One week after coming home, we’re still a bit hungover on Seoul and have yet to consume another round of Korean BBQ. Till then, here’s the 2nd part of our trip, which consisted of another day trip to the DMZ, Insadong, Hongdae and a sheep cafe. Yup, we saw alpacas and sheep in Seoul!
Day 4: DMZ Tour, Deoksugung, Insadong
After having a free and easy day in the middle leg of our trip, we had another day tour to see the DMZ. As a History teacher who studied and subsequently taught the Korean War, this was an absolute must for me. This year was also ultra significant in view of the 2018 meetings between the leaders of North and South Korea. Unfortunately, a full day tour to Panmunjom (JSA) was not available as the guide informed us that they are in the midst of clearing land mines. Nonetheless, the half day DMZ was good enough and it also gave us the afternoon to explore other areas in Seoul.
Our day tour by Klook.com covered the following areas:
- Freedom Bridge
- Dora Observatory
- Dorasan Station
- 3rd Infiltration Tunnel
The full list of places can be found here. The tour included lunch, near the drop off at Cityhall so it was very convenient.
Since we were in the area, we decided to catch the changing of guards ceremony at the Deoksugung palace before heading to Insadong in the evening to see their art bazaar.
Day 5: Hongdae all day – Universities & Sheep
It was the last full day in Seoul and we spent the bulk of it at Hongdae, the West side of Seoul. First up, we purposely ate a light lunch so that we could eat bingsu dessert at a sheep cafe!
Initially HJ wasn’t too enthusiastic about smelling sheep in a cafe but the sheep are not inside the cafe so there wasn’t any bad smell! All cafe goers can mingle with the two resident sheep, Ellie and Ella. This completed my Seoul trip goals because I managed to see both alpacas and sheep!
Besides cafes, other popular sites in the Hongdae area include the Universities, namely Hongik University, Ewha Women’s University and their shopping streets. We spent more time at the latter, which is simply BEAUTIFUL. HJ says it’s the most beautiful campus we’ve visited together, even nicer than Imperial College UK!
The weather was a bit gloomy, with passing showers but campus with its orange and brown foliage was simply stunning. It is also Seoul’s most famous women only institution and the largest. Really tempting to consider Grad studies but nah, it was just a fleeting thought.
Thereafter, we headed back to downtown Seoul, crossing the Cheonggyecheon-ro stream, before going to Myeongdong for the BEST Kulgaksu ever.
On the whole, Seoul was another splendid trip. The weather was ideal in the sense that it ranged from -3 to 12 degrees and gradually became warmer towards the end of our trip. The day after we got back, temperatures had dipped suddenly so if we went one week later, we would be freezing in -10/-11 degrees.
Between Seoul and Japan, Seoul was fun but I will always be drawn to Japan in a way that is hard to explain. Even after having gone to Japan 3 times, I don’t think I will ever fully exhaust that place in a way that would make me feel bored.
Now that our holiday is over, it’s back to reality and pending quite a busy 2019 in a few weeks time. Till the next one… March 2019? 🙂
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