There are four ways to get to Seoul from ICN. First the commuter train, which stops about 9 times between ICN and the Seoul Station, including Gimpo. This train is probably the cheapest at 4,150 KRW, but the slowest, taking an hour, and it is a subway, so if you have a lot of luggage, good luck. Also, if the Seoul Station is not where you want to be, you have to get on other line or catch a cab.
Next is the AREX train, which is a direct line from ICN to the Seoul Station. It's faster than the above, only taking 43 minutes, but it's 8,000 KRW and you still end up at the Seoul Station.
The next is the limousine buses. These are buses that will take you to a general area of Seoul and will drop you off at certain hotels. They take about the same time as the commuter train, but cost anywhere from 5,000-10,000 KRW. You have to know which bus to catch, and where to catch it, but it's a comfortable way to end up in the area you need to be.
The last is what we did, and just catch a cab. It took just under an hour, but we were exactly where we needed to be without trying to navigate the subway with four rolling bags. It was expensive at 70,000 KRW because we needed a jumbo cab. It would have been cheaper if we had arranged for a cab in advance.
We finally got to the flat we were staying in, which was a part of a huge apartment building. Incidentally, Seoul has twice the number of people as London, in half the amount of space, so I was amazed to find that a flat rental was a quarter the price. It was cheaper to rent a flat than stay in a hotel. We knew our flat number and the entry code, but couldn't figure out how to get into the building due to another keypad outside we didn't know the code for. I called the building super, trying to explain the situation, when a kind woman and her son walked by and explained in FLAWLESS English (seriously, when did that happen in the last 20 years?} that we were looking for the Officetel and needed to go to the other side of the building a look for a small revolving door. Bless that woman. Trundling four rolling bags, we FINALLY got into the apartment, late. I had gotten us a reservation at the N. Grill at the Namsan Tower and we had to hurry to Myeongdong to change money and then hurry to the cable cars to take us up the mountain. I hurried and changed and slapped some make up on, and we caught a cab because it would be faster.
If possible, change any currency in Myeongdong as it has much better rates than the airport, but we got a rate of 1047 KRW per USD, plus the exchange cost and 1080 KRW per USD in Myeongdong with no commission. So, it's really only the difference of a few dollars. We later walked up the road about 10 minutes to the Namsan Oreumi. The fastest way to the cable cars is just to leave Myeongdong Station, exit 3, and walk up the road, veering to the right, but it's easy to get lost, and it's a bit of a hike. The easier way to go by the Oreumi, a free standing elevator that rises at a 45 degree angle up the mountain. This map is roughly the path we took (I had the crappy, smaller camera, so please forgive quality of the pictures):
Namsan tunnel #3, this is the tunnel we'd take home to Itaewon
I took a picture of this because I thought it was a monument to a person or an event, but now I've read it, and all it says is Namsan Tunnel #3. I feel like an idiot.
Namsan Oreumi
The view from the cable car station, Those are the wires on the right.
Have some blurry pictures of Seoul. I got a picture from the cable car. It's amazing; it feels like you're floating over the city.
Namsan literally means "South Mountain" meaning it was south of the majority of Seoul a long time ago. Now it's in the middle of Seoul. It's a nature reserve with a pool, library, and miles of walking paths. Someday I plan on hiking it, but since Bukit Timah in Singapore nearly killed me a few years ago at 163.63 metres (537 ft.), I better get into shape before I attempt Namsan at 262 metres (860 ft). It is the highest point in Seoul.
In 1971, the Namsan tower was built, and in 2005, remodeled and renamed to N. Seoul Tower, but no one I know calls it that. There's a small park at the base of it where you can see where the original fortress wall was, the warning beacons (which I didn't get a picture of, sorry!), the 남산 팔각정 (Palgakjeong), an 8 sided pavilion, some art, and the lovelocks.
남산 팔각정 (Palgakjeong)
The tower lights up at light and plays a show with music. They were playing Maroon 5 and I wondered if it was because they're coming to Seoul later this year.
There are 7 love lock "trees" that you can hang your lock on.
Before we left, I arranged for a lock with Justin's and mine Korean names on it along with our wedding date. This is uncharacteristically sappy of me. I did it because I like to think there's a little of us in Seoul all the time. You can buy a lock at the gift shop for about $10, but I had ours engraved, and it ended up costing more than that. Oh well. Hopefully it lasts a long time.
We had a really hard time finding a place to put it, and then getting it locked on. We didn't want to hook it to someone else's lock because they usually get rusted and break.
This is where you are supposed to deposit the keys so people stop tossing them over the side of the mountain.
Have a terrible, blurry picture of me.
Long way from home. A reservation at the N. Grill comes with free entrance to the Observation Deck.
View is pretty awesome
Our dinner was at the N. Grill, which is a haute cuisine restaurant on the top floor of the tower. It's about $100 a plate for some pretty good food, but the view is incredible. The floor rotates a full circle over the course of an hour (about the same time as your meal) and even the basic course we ordered came with 6 courses. Unfortunately, at this point we'd been awake for so long, and we so jet lagged, that we kept dozing off between courses and would jump every time the waiter would bring us something. I didn't take any pictures of the food, but Google N. Grill and plenty of other people have.
Afterwards we took the cable car down, but couldn't figure out the best way to get back to the flat. We hadn't gotten our subway cards yet, and I didn't know the best place to catch a cab so we just started walking in the general direction we were supposed to go. I hailed down one cab (no cabs would stop for Justin) but we'd walked so far, that the cabbie told us we should just walk. When I pointed out I was in HEELS, he said he'd do it for 10,000 KRW (three times what it should have cost) and I told him to get lost., He drove off in a huff and we continued walking. We finally somehow wound up at the City Hall station, and bought some T-Money cards. Unfortunately, this station was on a line that wouldn't get us anywhere near our flat, so we continued walking. It took about 30 minutes, but we got back, exhausted and ready to catch some much needed Z's.
My fitbit report for that day.
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