Is Seoul overrated? My first impression of South Korea & travelling to the DMZ

I have seen a lot of hype about South Korea especially with the travel content creator community. Given that South Korea is only a short hop from Japan, I thought I would do a 2 birds 1 stone move and get it ticked off while I'm in the region.

After spending a week in Japan, my experience in Seoul is a stark contrast, while it is fair that they are 2 separate countries and cannot be compared, given how awesome my trip had been in Tokyo, Seoul somewhat fell way short of my expectations given it is a first world city, with their great technology advancement in the consumer sector.

While researching and planning my trip, I have noticed how difficult it is to navigate around with public transportation, and not to mention that they don't run their subway service 24/7 so my early departure was a bit of a hassle.

The accommodation that I've booked through Airbnb is called Daljee Guesthouse, it is somewhat of a motel with a communal kitchen and washing facility that is used by the motel during the day for washing the bedding and guests in the evening, although their charges for the washing were ridiculously expensive. The room had a strong odor which I'm not sure if it was from the various fragrance bottles that were placed throughout the room but I felt like the smell made it even worse than not having them at all. I had to keep the window open most of the day and only shut it when going to sleep which fortunately double layered to insulate from the noise coming from the street below as it is a lively area. The room renovation work could only be described as cheap and unrefined, they probably got someone to do it as cheaply and barely functional as possible, the clothing/towel racks in the bathroom were totally rusted and totally grossed me out, I tried to not put anything on it and the sink was tiny which made worse with a bench right on top of it so I couldn't even brush my teeth properly and had to rinse my mouth using the bathtub. They placed a mattress topper right at the very top which made absolutely no sense given they are usually thicker and harder to wash, and the proper placement would be under the sheet. I had a look at the sheet and it was full of stains so I'm not sure whether they are just lazy to change the sheet and use the topper instead. It is just generally not well thought out, but it was one of the cheaper accommodations around, and fortunately I didn't stay for too long either. The area is slightly rough with homeless people and filth all over the streets, there was street food around most of the days that I was staying, and a couple of minutes walk is to another part of a street food / night market area that's more catered towards tourist and does seem slightly cleaner.

DAY 1

After arriving at Incheon Airport, I wanted to take the express train from the airport to Seoul Station. I was trying to buy a ticket through my city pass given it was included and it's the only time I'll be able to use it as it would have expired by the time I get back. I went to the ticket machine and it didn't work for some reason, and some lady dressed in casual attire came to me and started yelling in Korean and tapping on the screen saying something along the lines of Seoul Station. So I said yes Seoul Station but she didn't speak a word of English and I didn't know what she was on about, and I wasn't sure she was even an employee given that she didn't wear a uniform or badge to indicate that she works there. I then left and tried to work out what was going on and saw another row of ticket machines on the other side so I walked over, and spotted an actual employee wearing a uniform, she was able to communicate in English so she gave me directions on how to redeem the city pass on the machine.

After arriving at Seoul Station, my first stop was to the Lotte Mart supermarket given there's one right by the station and I needed to stock up some food to have it for breakfast. As I was walking to the supermarket, right outside the station was a small gathering of seniors and there was singing and dancing which was a sight to witness right as I stepped foot into the city for the first few minutes, I didn't know what it was all about but I thought maybe it's a Kpop equivalent until they started singing Hallelujah in their lyrics which immediately got me quite shocked to see a religious gathering in the middle of the square, whether it was a recruitment event or just a normal part of their social construct that I can't say, but I would again see advertisement signs of religious purpose during my time in Seoul which I will discuss a little more about it later. But back to the supermarket story, I was stopped by the employee telling me that I was not allowed to bring my suitcase which was again very weird and I thought I wouldn't be able to get in, but they have a dedicated space that's staffed for tourists or travellers to store their suitcases or large bags while they enter. This is the first of the fairly consistent rude and arrogant attitudes towards customers that I would witness during my time in Seoul, and it's rather off putting.

After checking in at my Airbnb, which is a sort of motel rather than a traditional house, I then head to the vegan restaurant about 10 minutes walk away. Unfortunately as I arrived at 8:06pm, they had already left a signage out saying they were closed for the day even though they don't technically close until 9pm. Some restaurants nearby put up signage saying they had sold out and some were closed for the day, I could also see a few people in the same shoes as I was, but if they do not have dietary restrictions it may make it easier. It was definitely not ideal especially for travellers since we could only work with the time we had planned and fortunately I went to the supermarket prior and bought a pack of black bean sauce noodles that I was supposed to make for breakfast but ended up becoming my rescue meal.

DAY 2

The first stop of the day was to Gyeongbokgung, since it was close by, on my way there I stumbled upon another palace that was free entry called Unhyeongung. It was a fairly hot day and I was relief that the clouds started rolling in about half an hour into my time in Gyeongbokgung, unfortunately that cloud also brought some rain and I didn't anticipate the weather to turn for the worse so I had to leave impromptu without doing the full palace tour. I headed to the bus stop to get to my next destination and stumbled on a sort of hardware/convenient/stationary store that sells umbrellas so I bought a transparent umbrella which I have always wanted to get and was surprised by how cheap it was, it would probably be double or triple the price if I was to buy it in New Zealand or Australia, or probably at a tourist trap.

My next stop was the IFC mall where I've several attractions planned around the area. I went into the mall to find lunch and stumbled on Panda Express, which I did not realise is a global franchise. After lunch, I had a quick walk around the mall and then popped over to the Hyundai Seoul which is just opposite, it was very elegant and mostly consisting of high end luxury brands. Right at the top floor is their information centre where I need to redeem my city pass for 2 free drinks. After getting a ticket to queue and then my turn to go to the counter, I showed the lady the city pass and the offer, she seemed to be giving a bit of an attitude, then she went to grab the vouchers and then put it on the table without saying a word or look at me. It felt like she saw me as some kind of a beggar trying to get free things that I have actually paid for through the city pass and their company would have some sort of a payment arrangement with the pass company to allow tourists to gain these sort of benefits within their department store. It was again very off putting the way I was being served which I wasn't too fond of. Not to say that every customer service worker would be serving in the same manner, I have had some good and average service, but it definitely was a big variation when it comes to customer service attitude.

After spending over an hour in the department store, I headed over to the 63 building where they have an art exhibition with an observatory combined, and an aquarium entry which was also included. I think it must have been one of the most unique aquarium I've ever been to, while it wasn't huge by any means, there were a good variety of animals and some of them were fairly unique. The most impressive might be the way they presented it by combining visual effects which I have not seen being done in many aquariums I have been to, there was also a mermaid show which was more catered to kids but I did watch and also to catch a break at the same time as well. After that I walked to the ferry terminal where I will be taking the Eland Cruise along the river just south of Seoul city centre, there are various types of cruises but the one I went for was the Moonlight Music Cruise. To take the cruise a passport must be presented, unfortunately I have forgotten about it but fortunately I had a digital copy on my phone and they were able to accept it.

People were taking the top deck as soon as they boarded so I got to choose a seat by the lower deck where the music performance would be. As we started our cruise and people went up and down, and as seats started getting filled, I could see some people disregarding other people's belongings and taking whatever seat they wanted and it was leaving me with a bit of a sour taste on how they were behaving and acting. For the first half of the cruise there was no performance so we soaked up the scenery outside, and as we made our way back, the singer came on and did a couple of songs as the sun set in front of us. They do sell food on board but it was all meat based so I couldn't eat anything that they sell onboard.

DAY 3

I decided to take the Seoul City Tour Bus today just to cover some of the spots that I probably won't go to or make it since I don't have a lot of days here. I headed to the Dongdaemun Design Plaza where the sightseeing bus ticket office is, but there was no signage to point where we should go and given that Google Maps isn't exactly the best in South Korea, it was a bit difficult to find my way around. By the time I got to the ticket office, the bus I wanted to take had left and the next one was an hour away, but the bus was already there so after exchanging my ticket I got on the bus and also to have some breakfast I bought with me. While I got to pick and choose a good seat as there was no one on board, I got the upper level right up front, and while I was looking around I found a billboard that had an advertisement with the words "Jesus Loves You", which I thought is a rather odd advertisement campaign to put out, there was no church affiliation or any sort of logo, given how progressive South Korea seems, they also have a huge religious aspect that we don't really see from the outside. As mentioned during the first day of my arrival seeing religious gathering, I was rather surprised that they haven't managed to take down the younger generations who tend to be much more fluid with their sexuality and with the huge Kpop scene, there's a large public influence to follow that particular culture, which breaks the more traditional aspect of how we usually expect a society should look or act, which we see many examples especially in the West where religious groups push back hard when there's progress towards topics they don't agree with. There are a lot of layers that we don't see on the surface but some are issues that have dated back many decades such as the war between the 2 Koreas that is still ongoing but it has been tense at its peak but not necessarily escalating towards imminent war, at least not to this day. The lack of conflict allowed South Korea to become prosperous and grow quickly, and also an aspect of corporation influence on social, economic and political spectrum that has allowed the country to become what it is today, as we are aware of big companies such as Samsung and Hyundai presence globally.

I wanted to find a new denim jacket as the one I was wearing was breaking so I got off at Seoul Station where there's a Zara and a department store inside, however I didn't find anything suitable so I headed back to the bus stop to catch the next bus, but given they run infrequently I had some time to kill so I went and bought a drink from Gong Cha. As it was fairly big I didn't get the chance to finish it, and as the bus turned up, I was told that I couldn't bring it on board, which is fine if they do not allow it, but the issue is that there's nowhere for me to dispose of it. So the bus driver said I would have to wait for the next bus instead, which is another hour away and I find that to be absolutely ridiculous. I find it unacceptable that if public transport does not allow food or drinks (which seems to be the case for all of their public transport), they should at least have bins by the bus stop or within the bus for people to dispose of, but to denied their boarding is a recipe for all sorts of issues, at the very least people will have to wait for the next one and consume everything before then, at the worst they will dump it nearby which would cause the bus stop and the city overall to be overrun by trash, and I have witnessed rubbish so I know that people have done so. This is a huge tarnish over the image of the city, not to mention the environmental impact. I don't get the logic of the government officials who were/are in charge not having thought of such issues when they plan out their public infrastructure.

Since I had wasted an hour at the beginning after missing the first bus, I didn't want to waste another hour. I took the normal public transit to get to the next stop which was N Seoul Tower. I got off near the cable car station that would get me up the hill, but given that the area was fairly hilly, it was quite a bit of a workout just to get to the cable car station itself, they do have an elevator but it was closed at that time so I didn't have a choice other than walking up. There was a long queue at the ticket office and it took around 10-15 minutes to get my ticket, and another long queue to get to the cable car itself which was another 20 or so minutes. The cable car ride was not long but given they only operate 2 cars that limits the number of people they could take. After getting up, there's an overfilled of love locks surrounding the fences, they also have a few ducks (fake ones) spread around and they were all covered in locks as well.

The observatory itself wasn't busy and I was able to get up quickly, the weather was good so we could see quite a distance away. Their toilet was also very unique, well it's a loo with a view, who doesn't love that. The observatory has restaurants as well but it was secluded in a way so there was no way to see the menu. I was planning to continue on the Seoul City Tour Bus but I wasn't sure where the stop was, so I planned to take the public transit and on the way I did came across it but the timing didn't work for me either. So I forfeited the ticket for the rest of the day given it wouldn't have worked out for me, which is a shame since the city pass I bought would have devalued my experience, all because they couldn't provide a bin for me to dispose of my drink.

The next stop was Lotte World Mall in the SouthEast of the city, it was quite big and had some weird old European theme fountain by the subway entrance. I was also hungry and it was between lunch and dinner at that time, I found a restaurant that was not too expensive given that there were some higher end restaurants like the Gordon Ramsay Burger which was around $30-$50. I ordered the Omurice given how much I missed Japan and I wasn't sure how big the portion was so I ordered it as a meal, and instantly regret when the meal was served and half of the 4 seats table was filled with food. It took me a good while to finish it and I tried my best but did leave a tiny portion of leftover which was a good result overall, and that was also both my lunch and dinner for the day.

I didn't manage to find my denim jacket here so I headed to another mall called Starfield Coex Mall, which is in or near the Gangnam suburb. I found a denim jacket here that I liked and I didn't stay for long given I had seen most of the mall while trying to find the jacket and my legs were giving up by that point. I wish I had some time and energy to explore a bit of that area since it was originally where I booked my hotel as well, not by the mall but not too far from that area, I had to cancel as I found out there was no way for me to travel to Seoul Station early in the morning for my flight, I think there might have been buses but it would take an hour or more to get to the station, I did try to shorten the stay and move near the station the last day but the hotel refused to honour the rate I've booked and the price was double by that point.

DAY 4

I was anticipating that I would be occupied the whole day with the tour going to the DMZ so I didn't really plan anything for the day. We were to begin our journey from a hotel and I didn't see anyone other than a lady who seemed to be a tourist as well, I asked her and she said she was waiting for the same tour. Given it was close to the departure time and no sight of the tour bus or representative to be seen, I headed into the lobby to try to see if they might be inside, and there was a group of people hanging around and she came in behind me as well and took a seat so I just waited there assuming everyone there are on the same tour. The tour bus came 10 minutes late and someone finally came to collect us and got us on the bus.

As we made our journey north, the tour guide did some explanation of the history of the war and how the DMZ came to be, and what our itinerary would be like. I was under the assumption that we would be able to cross the actual border inside the meeting room as the picture shown on those tour pages but when I asked the tour guide he said that's a totally different tour and we would not get to cross it, the closest point would be the tunnel which will be around 170m from the actual border.

We stopped at this kind of visitor centre called Imjingak Pyeonghwa Nuri Park right before the checkpoint to enter the DMZ. This is where the tour guide will have to get a slot for us to enter, and it was on a first come first serve basis. It was around 30-45 minutes stop and there was a gondola that travelled towards the DMZ but I wasn't sure if we had enough time so I didn't go on it, which the tour guide should have informed us of so that we do have the option to do the activities around there if there was time for it. Anyway, I explored the surroundings and there were some artifacts and also an exhibition which is paid entry so I didn't go in, there is an observatory as well but I have no idea how to get up there as I couldn't find an entrance to it. But we were right by the fence towards the DMZ and there was Korean music playing, and signage saying photography is strictly not permitted so I had the image embedded in my brain instead.

As we got back on the bus and headed into the DMZ, a private tour group joined us and sat at the very back. While we were waiting for the military to check our bus, I took a picture of the welcome sign and was strictly told off by the tour guide sitting behind me. I didn't dare to take any photos after but after crossing the checkpoint I could see and hear people taking photos so I was waiting for them to get told off as well, but that tour guide didn't say a single word. I was a little annoyed at that point given I wanted to have the opportunity to show you as much as I could, but it has to be fair and when other people started to take pictures and I felt like I was being singled out and not allowed to do so was unfair and unjust. Not long later we got to our first stop inside the DMZ which would be the Third Tunnel. We went into an exhibition first where they showed a short film and behind that was an exhibition room with some information about the origin of the Third Tunnel and also the DMZ itself.

The tunnel is 300m deep and it would be a steep descent to get down and up, once down there, a fairly narrow and short tunnel continues for another 265m which I would not recommend if you are unfit, have health issues, claustrophobic, or over 190cm tall, I am around 181cm tall and I have issues getting through and had to half bend of knee to walk through the 265m of tunnel, and especially given I had a bad back it was not a very good thing for my back either. Most people who made it to the end only stayed for a few seconds and turned around, I had a few people around so I stayed for maybe 30 seconds and turned around. There's a small gap between the 3 wall blockade between the border and where we stand, there are some cameras set up so we could see the other side through the monitors, but looking through the small hole on each wall there was an overgrown forest like greenery, which may be some kind of mold or other plants that can grow in a tunnel but it was quite beautiful, if only we could see through without the concrete walls. The return trip was tough but I used the handrails to my advantage and pulled myself up more than using my leg muscles which helped me to reduce the stress I had to put on my legs going up, fortunately it was mostly cold until you got back to the top so you won't really sweat much. Anyone with a disability could go down with their trolley system separate to the walkway but I assume that has to be arranged prior. No mobile phones or cameras were allowed to be brought into the tunnel, there are lockers by the entrance and everyone will have their phones locked inside, while you could sneak it through since they don't strictly check but I assume they would have cameras to check what's going on down at the tunnel. Hard hats were also required but mostly for the stretch of tunnel once you get down there given they are only around 170cm in height, I did bump my head into the railing and rock a few times so unless you're a hobbit it would be advisable to wear them.

The next stop inside the DMZ was the Dora observatory that has an unobstructed view towards North Korea's DMZ and beyond. We were brought to the lower level first to view the video and then shortly later we were led to the top floor where there were binoculars that we could use to look closer. It was just mostly greenery on the other side with some infrastructure that we could see, I believe it was an industrial complex and town that was built within their side of the DMZ but later abandoned after issues arose. While I was up there I saw the tour guide who told me off for taking pictures so I asked her if she was the one who told me not to take pictures and she said it was her, she explained that we were not allowed to take pictures of military personnel which I knew and wasn't what I was taking and I explained to her what I was taking, and she said it is best not to do so as the military personnel could consficate my device, and I did explain that there were others who took photos after and she didn't say anything and she said that she was focusing on her own group and didn't spot the others doing it. So I wanted some clarification as to what I am or am not allowed to take pictures of, given there was no official walk through of what we could or couldn't do and suddenly I got told off and I don't want to assume that I could do something and it might not be legal or allowed given it is an active military zone. She told me that if we are on the bus we shouldn't take any pictures and I told her that she should tell our tour guide so that we all know what the rules are, and she said that our tour guide is a much more experienced and senior person than her so she couldn't tell him what to do but she will suggest that he should do so.

When we got back to the bus and headed to our unplanned final stop, our tour guide came on and said that officially we were not allowed to but unofficially we could do it because there wouldn't be consequences for tourists, the tour guide behind me than tried to intervene but he shuts her down right away. This is another aspect of how socially unbalance it is for men and women, not saying that this doesn't happen in the West because it does, coming from an Asian country I do understand the power dynamic as well, but it was quite interesting that given South Korea have progressed and is one of the more socially advanced society but they do still have a strong retaintion of their traditional men and women power dynamic in the workplace, perhaps I read it wrong and it may have been that she was much younger and our tour guide is quite old so there's the respect the elders mentality embedded within the society, but this wouldn't fly in the Western society since this is an important issue and one that concerns their customers who they take responsibility for during the tour so they should be able to communicate equally and have an agreement of what is acceptable, they may not be in the upper management position to make those decision and perhaps this issue should have been addressed when they started operating, if it is then they need to come to a consensus as to how they should operate their tour and whether those rules need to be enforced. Overall I wasn't too happy with how the tour guides handled the situation and shows that there's a huge discrepancy between individual guides and this can be an issue for a sensitive area like the DMZ.

Coming back to the tour itself, our guide told us that since we were lucky to get an early slot, initially we got a much later one but a group backed out last minute and we got their slot instead, we were able to stop at a town inside the DMZ and try the local Soybean products, they sell either a soybean ice cream or a soybean latte, I went for the ice cream and it was fine, not my cup of tea but it wasn't awful by any means. They also sell other drinks, desserts and there's also a convenient store/souvenir shop. There was only another tour bus that came and apart from that it wasn't a busy spot.

As we headed back towards Seoul, which is only an hour from the DMZ, we started to see high rises and populated suburbs only 15 minutes away from the DMZ, which is fairly wild considering that there's an active military zone not far from their homes and also how the years had gone past they basically see it as part of their daily lives and it doesn't bother them that they are only less than half an hour away from the enemy lines. As we got closer to Seoul, we were told that we would make another stop at a Ginseng museum, at first it was a bit weird that he didn't mention anything about it prior and while he did talk about Ginseng I didn't think much about it since it is famous in South Korea, and I thought maybe because we were still early so we would take another stop, but then we pulled up to this unmarked random office building and got led into this so called "museum" where the majority of the time it sounded like a sales pitch, and then we were led into a room full of staff standing by and after the last of us got in they close the door which I immediately knew it was a shopping trip. We were all almost being forced to try the product and initially I tried to fade into the back but they got me and told me I had to take one of the testers, so I got one and tried to stay as far away from the staff as possible. After about 10 minutes a group started asking to leave and I also followed behind them, and I heard them mentioning how expensive it was and they were doubting the benefits of it. I was travelling with a budget so it wouldn't be something I have money to splash on and while I have heard of benefits with this product ever since I was young, I think having a balanced and healthy diet would suffice and unless there's any particular reason that it would greatly support your health as supplements, a normal healthy person wouldn't necessarily be required to consume these items. I didn't really appreciate that we were brought on a shopping trip without being informed prior, and calling that a museum was a bit of a stretch and probably a misuse of a word to describe that place.

Overall I would only rate that tour as average and while I did like having seen the usual tourist spots within the DMZ, there wasn't much else besides it. If I do return and intend to do another DMZ tour, I would do the one where I get to actually cross the border line within the secure room, just to check it off my list of visited countries but not put myself in any kind of danger.

I went to grab an early dinner at Osegye Hyang where I originally wanted to go on the day of my arrival, and also wanted to try it out given it was one of the vegan restaurants that I had marked down and was near my Airbnb. Since I haven't explored much and it was still slightly early, I thought I would head over to the Myeongdong area where they have night markets. It was very crowded when I got there and they sell a range of things such as clothing but mainly it was food, and it is also located in a commercial area so there are shops and malls along there where people could go buy other things as well.

CONCLUSION

There are heaps of hype around South Korea, some swear by how exciting it is to travel there, but the few days that I've spent in the city were rather average and having just travelled to Tokyo, it was a stark contrast and it didn't have the same energy or friendliness.

The biggest problem I have is the attitude of a lot of the service staff, there's a level of professionalism that is expected given that is their job, but I feel that they were being absolutely disrespectful and looked down on us who were the ones spending money and boosting their economy while we are in their country, not to mention they are tarnishing the image of their country at the same time.

Perhaps the biggest culture shock to me is the role religion plays in their country. I don't know much about their culture or society, but being big on religion is not one I've heard much of, so seeing it being such a huge presence is something new to me.

There's really not much of an interest for me to return to South Korea anytime soon unless I want to do something specific that can only be done there. I would much rather spend more time in countries that I enjoy travelling or explore new countries.