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Day
2 (September 26, 2023) Seoul
Before
In our first full day in Seoul we will still have some tasks
to do, like purchasing train tickets for our return to Seoul the
following week, since there has been no way to complete the payment
online with our non-Korean card. We should have plenty of time to make
some visits close to the hotel.
The spots marked at map are:
0- Thomas Hotel Myeongdong
1- Seoul Station
2- Deoksugung Palace
3- Sungnyemun Gate
4- Namsan Cable Car
5- Seoul Tower
6- Namsangol Hanok Village
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After
Given that Eva has only slept three hours and that
theforecast for today is that it will rain during the entire day, we
decided that we will not move far from the hotel. After breakfast, Eva
comes back to sleep a little longer while I go to the train station to
get next week's tickets.
Right at the midpoint between the hotel and the station is
the Sungnyemun Gate, which we saw last night. It was a gate in the wall
that protected medieval Seoul.
When I get to the station I find an international ATM and I
take out 300000 won, which is €215. Then I go to the KTX ticket office
to get train tickets for next week. I pay 11000 won for each ticket
from Busan to Gyeongju, but when I want to get the next day's tickets
to return to Seoul from Gyeongju, they tell me there are none. When I
insist, they tell me that the only thing left is a night train that
arrives at Seoul at 12:45 AM
I come back to the hotel to ask for trains for
that day and I meet Eva, who was asking about a hairdresser. My idea is
to see my options out of the KTX (bullet train), but they tell me that
there are none and they give me the explanation: October 3th is the
last day of a multi-day vacation that they have here and everyone
return to Seoul that day. Furthermore, she tells me that there are no
seats neither in the night train..
This is a problem for us because we have a hotel night
reserved in Seoul for that day, so I make it a priority to solve it. I
leave Eva at the hair salon and go back to the station to buy the
tickets that I rejected earlier and I get them by 42000 won each. Even
though it's late, it seems like our best solution.
On the way back I pass through the historic gate, which
turns out to be a shortcut and is free, and stop at a 7eleven to buy
two T-money cards for 2000 won each and load both with 20000 won.
I pick Eva up from the hair salon, which is
located in a sort of maze underground shopping center, and we eat at a
Korean barbecue restaurant next to the hotel by 40000 won. After this
we go up to the room to rest.
We leave towards City Hall square, which is quite
crowded, with a lot of police and several soldiers. We enter Deongjong
Palace by 1000 won each and, immediately, the fuss outside disappears
among the trees and the calm of the place.
We soon find the first buildings and explore the complex
enjoying the combination of traditional architecture and nature. We
spend some time looking at the entire place even though it hasn't
stopped raining all day.
Once back to the City Hall Square we find a large
military parade, which is why there was so much activity in the area.
We looked at it for a while until we decided to leave and find a way to
get to the hotel avoiding the closed streets. The only thing left is to
get ready for our flight tomorrow morning.
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