Seoul Sensations

I have been travelling for over 6 months now and am quite lost trying to describe my Korea and and Seoul experiences. Pictures help and I am writing from notes, but really, you need to be here to understand how cool and conflicted that is Seoul. I am really glad that Sophie found a place to go and work. She was so keen for some new experiences and Seoul will fit that bill and more. She has a good job, a great place to live in a funky neighbourhood and some very cool friends.

While I did spend most of my time in Seoul, I did take a few days to fly down to Jeju, the vacation island south of Korea. I enjoyed myself a lot, but would really have enjoyed the place in some season other than winter. Korean hostels are very well run.

The pictures are Sunrise Peak. You can visit, or better yet, rent a room in the village and hike up to the crater rim for sunrise, something I hope daughter Sophie and friends get to do this spring.



Seoul is a city of contrasts, old and new. Hundreds of tiny, teeming, frenetic, Asian, dense, noisy neighbourhoods slowly being surrounded and consumed by big roads and apartment complexes. The city is surrounded by hills, and industrial smog. You take a very efficient subway system to a local dong or gil and wander in alleyways that have motorcycles and sometimes cars, competing for the few feet of available space. You are surrounded by masses of well-dressed, good-looking, hard-working, aggressive, cell-phone addicted young people and the same amount of extremely short, multi-layered, not so colourful older people working their butts off in some very trying conditions.

Sophie's neighbourhood is 24-7 and much busier than any neighbourhood you chose to compare with in New York and it is really one of hundreds in Seoul. Very colourful, VERY consumer-oriented. Not for the faint of heart. At the same time, the area is quite safe at all hours of the night.

Food here is a very social experience.

Korea 2009