Weekend trip to Seoul..
Travelling was always my cup of tea.. I love it even more if I get it do it alone sometimes.. Its like rediscovering yourself in your own pace. So G pushed me to do this since he felt I'm eating his brains doing nothing :) .. This trip planned for 2 reasons, one to have "my time" another one is to see how my son behaves if I go away for one night. I can say it was a happy ending.. Joey had great time with his dad and I have been telling him I'm on my school tour just like his and will only come on Sunday. For almost 3yr old , he understood well enough.. I was little nervous until Friday even double minded to drop this plan. But my other self was challenging me to do this for my inner-self sake. I decided to it my way, new way ..completely like a budget backpacking..
Plan: Well! actually no plan other than keeping the ground rules- Take public transport, stay at a guest house, do window shopping and try lots of street food.. I started my open minded self exploration trip..
The D day arrived.. I started off before Joey woke up to make sure he doesn't see me completely 2 sleeps.. I took Busan metro to reach BUSAN station where I boarded fast train(KTX) to Seoul. Train was so fast , never experienced something like that before. Very convenient ,Fast (300km/hr) and cheap too. One way from Busan to Seoul Station standard class with reserved seat is only 58$(for first class its only 99$) . But I recommend to book it in advance if you are travelling on weekends. I reached Seoul in 3 hrs around 11am. Walked around the station to get the grip of the new place, it took me atleast 30 min to find my way. I got map from Information center and I thought I start off with traditional Korean Hanok village(they have traditional houses where actual people lived in olden days). Let me write separate post for this, since I visited 2 different Hanok village.
First one is Namsan village(Take subway line 4 blue line Chungmuro ) where low level govt officials lived during those days and some houses were actual Kings family and their wives lived. Another one is Bukchon village which used to be royal or high official living district in olden days. Now people live in those Hanok houses, govt give them subsidy to keep the appearance of the village mainly for tourism and for future generations to see.. You could go to Seoul tower from here to get a better view of the city.
From Namsan Village ,I went to Myeongdong shopping street(Take subway line 4 blue line Myeongdong ). It was so good,if you like street food and shopping. I think its the best place coz you have all the international brands like ZARA/H &M/ FOREVER 21 etc., and local brands in the area. I think I spent 3 or 4 hrs just walking each lane for trying out lot of street food. I managed to buy some tops for me too(considering I hardly find my size in KOREA).. This is the best place to buy cosmetics too, lot of cosmetics shops lined up with huge discounts and free samples if you buy anything.
By 5pm, I decided check out the cultural center I found in M plaza in the main streets of Myeongdong to charge my phone and ask them what's happening in the city next day. Staffs at cultural centre very kind to let me charge my phone there and they gave me details on Cherry Blossom fest at Yeouido park and how to get there.
I took train to my guest house(that's right), I took private room with private bath for only 50$per night for double bed. It was so convenient -close to metro and close to night market. I freshened up and walked to Dongdaemun shopping street(Take subway line 4 blue line Dongdaemun or Dongdaemun history and cultural park). Weather was nice and warm for 6pm..When I reached there, I could see it was like Jin market in Busan. So many malls and each mall selling cloths, hand bags and fashion accessary. Best part is shops opened till 4am. Lot of tourist buses leaving the people here for night shopping I guess.
Day 2 I started off little late as I know living in Korea last 18 mons people start late finish late here.. So I checked out around 10 and took train to park leaving my back pack at Jongno3(sam)-ga station storage since it was my middle way to Yeouido park then to Bukchon then back to Seoul station to catch my Busan train.
Yeouido Park (Take subway line 5 purple line Yeouinaru exit 2) was lovely with lot of people(still not many) put up small tents for picnic and kids riding bicycle. Walking around the park was smoothing ,weather was very warm for a Spring day. You can even rent bi cyles here. I wish I had G and Joey with me..Park was huge and walked around for 2 hrs, when I was leaving I can see lot of people coming to the park. Subway Station was crowded around mid day and I was thankful I came early(??) and I headed to Bukchon village.
I spent second half of my day walking around Bukchon village(Subway line 3 orange line Anguk exit 2). I got a map of the village from the information center and just followed the map. There is info in the map where to try out Korean stamps, painting, drawing , dyeing, Hanbok(dress) etc., It was a good educational thing for kids. But beware lot of walking. Need atleast 3 hrs to walk around patiently and down the hill I think I spent walking around the small lanes of shops and had best Korean food.. You can walk to Insadong where you could buy Korean souvenirs.. whole street is lined up with lot of souvenir shops and its very lively with lot of people walking in the street and so many interesting stuff to buy.
Its almost time to leave, I had to say good bye to Seoul for wonderful experience and I learnt so much about myself too in the trip which I almost forgot in last 3 yrs. I think once in a while I had to do this to rediscover myself. Happy to reach home and see DH made special dinner for me. Yes, I know I am lucky.. Gnite.
Check out my other posts on exploring the world openmindedly as a solo traveller for more pictures..
#SayYesToTheWorld #LufthansaIndia #theblindlist
More #Blinddate stories from my #blindlist:
- Lost and Found myself
- A day with my date
- Seoul - Namsangol Village
- Bukchon Village - Seoul
- Yeouido Park - Seoul (Popular for Cherry Blossom)
- Shopping in Seoul
- Busan(Korea) to Tsushima Island(Japan)
Plan: Well! actually no plan other than keeping the ground rules- Take public transport, stay at a guest house, do window shopping and try lots of street food.. I started my open minded self exploration trip..
The D day arrived.. I started off before Joey woke up to make sure he doesn't see me completely 2 sleeps.. I took Busan metro to reach BUSAN station where I boarded fast train(KTX) to Seoul. Train was so fast , never experienced something like that before. Very convenient ,Fast (300km/hr) and cheap too. One way from Busan to Seoul Station standard class with reserved seat is only 58$(for first class its only 99$) . But I recommend to book it in advance if you are travelling on weekends. I reached Seoul in 3 hrs around 11am. Walked around the station to get the grip of the new place, it took me atleast 30 min to find my way. I got map from Information center and I thought I start off with traditional Korean Hanok village(they have traditional houses where actual people lived in olden days). Let me write separate post for this, since I visited 2 different Hanok village.
(I only covered small part of Seoul in 2 days, I high lighted the places I visited , this is just small part of the subway map not complete one.. full subway map can be found here)
First one is Namsan village(Take subway line 4 blue line Chungmuro ) where low level govt officials lived during those days and some houses were actual Kings family and their wives lived. Another one is Bukchon village which used to be royal or high official living district in olden days. Now people live in those Hanok houses, govt give them subsidy to keep the appearance of the village mainly for tourism and for future generations to see.. You could go to Seoul tower from here to get a better view of the city.
From Namsan Village ,I went to Myeongdong shopping street(Take subway line 4 blue line Myeongdong ). It was so good,if you like street food and shopping. I think its the best place coz you have all the international brands like ZARA/H &M/ FOREVER 21 etc., and local brands in the area. I think I spent 3 or 4 hrs just walking each lane for trying out lot of street food. I managed to buy some tops for me too(considering I hardly find my size in KOREA).. This is the best place to buy cosmetics too, lot of cosmetics shops lined up with huge discounts and free samples if you buy anything.
By 5pm, I decided check out the cultural center I found in M plaza in the main streets of Myeongdong to charge my phone and ask them what's happening in the city next day. Staffs at cultural centre very kind to let me charge my phone there and they gave me details on Cherry Blossom fest at Yeouido park and how to get there.
I took train to my guest house(that's right), I took private room with private bath for only 50$per night for double bed. It was so convenient -close to metro and close to night market. I freshened up and walked to Dongdaemun shopping street(Take subway line 4 blue line Dongdaemun or Dongdaemun history and cultural park). Weather was nice and warm for 6pm..When I reached there, I could see it was like Jin market in Busan. So many malls and each mall selling cloths, hand bags and fashion accessary. Best part is shops opened till 4am. Lot of tourist buses leaving the people here for night shopping I guess.
Day 2 I started off little late as I know living in Korea last 18 mons people start late finish late here.. So I checked out around 10 and took train to park leaving my back pack at Jongno3(sam)-ga station storage since it was my middle way to Yeouido park then to Bukchon then back to Seoul station to catch my Busan train.
Yeouido Park (Take subway line 5 purple line Yeouinaru exit 2) was lovely with lot of people(still not many) put up small tents for picnic and kids riding bicycle. Walking around the park was smoothing ,weather was very warm for a Spring day. You can even rent bi cyles here. I wish I had G and Joey with me..Park was huge and walked around for 2 hrs, when I was leaving I can see lot of people coming to the park. Subway Station was crowded around mid day and I was thankful I came early(??) and I headed to Bukchon village.
I spent second half of my day walking around Bukchon village(Subway line 3 orange line Anguk exit 2). I got a map of the village from the information center and just followed the map. There is info in the map where to try out Korean stamps, painting, drawing , dyeing, Hanbok(dress) etc., It was a good educational thing for kids. But beware lot of walking. Need atleast 3 hrs to walk around patiently and down the hill I think I spent walking around the small lanes of shops and had best Korean food.. You can walk to Insadong where you could buy Korean souvenirs.. whole street is lined up with lot of souvenir shops and its very lively with lot of people walking in the street and so many interesting stuff to buy.
Its almost time to leave, I had to say good bye to Seoul for wonderful experience and I learnt so much about myself too in the trip which I almost forgot in last 3 yrs. I think once in a while I had to do this to rediscover myself. Happy to reach home and see DH made special dinner for me. Yes, I know I am lucky.. Gnite.
Check out my other posts on exploring the world openmindedly as a solo traveller for more pictures..
#SayYesToTheWorld #LufthansaIndia #theblindlist
More #Blinddate stories from my #blindlist:
- Lost and Found myself
- A day with my date
- Seoul - Namsangol Village
- Bukchon Village - Seoul
- Yeouido Park - Seoul (Popular for Cherry Blossom)
- Shopping in Seoul
- Busan(Korea) to Tsushima Island(Japan)
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