Daedunsan Provincial Park to N Seoul Tower

 

Our non-stop drive from Gyeongju to Suwon to return the car would be 3 hrs and 20 minutes; however, I had other plans in mind. I insisted we make a pit stop at Daedunsan Provincial Park. The pictures on the web were irresistible!  We’ve come all this way to Korea, we are taking the 2-hour detour.  Supposedly I lied to Chris about what we were doing.  I said no hiking, just a cable car to the top.  When traveling, I’ve mastered the art of exaggeration (the Webber tribe knows not to believe me when I say something is “10-minutes”).  Ok, fine, we are walking uphill.

 

For those not inclined to hike, the 5-minute cable car ride offers easy access up to the short trail leading to the bridges.

 

“Walking” up the steep rocky steps after you get off the cable car.

 

Known as the “cloud bridge,” Geumgang suspension bridge is 165 feet long and hangs 432 feet above the rocky terrain below.

 

Yikes, look at that 45° ladder!

 

The exhilarating Samseon Stairway

 

On Chris’ tail, unable to see the top, the adrenaline-charging stairway seemed endless. I was mostly scared my phone would fall out of my pocket. I have seen pictures of people crawling on this ladder and can’t imagine doing it in high winds!

 

We made it! So happy the weather allowed us to enjoy the breath-taking views over the scenic peaks in Daedunsan Provincial Park!

 

All in all it took us 25 minutes to go ~1/3 miles up from the cable car to the top of the ladder.  The Samseon Stairway is one-way so from there you walk the circular path around the backside to get back to the suspension bridge. Or you can continue hiking all the way up to Macheondae Summit, the mountain’s peak.

 

Uphill logistics:

If you’re looking for a legit hike, then you can take the trail 1-1/3 miles up and/or down the mountain.  But we were on a tight schedule to return the rental car so we took the cable car.  It runs every ~20 minutes.  When we bought our roundtrip tickets for ₩16,000 ($12), we were warned to be prepared to hike down because the forecasted strong winds would close the cable car.

 

I couldn’t guarantee I’d follow the rules, particularly 4 and 8. No singing befuddlers!

 

Driving through Korea, you’ll see many wildlife crossing signs as well as these wildlife crossing bridges.

 

The rest areas in Korea are large.  Stop for a bathroom break, food, shopping, and gas!

 

Poor Wilburs headed to the state fair. (We will be seeing slices of them again tonight.)

 

We arrived back to Suwon in plenty of time to return the car rental.  Totals: $475 rental fee; 828 miles; ₩130,000/$97 for gas; ₩40,000/$30 in tolls.  The rental fee doesn’t include the duplicated additional underage driver charge that we are hoping to get corrected.  The tolls aren’t completely accurate because we went through a couple accidentally without paying – inserting the card backwards after re-loading it so it didn’t register.  And who knows how many speeding tickets will show up.

 

Chris, Mr. Johnny-on-the-spot, is a key asset while internationally traveling and especially a last-minute trip!  At the Suwon train station, in my head we were going to just walk on the train to Seoul with our T-Money cards (like you do with the subway).  Having delegated trip transportation duties to Chris, I hadn’t researched it.  Googling it in the train station, Chris knew we had to buy a ticket and get an assigned seat.

 

A daily staple during our Suwon stay, spam-rice balls and Gong Cha were my ideal lunch snack on the train to Seoul.  I’m in food heaven!

 

We arrived to Seoul for the final five nights of our trip. We are splitting our stay up into two different popular areas: Myeongdong and Hongdae.  We are starting with two nights in Myeongdong, considered the hottest part in town.  It is the #1 place for shopping and where N Seoul Tower is.

 

Myeongdong Market is one of South Korea's prime shopping districts.

 

Arriving to our Myeongdong hotel smack dab in the middle of all the excitement, Chris got a text that a buddy from college was here (with her sister) … 200 feet away eating at a restaurant. Not only was it a total coincidence, we also both planned to spend the evening at Seoul Tower!  Handy Chris again came through by navigating the four of us up to the base of the tower.  There are several ways you can get up to the plaza at the tower’s base.  We chose taking the Namsan Oreumi “elevator” (free) and Namsan Cable Car (₩15,000/$11 roundtrip).  Walking is another option that we are saving for another day.

 

It is no surprise that our evening at N Seoul Tower (short for Namsan Seoul Tower), the #1 tourist attraction in Seoul, was a highlight!  I highly recommend getting there for golden hour and hanging around until after sunset for its fantastic views.  We got to the Oreumi elevator about 45 minutes before sunset.  (Note: we had less than 5-minute waits at both the elevator and the cable car, which could be significantly higher during high season.)  At the plaza at the base of the tower, there is plenty to do.  We walked around to explore the 360-degree views over Seoul and all the picture spots.  For us, there was no compelling reason to go all the way up the tower to the observatory for an additional ₩21,000/$16.

 

The N Seoul Tower lights up at night in different colors to tell the public the air quality from afar.  Blue means the air quality is good.  

 

N Seoul Tower is best known for its love locks.  All the railings in the area are covered with locks - and phone cases! - in all sizes and colors.  

Part of my heart aches to see the locks ... I should be looking for the one Jeremy and Vivian would have hung here in March 2020 if covid hadn't canceled their trip to Korea.

Look Vivian, it is the Christmas trees!  I get it now!  I think I just needed to see them in person to understand the layout and having Christmas trees in the summer.

 

Proposal staircase at N Seoul Tower

The great views over Seoul from N Seoul Tower: 

We said our goodbyes to Chris’ friend and went to dinner at Chris’ dream spot: all you can eat Korean BBQ.  He was truly in his element, cooking up an assortment of pork parts. 

 

All you can eat Korean BBQ - Chris was in heaven!

 

You serve yourself from the pork bar and sides bar.

 

“Don’t mind us! Eat as much as you can!” – for only ₩16,900/~$13 – you don’t have to tell Chris twice!

 

I’m really not sure what the name of the Myeongdong buffet on the second floor is.  GPS coordinates: 37.564627, 126.983585

It was at tonight's dinner that Chris felt the weight of vacationing with me.  Not much of a food eater, I don't really understand his complaint, but it had something to do with all the Korean food he wanted to try and the fact that he couldn't do it with me because I only eat a quarter of the portion and he gets full trying to eat the rest.  "I'm eating meals for three," he complained.