son Byeong-hee are located here. The park is of great historical value and commemorates the Korean national spirit as it was the starting point of the March 1, 1919 Independence Protest.

I carried on south towards the Cheonggyecheon which was quiet but I did snap a number of characters before meeting FOBY at City Hall. We headed up to Buam-dong leaving the 7022 bus at Changuimun (창의문), the oldest of Seoul Fortress’s four small gates and heading right up Jahamungil, the road that runs behind and follows the contours of, Bugaksan Mountain. We were heading for the Baeksasil Valley to escape the heat.

Before getting to the valley entrance we passed the Art for Life cafe and after around 10 minutes further advancing up the hill rested with a coffee at Sanmotoonge Cafe, which means (Corner of a mountain). This gallery & cafe, located on Bugaksan Mountain, has a magnificent outlook over Northern Seoul. It’s also celebrated as one of the locations where the Coffee Prince drama was filmed in 2007.  There is also a veranda on the second floor where you can get pleasure from both the view and the placid, natural vibe. From here we continued up the hill and then following the signs descended towards the valley itself.

Baeksasil Valley is a picturesque part of the Seoul that conjures up the ambiance that you are completely in a rural area. Its title literally means “valley of mountains surrounded by streams.” The area was a “just what the doctor ordered” escape for the aristocracy during the Joseon Dynasty; they created landscaped gardens and second homes here. The quarter we passed through was calm and attractive; an ostensibly surreptitious modest neighborhood concealed away from the rest of the city. The entrance for once, is well signposted; you’ll find yourself faced with a wooden staircase that gently leads your tired muscles into a serene hike through an ancient Joseon garden. Further on we came to

In their entirety, the trails in Baeksasil only cover a few kilometers, but what makes the walks here unique is that not many people take the time to “discover” them. It would be sad to sacrifice this tucked away jewel. Near the end of the trail we came to Hyeontongsa Temple were we were offered tea and a warm welcome. The temple sits atop a giant pink granite rock which must be spectacular in the rainy season when it becomes a tumbling waterfall. There’s a bridge of course for this exact occasion but during the dry season we didn’t need it. We continued our walk leaving the valley to emerge at the university were we caught the 7022 back into Jongno getting off at City Hall. To visit the valley, take a bus from Exit 3 of Gyeongbokgung Station (Line 3) and take a bus (7212, 1020, and 7022) to Buam-dong Changuimun Gate, it takes around 10 minutes.

We walked back along the main thoroughfare to Jongno-3 ga, FOBY’s usual hunger pangs getting the better of him. We stopped for a nibble at a street stall; the “everyday” chicken skewer was hotter than the performance of Andros Townsend for England! Later we headed back for that wonderful Korean Pork Barbecue at Jongno-3 ga exit 6.

Sunday saw us head for World Cup Park, somewhere I visited in the cold depths of the Korean winter, today’s trip was to be less of a trauma. The World Cup Park was built to commemorate the 17th FIFA World Cup. Opened in May 1st, 2002, the park was once a 15-year-old landfill that held over 92 million tons of garbage. It took 6 years to stabilize the waste (measures were taken to prevent the garbage runoff from contaminating the environment) and an additional year to build the actual park itself. The park is located near the Seoul World Cup stadium, and is made up of five smaller parks including the Pyeonghwa ‘Peace’ Park, Haneul ‘Sky’ Park, and Noeul ‘Sunset’ Park. The park takes up a 1.05 million-pyeong area and is usually crowded with in-line skaters.

We crossed over the huge stepped bridge at the stadiums south end which is also linked to Home Plus or Tesco’s in UK speak.  There was some huge event taking place, it was to do with health care.  There were as usual lots of places to gorge and a main stage which played host to Korean “rap” performances. Init, blad, bruv, cuz and allow! We crossed the car park towards the “Blue” bridge over the highway; this gave us access to the stairs and the Haneul “Sky” Park. Around 85 diverse species of flora grow here; the gigantic plateau is renowned for its Cogon grass and Eulalia. Visiting in early October when the reeds evolve a golden tint, and the skies are generally clear and blue is a must-see in Seoul.

Haneul Park, at one time a mountain of garbage, it now a green “eco” hill with 22 sentry points presenting (on a clear day like today) wonderful vistas of Seoul City, Mt. Namsan, Mt. Bukhansan, and Mt. Gwanaksan. 5 wind-powered generators supply energy to the park and the park’s maintenance office. As we climbed the stairs we noticed pinned at regular points on the steps are small plaques with a number. Precisely 291 stairs are ascended before accessing the top. It was busy today with the hordes of masked ninja’s and labeled students carrying their lunch boxes towards the summit. Once there the climb is well worth it, away from the main path that circumnavigates this giant plinth it’s still easy, even when busy, to find quiet spots if you follow the paths that criss-cross it. The sun was shining bright on the upland slopes and when the wind stirred soft through the springing grass it was a relaxing experience. The faux post boxes flitted perilously on their stalks as we made our way through the Zen like garden. We stopped at the central Gazebo, still one of my favourite spots in Seoul. This punctuated, arched, organic stainless-steel form provides awesome view down the paths and across the plateau towards another piece of public sculpture, the ‘Growing Sculpture’ In Haneul Park, an observatory, is an art piece. Its Korean name means ‘A bowl that holds the sky in it’.

From here, after taking in the views in all-directions, we descended the hill, strolled through the event area and snapped some fake iron-men. We covered our ears to avoid the terrible rappers and took an “Italian” lunch in Homeplus before taking the metro back to Central City Terminal for our differing departures home.

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Cocktails, Kimchi Poo and Metro Yoga

As the green shoots started to replace the snow but held back by the Eomjeong frost we made our way to Seoul on Friday evening.  The journey met with the usual end of highway frustration as the traffic bullied us into a 35 minute delay.  After that we souped up our travel cards and 30 minutes later were nestled in Banana Backpackers ready to shower and taste some of Seoul’s finest cocktails.

Angels Disley and Heighway were ravenous so we headed through the hanboked alleyways of Ikseon-dong past Jongno 3-ga to Oowoo Bar but thought the gastronomic fare a tad expensive. We left and satisfied our hunger with some quality Bos primigenius across the street in a busy barbecue restaurant! We then headed over to Friends which once again had a convivial laid back atmosphere. From Friends we circled to Lovestar, once again the cocktails, accompanied by excellent music videos, were well received. Finally we strolled over to Wallpaper here we were driven to distraction by some solemn Karaoke. The Angels then expertly faked their marriage for a pair of extremely camp new friends. It was actually well past our bedtime and so in  the early hours we headed back to the hotel.

Rising early we had English Muffins and coffee before embarking on a one step metro journey but just before exiting AD had to pay a visit.  She re-emerged traumatised! on following a Korean lady into the cubicle she experience an uncontrollable urge to vomit induced by the mass of red Kimchi poo (disgusting).  On Michelle’s recovery we emerged from the station  before taking the 1020 bus from Gyeonbukgung to Buam-dong.

We took a short stroll up through Changuimun Gate and down the hill before returning to climb the stairs to the Poet Yun Dong-ju’s Hill. From here the walk downhill begins skirting the line of the fortress wall. Here in the shadow of Mt. Inwangsan, on a clear day, you have fantastic views of Seoul towards Namsan. Today it was slightly overcast but it was still easy to pick out the royal palaces and the presidents “Blue House“. Also, the gates were open for an ascent of the mountain but I was encouraged to leave that until the 14th April, the weekend of one Yeouido Spring Blossom and Arts Festival.

As we descended the mountain we appreciated the views and the evidence of security protecting us from the “impending” North korean invasion. The brave souls who had taken the ascent of Mt, Inwangsan were mere dots on the horizon. We stopped for photos with the grey silhouette of Mt Namsan and Seoul Tower in the background. The Angels posed next to a grand gold tiger protected by yet another boy soldier. After the final stroll to the end of the existing renovations we turned left through a forest walkway emerging at Sajik Park.  A further 5 minute stroll along streets lined with police returned us to exit 3 of the station. We had arranged to meet FOBY at 1:00pm my misjudgment meant we were an hour early.

We walked round to the Daelim Art Gallery but it was suffering from re-modelling as were all the other galleries in Tongin-dong (or Hyoja-dong). We did discovered a place for lunch which served a variety of Samgyetang. We crossed the main road and a the longest lunchy queue I had ever seen, this apparently was for another legendary Samgyetang restaurant. Strolling through Tongin-dong we came to Tongin Market which is on the Seoul list of Asia’s 10 greatest street food cities for the tteokbokki.

This small but lively market is on my return list, perhaps on the Sunday after my Inwangsan climb. We headed back to the subway as Frank was due, the Angels picked up a couple of Lotto tickets as I noticed a  radiantly happy group of young Koreans meeting up for the afternoon, below me a wizened ld guy begged for cash on the subway stairs. On Frank’s arrival we headed for lunch and all chose the Samgyetang expressly designed to support female re-productive health, mmmmm! It was tremendous.

After lunch we headed south towards Sunyeudo eco-park. Unfortunately as we emerged the weather had taken a turn for the worse, it was  bitterly cold as we headed over the bridge spanning the Han River. I’d visited the park during Chuseok when the weather was much milder, it’s a place where courting couples and families congregate and another place I’ll revisit in milder times. The cold was too much and we passed through the park quickly passing some young folk filming.

It was similar to an event I’d witnessed before with the actors sporting multi-coloured hair and looking extremely androgynous. At the far end of the park we crossed over the arched bridge and an extremely kind Korean guy led us to the bosom of Seonyudo subway station, we headed back to Jogno for a nap.

The evening saw us consume the real deal oxtail soup (Gori Gomtang) at Jaembaeok. After drinks at Shortbus we headed back to Lovestar for another great evening before heading back to the hotel.

In the morning FOBY had to leave to attend a funeral with his old school chums but before leaving cashed in Carissa’s Lotto ticket as she’d won 50,000 won! Frank left and we took the subway to Dondaemun, after witnessing an old guy practising some sort of yoga on the subway train we left our bags in the lockers and set out towards the Seoul Flea Market.   We came to Dongmyo Shrine and took a right, this area is choca with second-hand stalls selling everything from fishing tackle to clothing.

There were a cornucopia of characters some dour, some smiling, other pretty eccentric! Eventually we reached the indoor market and after wandering around the ground floor and being presented by wrapped boiled eggs for Easter we headed upstairs to sundry items. Near to the front of the building and out of view we discovered the naughty area, three stalls selling all kinds of sex toys and in different sizes. Two elderly male stall-holders chuckled as we stopped to peruse, Angel D joking with the vendor that none were her size :-).

On leaving we took some liquid refreshments before returning to the market as Angel D wanted to buy some pumps. No purchases made we headed left towards the Chungeoncheon Stream which we followed back to Dondaemun; passing the soon to be visited burrito take-away we crossed  over to Doota! department store.  The store covers around 8 floors and has a restaurant, coffee shop and roof garden on the 8th.  There is a great view over the “in progress” Dondaemun History and Culture Park and the restaurant, though not sampled, has some nice bouteille du vin at its entrance. I picked up some 4711 cologne and Michelle some other beautifying product. After some browsing we scurried over the busy thoroughfare for burritos’; collecting our backpacks it was time to head to Gangnam for our journey back to Chungers!

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