COVID feels sufficiently over to start having real vacations again. It’s been a long standing desire of ours to go to East Asia and after everything that’s happened in the last few years, it was time. We set our destination as Seoul in the Republic of Korea.

Why Korea? Well it’s hard to deny the cultural impact the peninsula has had in the last decade. Hyundai and Kia cars are everywhere. One has to go out of their way to get a non LG or Samsung appliance. There is Soju at the grocery store, Bibimbap at restaurants, and plenty of Soft Tofu soup. So we wanted to see where it all came from and feel the energy of a growing dynamic country. And eat kimchi, lots and lots of kimchi.

As an added bonus some of our family from India was going to join us. Sadly the ended up not feeling too well and we were not able to spend that much time with them, nor were they really able to explore the cities.

Getting There

The first hurdle is that we aren’t used to traveling anymore. A 12 hour flight is downright daunting. The silver lining of COVID is that we had a pile of unused airline credits that were about to expire, making seat upgrades almost a requirement. We also splurged on lounge access to get a little more comfortable pre-flight experience. The waiting to get crammed into an airplane has always felt extra painful. It’s like an appetizer that turns you off from the main meal.

The Fever Tree gin and tonic was a sign of the upgrade from economy.

The end result was actually a very pleasant flying experience and we landed rested enough to figure out how to get around.

Getting Around

Easily our biggest concern is that we can’t read any languages in that part of the world and what that would mean for using the ATM and getting train tickets. Thankfully nothing has been exported as much as English and getting into English mode was straight-forward. Getting from the airport in Incheon to Seoul was easy since those kiosks took international credit cards, though most train ticket machines are cash-only.

Getting cash was not too bad either, though often it was not clear if a non-Korean ATM card could be used until you got through a collection of prompts.

In the central part of the city there is transit everywhere

The most challenging part of getting around is that Google maps returns reasonable search results, but is absolutely useless for getting around. The local maps, Kakao and Naver have great directions but all the search results are in Hangul. I found the most efficient way was find what I wanted in Google, locate a landmark, then drop a pin on that landmark in the Korean app to get directions. Figuring this out went a long way in not feeling as lost.

The city is very walkable with plenty of sights. This is Sungnymoon Gate, the historic southern gate of Seoul.

KTX: City to City trains

While we spent the majority of time in Seoul, we did do an overnight to Busan. A choice we may have entirely made to say we were on the train to Busan (though I’ve never watched this). Though we also felt compelled to see something besides Seoul.

Overall we found the KTX experience underwhelming relative to other train systems and Korea in general. Buying tickets was a pain as there is no way to book using official channels. We tried to use Railninja but found that there was a sizable markup and a significant delay in getting tickets. It looked like getting them in person involved waiting in a long line. All the big kiosks clearly stated that they were for domestic cards only. Finally we talked to an attendant who could tell immediately what we wanted and directed us to a different non-kiosk looking kiosk that would happily take our cards for a ticket purchase. It all made sense when you knew what to do!

Busan is also pretty. We should have planned to spend more time here.

The trains themselves were a little meh and kinda uncomfortable, especially compared to excellent airport train.

What we did

There’s really a lot to see and I don’t think we got close to scratching the surface. The first thing we “discovered” when searching for the crosswalk were the underground markets. These were a bustling collection of shopping stalls that seemed perfectly inline with getting from where you were to where you wanted to go. They also came in very handy when we had the day of pouring rain where we were able to get home soaked to the skin instead of the bone.

Our first couple days were pretty wet but still did not make it into City Hall (pictured behind)

We also really liked walking through the market streets. The largest one near where we were staying was Myeong-dong, which as a very full market full of western stores, Korean beauty staples, restaurants, and tons of street food (more on that later).

The Myeongdong markets street in the rain and the middle of the week. This was a good opportunity to see what was there.

The market was a very different experience on a nice evening. The biggest change is the number of food stalls everywhere.

We also took tours through Insadong, Jonggak Avenue of Youth, and the Namdaemun Culture food district.

This avenue was street-vendor heavy and featured some very good looking meat on sticks.

Shopping as a whole seems to be a big thing in Korea, with the Lotte malls being giant and impressive that matched the bustle outside in a Vegas like decor.

Someone (pictured) was exceptionally grumpy at this mall. Probably because we did not spring for the third or fourth ice cream.

Skincare is a big deal in Korea and forms a worthwhile souvenir. Their stuff really is very good. My face has not been this clear in a very long while.

Sonali's dad and aunt were able to join us in Korea. Unfortunately they fell sick early on and we not able to spend much time touring with us

Not to give the impression of this being a country of only malls. Seoul has been the seat of government for Korea for much of the last of the last 2,000 years with a slew of cultural landmarks.

This statue on the main boulevard to the Palace has newfound fame after being featured in a popular Korean drama. They even setup a picture platform to help recreate the scene for the locals and tourists.

The reenactment of the ceremony that took place when the guards changed during the Joseon dynasty. I am still a little uncertain why these ceremonies are such a big thing.

The largest and most prominent is Gyeongbokgong Place where the thing to do is dress up in traditional Korean dress and tour the grounds. We opted not to dress up (to our West Coast American sensibilities it feels like cultural appropriation) on our lengthy look around the castle. What’s striking about these landmarks is how much of them were destroyed in the various occupations of Korea, often on purpose to emphasize the conquerors sovereignty. Much of what you see is a deliberate attempt to reclaim that cultural heritage.

There is extensive art work on the eaves of the Palace. This style of structure is common across the historical monuments in Seoul.

The main throne room of the Palace. The art work and paint carries on indoors.

Gyeongbokgong is a large complex. This Palace is Gyeonghoeru, which was heavily used in the summertime as it was naturally cooler than the main building.

We came right at the end of blossom season. This was the last one in bloom on the grounds.

Restoring this complex is a work in progress since much of it was destroyed. This is a building that has been rebuilt and awaiting the traditional paint treatment.

The impressive Folk Art Museum building was just off the side of the Gyeongbokgong Palace.

There was so much in our local area it was hard to convince ourselves to hop on a train and go somewhere else, but one day I did manage a more extensive walking tour. I took a walk through the Korean National Museum, took a stroll down to the river front to the walking and cycling trails. Came back up through a residential district, then took a tour of the grounds of the much bigger than I was expecting Korean War Memorial.

The courtyard of the Korean National Museum. I liked how serene it was on a rainy day.

The Chinese and Japanese influence shaped Korean pottery. These were early examples used by the royal court.

This helmet had a long path back to Korea. Promised to the winner of the marathon in the 1936 Olympics Games, it never made it to Son Gi-Jeong and remained in Berlin. It was finally turned over to Korea in 1986.

The Korean war memorial building. I reached late and did not have a chance to go in. The grounds were impressive and took some time to tour.

Monument to the US Soldiers who fought in this war. Each participating nation along with the UN has a pillar which is adorned with a inscription and size of the participation and casualties. The Canadian one (not pictured) had fresh flowers placed, a sober reminder that this is an active memorial for a recent conflict.

Along the way I got a reminder of how similar we all are. If there is a city mix-use path, there will be someone training for the Tour De France passing a guy on a mountain bike blaring bad music from a bluetooth speaker, all while a group is obliviously and leisurely crossing right in front. There are some experiences that are truly universal.

The main Seoul plaza at night.

Inspired by our trips through the Lotte malls we decided to visit the Lotte World Tower even though the visibility was somewhat poor. I just couldn’t get on the glass floor no matter how much my brain tried to tell me it was perfectly safe. This was still a highlight of our trip and surprisingly fun.

The Lotte World Tower is 1,821ft tall making it the 6th tallest tower in the world.

I should have done the research and realized that the Observation deck had plexiglass floors. Rationally I know they are perfectly safe but it took some time to work up the courage. Sonali and Mira were not phased.

The visibility was not the best but it was still an impressive sight to see the expanse of Seoul.

Next door to the tower is an indoor/outdoor theme park and mall, Lotte World.

A view of the Olympic part out to the east.

Standing on top of the world.

Our side trip to Busan ended up being a bit of a bust as we were kinda tired at this point. We basically just ate and relaxed in the hotel. The spa theme seems relevant in Busan. Our hotel was next to an official medical street full of plastic surgeons.

We were a little off the waterfront in Busan giving us an extensive view of the built-up city. I think we were a little surprised by the number of helipads

Though far from empty, Busan was far more low-key than Seoul

What we ate

The Dan Dan noodles were my favorite, especially the spicy variety. We found the food courts at the Lotte malls a good option for our varied tastes. Most food was not American child approved.

These were so good I nearly devoured it all before I was reminded to take a picture.

To say we were excited about trying the food in Korea is an understatement. Our first experience with Korean food was years ago on Buford Highway with soft tofu soup and has grown to the point that we almost always have kimchi in the fridge. Restaurant food we really like coupled with a vibrant street food culture is a dream.

No Korean trip is complete without Bibimbop. This one was from a little restaurant on Yulgok-ro-3.

There was a Chinese restaurant in Lotte world with some of the best dumplings we've ever had.

Some of the food was beyond our comfort level though. Whole fish (if it’s looking at you, it’s not food), beef intestine, and blood sausage are still a little too advanced. Coupled with the picky tastes of the little one, we did have to visit a few fast food American restaurants.

Yes we did American fast food while in a foreign country. The menu was different and this Korean take on a Nashville fried chicken sandwich was really good.

There is a large street food culture in Korea with a lot of tasty treats and variations of meat-on-sticks. My favorite though was the tornado potato which is like a giant seasoned french-fry.

Our biggest revelation though is that we are super spoiled living in a large US city. When we want good Korean food we drive a reasonable distance and have food made by Koreans. And this is the same for so many other nationalities and cuisines, well except I can walk to to the taco truck. The non-Korean food was just okay. A good change of pace for when we couldn’t do more kimchi, but nothing to write home about.

We got pizza one night in a very international meal. Food from Italy, hot sauce from the US, and beer from Europe.

The Korean beer was not very good. Of the major Kass was our favorite and Terra was okay. The Microbrews were not much better. The Jeju passed the bar to good. The one in the middle was a take on a coffee stout that was totally undrinkable.

Random Cultural Highlights

The toilets were really cool. Every hotel we went to had the super automated ones with the heated seats.

Perhaps the oddest social quirk was the requirement to wear a swim cap at the hotel pools. It’s the first time we’ve come across that restriction.

Things we missed

A week is nowhere near enough time for a city like Seoul and we missed a lot on our list. We didn’t eat Korean barbecue, somewhat due to coordination issues with the rest of the family. We also missed out on the fancy restaurants, though this time because we didn’t preplan reservations or pack fancy clothes. I really wanted to make it to the Olympic park and the World Cup stadium.

The hallway at the Plaza Autograph.

Not to mention how little we actually ended up doing in Busan. We never made it to the fish market or the other cultural attractions. The spa and swimming pool were nice though.

Final Thoughts

Time to head back home.

Delta One was a relatively inexpensive upgrade so we went for the splurge. It was a whole different experience and I got some real sleep on the way back. Mira, though, wasn’t super happy on being isolated from us which I’m sure will be a fleeting moment.

The last major splurge of the trip. Lie down seats.

It was also a disappointment that we weren’t able to spend that much time with our family since they were not feeling well the entire trip. At least everyone made it back safely.

Korea was a unique experience. With how much our respective cultures export it did not feel that foreign or exotic. I spent a lot of time wondering how “real” the experience was or what we were missing out on and I’m sure the experience would be different staying in someone’s home versus in hotels. Of course it’s rather silly to reduce an entire country to a singular “experience” and there were plenty of Koreans doing the same things we were.

Sometimes it was easy to forget that you were in a foreign country, no more so than when walking through a boulevard flanked by modern office towers. However one turn and you find yourself back in the dense alleyways stacked with restaurants and boutiques.

All that gave a sense of dynamism and energy that explains why so many people are bullish on Asia. The change certainly seems to be going in the positive direction. I do wonder what we would find when we go back. I just hope that they don’t phase out the potato tornado.