I mentioned in my England post about how I wanna talk about all my travels, including layovers; I think it’s time to talk about my best layover and international trip to date: Seoul, Korea.
I was on my way to Cambodia and I was lucky enough to have a 24 hour layover in my favourite country. I contacted all of my friends and told them I would be in Seoul for the day. My friend SungDeok picked me up from the airport at 7am and brought me into the city.
I got to see the sun rise as we drove down the highway. In the crisp winter morning we went on a hike of sorts. We climbed a short portion of Bugaksan Mountain. I got a view of the city of of the other mountains surrounding the city. It was marvellous. There were plenty of sculptures that I thought were interesting lined up around the welcome center at the summit.
I was excited to see that I remembered a lot of the Korean I had learned. I thought so much time had passed that I forgot everything. I was able to order tea for myself at the cafe after saying goodbye to SunDeok. I sippped my tea and waited for my other friend, DoKwang, to arrive. When Do Kwang got there I was elated! I was nearly 5 yeas since I had last seen him and it was my first time meeting his long term girlfriend, Suji. We stepped out of the cafe and onto the busy street. We stopped at the Myeongdong Cathedral so that I could take some more photos. It felt like a dream come true actually standing in Korea, taking in all of the sites. It was amazing and I was only 3 hours in.
We then moved onto the Myeongdong shopping centre. I don’t even know how to describe how I was feeling walking through the streets. The cold air and the excitement running through me had me feeling to energised and ready to hop from place to place. I spent nearly every last dime I had on the shopping street.
The food was amazing. I had my all time favourite: tteokbokki and it was so delicious and spicy. If I could’ve taken it home with me, I would have. After lunch, I rented a hanbok and walked around Bukchon Hanok Village and the Gyeongbokgung Palace. I felt like a princess wandering around Seoul. It was surreal.
I also got to see the National Folk Museum of Korea and I took a million photos while I was exploring. I always take photos in the museums expecting to show them to others and never get the chance to. I’ll use this as an opportunity to photo dump.
Muffin and Tea 