Seoul

Until today I felt like Seoul was one of the last few great Asian cities that I’ve never visited. During the past few years I’ve been to Bangkok, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Ho Chi Minh City, Taipai, Delhi, Mumbai, Dubai, and Tokyo – and in 2001 I visited Beijing, Shanghai, and Hong Kong as part of a tour of mainland China. For some reason, though, I never made it to Seoul. To this point my only impressions of Korea have come from conversations with others who have been there or from a few TV shows or magazine articles. Today I finally got a taste of Seoul for myself as part of a four-day stopover in Korea on my way back home.

After a seven-hour flight from Singapore to Seoul, an early-morning train ride from Incheon International Airport to the nearest Seoul metro station, two subway transfers, and a thirty-minute search for my hotel through narrow alleyways with every sign written in Korean, I finally dumped my stuff off at my room and got started for the day.

It made sense to begin the day at Seodaemun Museum; a former prison that was highly recommended in my Lonely Planet guide book. Seodaemun was built in 1908 by the Japanese, who were occupying Korea at the time and had ambitions of turning the peninsula into a Japanese colony. I realized how little I knew about Korean history when I read the displays that told of Korean resistance movements and independence fighters during the early 20th century. The Japanese occupied Korea until 1945, and Seodaemun Prison was primarily used to punish Koreans who resisted the Japanese occupation. The museum turned out to be a pretty grim way to start off my sightseeing in Seoul. Exhibit after exhibit detailed the brutal torture and imprisonment of Korea’s ‘patriotic ancestors’, and one unfortunate mistranslation in an exhibit invited visitors to the museum the ‘opportunity to experience the torture’. I was surprised by how ruthlessly the museum depicted the Japanese occupiers. Many Asian nations seem to resent the Japanese aggression that was so common during the first half of the 20th century, but I like to think that things have changed since then. I would hope that these days most people in Asia see themselves as close neighbors who share different cultures and different pasts, but common goals for the future.

A quick subway ride took me back to Anguk Station where I wandered through a colorful Korean neighborhood looking for a bite to eat. Specifically I was looking for a restaurant in the area called ‘Chon’, but again, everything was in Korean; it was impossible for me to know the names of the restaurants I was passing. Finally I just picked one which may or may not have been Chon. I ordered the ‘pan-fried beef’ for a mere 10,000 won and was surprised to get a small Korean feast delivered to my table. No less than 10 separate dishes were placed in front of me, including the tasty skillet of beef. I can’t be sure what everything I ate really was, but among the variety of foods was seasoned rice noodles, dried seaweed, a spicy soup filled with beans and chilis, white rice (I’m pretty sure about that one), and something resembling a quesadilla with a mustard-flavored filling inside. I don’t think I’ve ever had Korean food before today and I don’t know what I was expecting, but what I got was very different than any other Asian food I’ve had before.

The highlight of the day for me was visiting Changdeokgung Palace; a huge complex of ancient Korean architecture and gardens built in the 15th century to house King Taejong. One constant theme throughout the palace grounds was architectural design that ensured that the King was constantly elevated higher than everyone else. A long brick pathway that led into the palace was elevated in the middle, for example, to accommodate the king. All others followed behind on the lower parts of the path. Also, I was impressed by how open and spacious the grounds were. The Royal Garden that accompanied the palace had countless ponds filled with lily pads and koi goldfish, and a variety of different types of Asian trees kept the place shady and cool.

Seoul’s premier art gallery is the Leeum Samsung Museum of Art, which I visited late this afternoon. The museum is divided into two separate buildings; one that houses ancient art and artifacts, and another that is home to modern art and contemporary art. Some of my favorite exhibits were 12th century ceramics including incense burners and a ceramic pillow, an 11th century replica of a pagoda, and a 10th bronze century roof ornament shaped like a dragon. I tried to imagine what life would have been like for Koreans hundreds of years ago and pictured the various artifacts in ancient Korean homes. The modern art was a bit more difficult for me to relate to – I enjoyed a piece by Andy Warhol and one or two others, but one exhibit – a Steinway grand piano welded to a giant metal plate – came across to me as a waste of a perfectly good piano.

If there’s one thing I’ve been looking forward to about Korea for months then it’s visiting the De-Militarized Zone on the border of North and South Korea. As I write this it’s hard to believe that North Korea is only 60 miles north of Seoul – 60 miles north of where I’m sitting right now. I booked a tour leaving for the DMZ tomorrow… it’s almost as hard for me to believe that I’ll actually visit the border tomorrow afternoon.