Day 22: Change In Plans

I woke up bright and early this morning to get ready for the 3 hour drive to Daejon for the REI teacher's conference, but shortly after waking I received a knock at my door. It was Steven, and he came down to tell me that because of all the snow, the conference has been postponed to a future date. Apparently Thursday's country-wide blizzard was the highest recorded snowfall in Korea since 1904! Although Seoul only received about 15 cm., areas of the country, including Daejon, were buried under close to 50 cm! Snowfall this late in the year is highly unusual, but Mother Nature has been cranky to Korea for the past few weeks. Weather normally at this time of year is in the early teens, but a cold air mass from Siberia (yes, it really is from Siberia...haha) has been coming down and just sitting over the Korean peninsula. And so we anxiously await for spring....

So I had the whole day to myself, and no plans at all. I took the opportunity to go back to bed, and sleep in late (always enjoyable) and then eventually got up and decided to play tourist that day. I hopped on the train and it was off to Seoul Station to do some exploring of the city. My Lonely Planet: Seoul (god bless those people - they rock my world!) have a small listing of really cool "city walks" to check out in Seoul, and so I picked one today - the Mt. Namsan/Seoul Tower walk. AND IT TURNED OUT TO BE, QUITE POSSIBLY, MY BEST DAY YET IN KOREA!!!

Namsan is the mountain that's right smack in the middle of the city, and Seoul Tower, constructed in 1975, is Seoul's most popular landmark, rising as a sleek white pinnacle high above the bustling city. There is a gondola that goes up the mountain, but that's for wusses, and hey I need the exercise (and have the time) so why not hike it up? The hike up was actually easier and shorter than I thought it would be. It was a very brisk and cool afternoon, but it proved to be almost perfect weather for hiking up a very long staircase (no overheating!) The hike was absolutely amazing! The mountain is wooded and the hiking trail has plenty of places to rest and little 'sneak views' of the city as you climb. The view at the top is absolutely unbelievable!!!! Imagine in your head a sea of skyscrapers, for 360 degrees, as far as the eye can see, with astounding jagged mountains, attemting to hold in the burgeoning metropolis, covered under a light dusting of snow, all under a brilliant clear blue sky. That was what rewarded me at the top - man, it was sooo worth that climb. I literally just had to stop and stare and take it all in for like a good hour, and this was before I even went up the tower!

It was 5000 won to go up Seoul Tower, and its worth every penny. The view up there is even more breathtaking than at the mountain peak. You can see out in every direction, and it really does give you an idea of how incredibly massive this city is. Unlike say a North American city, which may have a collection of highrises downtown and then the rest of the city is low-rise sprawl, Seoul is literally almost all skyscrapers.
No matter what direction you turn your head, all you see are mile after mile after mile of endless apartment and office towers. You can even strain your eyes and see even more highrises in the far distance - the city literally goes on much further than what the human eye can see at that distance. And as mentioned before, what adds to the wonder of it all is the rim of mountains that circle the entire city, especially the peaks to the north which seemed so close, that I could almost reach out and touch them... Down below is a maze of crazy narrow streets running in every which way, and a chaotic labrinth of expressways attempting (rather futilely) to funnel traffic in and out of the city...so many cars, so many people, so many buildings!!! The Han River slices right through the middle - a wide and slow avenue of shimmering water, meandering towards the West Sea. From the top you can even see Yeouido Island, where I had gone exploring just last Monday. And at the tip of the island there was the 63 Building - with all its glittering golden glass, rising high up into the sky - so completely bright and massive that you can't help but have your eyes drawn to it. Other sights from atop Seoul Tower include the Olympic Stadium, the World Cup Stadium, "downtown Seoul" with its collection of Korean corporate headquarter towers, a dozen universities or more, Itaewon, and a million other neighbourhoods. Its an endless sea of sprawling urbanity, and its just so incredible - you swear you're on another planet! Unlike anything I've ever seen before....WOW!

I hiked back down but wasn't ready to go home yet, so I thought I'd go and check out another neighbourhood that I haven't been to yet. I'm not sure what the name of this particular area is, but it's inbetween the Jonggak and Jongno 3-ga subway stations, and it was so much fun! It was completely packed and busy and full of stores, restaurants, and bars. It was sorta like being at Bucheon again, only imagine Bucheon on steroids! Lots of cool places to explore, and many familiar chains there too, like TGI Fridays, Outback Steakhouse, and Starbucks. I went looking for the Tower Records, but it's not where my map says it should be! I walked up and down several streets looking for it, but alas, never did find that elusive store. One day I will.... I've been told that maps of Seoul are often incorrect - sometimes the errors are small, and sometimes way off completely. Not sure why that is, but hey you just gotta go with the flow I guess. I didn't find Tower Records, but I got to see lots of this really lively cool bustling hip happenin' area of town - one I definitely plan on going back to to explore more thoroughly.

I came across a few amazing and unexpected sights, including the Jongro Tower. The Jongro Tower is probably the most unusual skyscraper that I have ever seen in my life!!! It's VERY TALL and futuristic looking, with three giant supporting beams that rise up past the roof of the tower, to support a massive ring around the top. It's absolutely nuts and crazy to explain - check out the photo of it here:

http://www.emporis.com/en/il/im/?id=140542

It looks like it's from an alien city in 2156 or something eh? Even more amazing when standing just across the street from it....

Well it was getting dark and I was starting to really feel the cold at this point, so it was back on the Incheon Train, down Line 1, and back to my apartment. I got changed and then headed over to Halloween to meet up with Charles and Chris for some drinks. I was the first to arrive, so while I was enjoying a good stiff G&T at the bar by myself this group of people next to me started chatting me up. They were 2 Korean girls and 2 Canadian guys and were all English teachers who worked together. They were super friendly and it was cool to meet some new people. They're regulars at this bar and even know who Charles is (of course, *everyone* knows who crazy Charles!! haha!) Charles showed up a bit later (Chris never did) and we all hung out and had some drinks together. Around 1am I was really starting to feel tired, and Charles was still recovering from his night out at Halloween there the night before, so we headed home and I hit the hay. A completely amazing and awesome day. Its days like today, full of such wonder and amazement and inspiration and discovery, that are the reason why I came to Korea.