Namsan (Seoul) Tower

            I would say the top tourist site that you must visit in South Korea is Namsan or Seoul Tower! Located on top of Mt. Namsan, Seoul Tower is the tallest point in the city with the best view. From the observation deck inside, you can see the entire city of Seoul including all the mountains surrounding it. In my opinion, try to get to the tower on a clear night so that you can see the city lights. It is a breathtaking site that is worth the long journey to see.

Information on Namsan Tower is as follows:
Ticket Counter:
Once you enter the area surrounding the tower, look for the ticket booth located to the right of the main entrance to the tower.  Here you can buy tickets to enter the observation deck of the tower and to also get into the teddy bear museum located at the bottom of the tower as well. I would recommend that you do both activities, as the Teddy Bear museum gives an extremely cute way to look at history. Information leaflets are also available in Korean, English, Chinese and Japanese to provide better convenience to those visiting.
N Seoul Tower Observatory Admission fee: Children (Ages 4-12): 3,000 won/ Teens and Adults (Ages 13-64): 7,000 won / Senior (Ages 65+): 5,000 won

Inside the Tower:
       Inside there are 7 floors in which you can travel to. Most of these floors include gift shops and restaurants, but one floor is an observation deck. To get to this floor, present your ticket at the end of the line for the "shocking" elevator. The line can take up to an hour, but it does have tv's and a light show inside the line, which presents the view of Seoul Tower. If you are with friends, this line takes no time at all and is worth the wait. Once inside the elevator, you will automatically be taken up to the observation deck where you can gaze out into the city. When you are done looking around, simply go down the stairs one floor located next to the gift shop and get in the line to go down the elevator, which takes considerably less time. Here is an outline of the floor plan:
N Seoul Tower Floor Guide

① N TOWER T5 : ‘N Grill,’ a revolving restaurant
② N TOWER T3 : Digital Observatory / Shocking Edge/Digital Telescope
High-powered Telescope
③ N TOWER T2 : Analogue Observatory / Down Elevator / Sky Restrooms
Souvenir Shop
④ N TOWER T1 : Korean restaurant ‘Hancook’
⑤ N PLAZA P2(F2) : Café Swee Tree / Roof Terrace / Multi Stage / Sky Road
⑥ N PLAZA P1(F1) : Bakery / Characters & Photos / Convenience store / Food Court / Reed of Light Garden / Shower of Light/Glass Terrace / Souvenir Shop / Ticket booth, etc ⑦ N PLAZA P0(B1) : Pavilion/Children’s Theater/Observatory Elevator Lobby/Bakery


Directions to the Tower:
            Since driving to the tower is prohibited, even by taxi, you must either take the cable car or the bus that goes up the mountain. To get to the cable car take subway line 4 to Myeongdong station and take exit 3. take the wide road next to the convenience store and walk straight to the left of Pacific Hotel. Continue walking the commercial quarter until you reach a small stairway, which you should go up. Keep walking, with the restaurants on your right, toward the direction of Namsan mountain. The vacant lot on your right will contain the cable car platform. Ticket sales are on the 3rd floor and you enter the cable on the 4th. Costs are as follows:
Fare: Round-trip: 6,300 won, One-way: 4,800 won
Hours: 10:00~22:30

To take the bus up the mountain,  and take Subway Line 3 or 4 to Chungmuro Station, and go out of Exit 2 to the right of Daehan Multiplex entrance.Take the yellow bus 2 at the bus stop in front of the subway station, paying with your T-money card. Then all you have to do is ride the bus till you get to the top of the mountain. Out of both of these methods, I prefer taking the bus because it is easier to find and use, without a lot of walking. If you want a good view as you travel up the mountain though, take the cable car.



Here are some photos of Namsan Tower:

Everland

        So today I went to a theme park called 'Everland' with my university. The weather was really cloudy and looked like it might have rained, but it wasn't raining when we left so we went anyways. It only took about an hour to get to Everland, even though it is located outside of Seoul near Yongin. When we first approached, we drove over a mountain and you could look down in the valley and see the park. I only hoped that I wouldn't have to do too much mountain hiking to get me through this park, but I did see a huge roller coaster that I was excited for. Getting even closer to the gates, I noticed something that perked my interest. The gate to Everland also led to a place called Caribbean Bay, which isn't connected to Everland but is located right next door. If any of you reading this are K-Pop fans, you will know Caribbean Bay because it is where 2PM and SNSD sang 'Cabi song.' I wanted to go, but I couldn't. Fortunately, the weather wasn't good enough to go to Caribbean Bay anyways because it is like a pool and ocean-like area.
       Entering Everland, I got even more excited. It felt like going to Disney World again because the theme here is different countries and because it is really for little kids. Unfortunately, while we were standing there waiting for our wristbands to get into the park, it started raining. My friend and I decided that the first thing we were going to do was ride a roller coaster before all the rides shut down, and that is exactly what we did. The closest one to the gate worth merit was Rolling X-Train, so we rode it. Let me say it was far more disappointing than I thought! I am used to Cedar point and this roller coaster was dinky and really short. It also was the only ride we got to ride in the park, even though there was only one other ride I would ride. It was the biggest roller coaster in the park and it looked awesome but it was closed. It was the T Express, the steepest roller coaster in the world! it was such a bummer not to ride it. All there was left to do now was shop and do indoor activities.

Entering Everland

T Express

Cute things under the cute tree

       Everland is divided into different zones: Global Fair, American Adventure, Magic Land, European Adventure and Zoo-Topia. The first one we visited was Zoo-Topia where I took a safari ride that changes my desire to go to Zoos. This safari had the animals just walking around on their own and the buses would drive right up next to them! I have never been so close to a Lion or Bear before in my entire life! The lions were literally walking around on the streets! Another great thing about this safari is that it had a Liger, a mix between a lion and a tiger. It was pretty sweet! After the safari, my friend and I went into the gift shop to buy what we had been seeing everywhere: Cute animal ear headbands! Let me tell you, you cannot go to Everland without buying a set of these ears! One: It will make you feel left out if you don't and Two: They really do make you feel a lot like a kid again, which I love!

Ears and Glasses to Buy at Everland

       To talk about the events that I participated in in all the little places around the park, I must first say that it was all in Korean and I didn't understand any part of the performance or movie that I was participating in. On that note, almost all the indoor activities were side shows where you could see a 4D movie or watch a little skit. They were all really cute and Korean, but I didn't get it at all. Still, it was a great way to waste time in the park. Also, I loved participating in little kid activities! There was one activity that was indoor that was not a show and that was a shooting game in a Haunted mansion. The game was a little disappointing because it was shorter than I anticipated but My friend and I beat these two military men we were playing against! Haha I felt so bad for them, but it was awesome!

Garden at Everland

Everland bench

        Now before I end this post, I would like to comment on the shopping that can be done at Everland. When you first go there, all you see is shops filled with cute stuff, but let me warn you! All the shops sell the exact same thing so there is no point in going into every single one of them, like my friend made me do! If you want to buy something, go to the huge store at the entrance of the park, because it sells more than the other shops and because it includes everything the little shops sell. It saves time if you just go here first and buy your animal ears! Anything else you buy is up to you, but I would recommend saving your money and only getting the ears, which I think are necessary for you to truly enjoy your experience. Overall, I think Everland is awesome except for the stores and some of the indoor activities, but I am sure if you go on a non-rainy day, it will be a great experience for you and your friends/family! Just like Disney World, except smaller!

Cute Liger Bus that has an animal pop out of it!

Insadong

One of the places I wanted to go to first when arriving in Seoul was Insadong. I had heard that this was one of the best places to find souvenirs and K-pop items because you could bargain the price down. Insadong is an extremely long street that is just for shopping for souvenir related items. To get there you would need to head toward and get off at Anguk station exit 6 I believe. After exiting the station walk straight and on your left you will see an information booth and a street full of shoppers. That is Insadong.
       My advice for anyone whom goes there is to bring a lot of money and a list of all the people you need to buy for on your trip. This is the perfect place to buy gifts for the family back at home. And Always ALWAYS try and bargain the price down. If you are obviously a foreigner you can usually get a lower price. Other tools are to tell them you saw a place selling it for less or that you will pay cash. These will usually knock down the price of anything you buy, even if you are in other markets not in Insadong. Another trick that I forgot to mention that I used a lot is to package deal. Tell them that if you buy this and this you will pay a price lower than what is priced. Trust me! These people are stocked up on goods and they desperately want to sell, so if you are buying more than one item they are certain to knock the price down. Always offer lower too until they won't go any lower, and if you still think that is an unreasonable price, go somewhere else. The bad thing about this market is that they all seem to be selling the same thing. This is good for bargaining, but after awhile looking in some of the shops just gets boring.
       In Insadong there is also a mini-mall, which sells cute things and clothes. Things you won't find on the street of Insadong. In this mini-mall there is a cheap place to take Japanese style photo booth pictures. The great thing about this place is that they will let you borrow a free Hanbok, Korean traditional dress, to wear during your photo so you can look cute and Korean for your picture. It was really cheap and really fun so I would recommend you try it!
       Food in Insadong can get expensive. There are only restaurants on the sides because there really isn't any room for street vendors until you get out towards the intersection. If you are in the middle of Insadong street and you get hungry just face the fact that it might be a little pricey. When I went with my friends we found this great waffle place that was really expensive so we just split the waffles and shared. They were absolutely delicious!!

       I would say one of my favorite things about Insadong was looking at all the traditional crafts and picking out what I wanted to buy. It was hard to budget in my head, that's why I would suggest making a list, but overall I didn't spend too much and I got an idea of what I wanted to buy when I am here. I think towards the end of my trip I might go back to buy a few more things before I go home. My advice though is to just wait till the end of your trip before you go. There is plenty of places to shop at in Seoul and you don't want to blow your money all in one place. If you need to, don't buy that day and then think about it overnight if you really want that item. This was a great help to me deciding what I wanted and what I didn't want. It is always easy to go back to a certain place, so as long as you remember where the item is, you can still get it.

Cute Cell Phone Charms

Village People Statues

Little Girl's Hanbok

Hello Kitty's in Hanbok

Mini-Mall

Paper Shoes

Golden Pigs

The street of Insadong

Photo Booth Pic

Stores of Insadong

Streets

Insadong

Palaces of Seoul

       One of the first things I did when I came here to Seoul was go see the Palaces located throughout the city. If you have a map of Seoul, they are very easy to point out. The biggest of these palaces are the Gyeongbokgung and the Changdeokgung palaces, located very close to each other. Getting on the subway you can either get off at Anguk or Gyeongbokgung stations to find these palaces.
       The Gyeongbokgung palace was built in 1395 and was the new main palace of the Joseon Dynasty. With its completion, the capital was now moved to Seoul or known as Hanyang back then. The palace was destroyed by fire during the Japanese invasions of 1592 and was not reconstructed until 1868, the fifth year of King Gojong. During the Japanese invasion, most of the palace was torn down. It is still being restored today.
       The Changdeokgung palace was constructed in 1405, the fifth year of king Taejong. It was the secondary palace to Gyeongbokgung, the main palace. It too was destroyed by fire during the Japanese invasion, but it was restored in 1610 and served as the main palace for 270 years until Gyeonbokgung was reconstructed. The secret garden in the back of this palace is one of the most enchanting places in Korea. 
       The first palace I got to see while going there was Changdeokgung Palace. We didn't know what we had paid for when we entered, but apparently we got tickets to enter the palace and see the secret garden in the back. Let me tell you, it was worth it! In the Secret garden, there were ponds and temple-like buildings everywhere. It was like taking a scenic walk through the forest except even prettier. I enjoyed it tremendously! The tour was long, about 2 hours, but we got some great photos of the palace and even some of the people there. Luckily for us, it wasn't raining either, even though the day was dreary.
       Outside the palace, we found a bunch of small little restaurants from which we picked from and ate at. It was my first time eating at a small korean restaurant before where I could chose my food (on the feild trip we didn't get to pick). I got Bibimbap for the first time and it was actually really good. I have come to find that I quite enjoy Korean food and I am a picky eater. It was still pouring when we left the restaurant but we walked to Gyongbokgung palace anyways. This palace was huge and took hours to walk through! Also, the National Folk Museum is there too and it is decent sized too. I would suggest that if you go to Gyeongbokgung palace, go when it isn't rainy and find out where the main building is and the lake, because those are the most interesting parts. The rest of the palace looks the same. Overall though, it was a really exhausting day, but totally worth it. My favorite out of the two palaces: Changdeokgung palace and its Secret Garden.

Gyeongbokgung Palace:

 

 

Changdeokgung Palace: