Long Day Walking

Friday, Aug. 26, Seoul

I've been surprised by how cool it has been while I've been here. I really haven't needed the air conditioner in the evening. And related to being cool, myd visits to the palaces have made me wonder how people stayed warm in previous centuries with only rice paper walls and windows. The tours have explained how they used fires underneath the stone floors to create warmth, but Seoul gets snow in the winter. I would imagine that the heated stone floors would have little effect in terms of providing real comfort.

It's sunny today, so it will be warm. I will make it a long walking day. Someone asked why my blog isn't including distances these days. It's because I need to replace the battery in my pedometer. I didn't check it before I left Texas. It was dead when I pulled it out of the suitcase here on Tuesday. It will be easier for me to replace the battery in Thailand where far more people speak English than here. I hope to start measuring my walks again next week. My guess is that I have been walking only 6-10 miles per day so far.
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I'm sitting in a pagoda-like pavilion partially up the side of Namsan Hill. There is a nice panaramic view of northern Seoul and the mountains beyond. Just below me is Namsan Village, a collection of five traditional Korean homes that have been moved here to form a cultural museum. I've toured the homes which are furnished with antiques and traditional decor. It's been interesting seeing them. There are also cultural deomonstrations here, but all I saw this morning were a man doing calligraphy and a woman in a wedding dress. It's only 10:45--much too early for anything to be happening.

Before the village, I stopped at Korea House. I thought it would be similar, but it is strictly an entertainment complex (restaurant, theater, gift shop) with little to see. There are mostly night and weekend activities there.
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This turned out to definitely be the Big Walking Day in which I learned that my map is not to scale outside the downtown area. The only major tourist area of town I had not seen yet was Itaewon, and it is really just a shopping and night club district. Instead of going there, I decided to make a big loop to the southwest. I walked to Seoul Station and down to Gongdeok. From there, I continued to Sangsu, the location of Hongik University. The area had a wonderful student neighborhood feel to it. From there, I turned back to Sichon. It was 2:00 p.m. by then, and I was hungry and thirsty. I bought a 1.5 l Diet Coke at a convenience store, and I went to the food hall at Hyundia Department Store and got a steamed bun filled with a spicy meat mixture. Hyndia wasn't as nice a store as the two I had toured Tuesday, but neither was the neighborhood. I got the impression it had been one of the first suburban centers built during the expansion of Seould into a megacity in the 1970s or early 1980s. It's nice, but not new any longer. What seemed grand then does not seem so special today.

The long walk continued back into downtown where I stopped to tour the National History Museum (which should have its title extended with "of Seould" since it was almost exclusively about the city. The exhibits were interesting. I especially liked some films taken in the 1920s and 1930s. When I left the museum, I was tired, so I walked directly back to the hotel. Not counting a pause I had at Namsan Village this morning, I had been walking for 6 hours! It was nice, however, to get away into the suburban areas to get an idea of how most people in Seoul live.

Coments/Questions:

1. Where are all the American soldiers? Are they restricted from coming to Seoul? Do they find Seoul difficult with the language and stay near bases where the locals are more likely to speak English?

2. People here are a little disorganized. It's obvious from looking in shop windows. Except for stores catering to the upper crust, things are stacked here and there with a bit of a messy look.

3. Will I find it more difficult next year when I return for 9 days with plans to tour the rest of the country? Will it be a problem taking buses and trains and finding hotels? I don't think I've been to any country where people catering to budget tourists speak less English than here.

Diet Coke (1.5 l) 1900 won
Steamed Bun 1500
National Museum of History 700

Total: 4100 won = $4.04