Brett and Bernii

After reuniting in Bangkok, we spent 9 nights at the ibis Styles Bangkok Sukhumvit 4 (AU$101.94 per night). The day that I arrived was the start of Songkran, the world’s biggest water fight. It is the third time we have attended Songkran. You can read about our previous experience here.

We departed for Suvarnabhumi Airport early on the 21st of April to catch our 8:00am flight to Seoul, South Korea. The flight took just over 5 hours, and about an hour after landing we arrived at our hotel, the ibis Styles Ambassador Seoul Myeongdong (AU$248.88 per night).

After checking into our hotel, we went out to explore the Myeongdong area, a popular shopping district in central Seoul with very walkable streets and alleyways, and many restaurants. We settled into a nearby Daily Beer restaurant where we had some fried chicken and beer.

The next day we went for a walk to the Gwangjang market. We then followed the Cheonggyecheon stream, a really cool stream that runs 11km through central Seoul. It has walkways on both sides and sits below the street level. It is a popular area for locals and tourists to hang out.

Later that afternoon we ended up at the Euljiro area and the Euljiro Brewing bar. It was a cool craft beer bar with the best logo I have ever seen. We returned a few times and also attended their other nearby venues.

The following morning I went for a walk in Inwangsan Mountain Park. The popular trail follows a section of the old Seoul city wall to Inwangsan peak. It has some really good views of Seoul and the surrounding area. That evening we returned to Daily Beer and Euljiro Brewery.

The next day we caught the Namsan Cable Car to the top of Namsan, a mountain in downtown Seoul with an iconic broadcast tower and lookout. We went to the top of the N Seoul Tower which offers panoramic views of Seoul.

We then went to the other two venues of Euljiro Brewing. They had a promotion to collect stamps from each venue to earn a souvenir glass, so of course we did that and got a glass.

On Anzac day, we went to a nearby restaurant Gangga Pork Rib Hangover Soup, for their popular dish Pork Rib Hangover Soup. It was delicious and a very large portion. After that we caught the metro to Samgakji Station and went to the War Memorial of Korea. I didn’t know very much about the Korean War and it was really good to learn about the history of the conflict.

The next morning we caught the metro to Seoul Station and caught the KTX bullet train to Busan. It took 2 hours and 44 minutes to get from Seoul to Busan. We then caught the metro to Haeundae where we checked into our hotel Felix by STX (AU$98.19 per night). We then went out to Gorilla Brewing Beach Branch for a few beers then to Galmegi Brewing Haeundae for a pizza and some more beers.

The following day we went for a walk along the beach to Dongbaek Park. We went for dinner at Ondon, a Korean BBQ Restaurant where the staff cooked the meat at your table. It was the first time we had tried Korean BBQ and it was delicious. We had soju and beer with dinner and then went back to Galmegi Brewing.

We caught the metro to the nearby Gwangalli Beach where we went to a few bars, however the area was a bit quieter than we expected. It has a nice beach with a view of the Gwangan Bridge, but the area lacked a bit of a vibe. It was a bit overcast so that might have been a factor.

We then returned to Haeundae where we had fried chicken, soju and beer at the restaurant 부산통닭 (Translates to ‘Busan Whole Chicken’). It was very good and the best fried chicken we have tried so far. We then returned to Galmegi Brewing for a few more beers. And we went back again the following night.

Bernii went for a walk to the nearby Blueline Park, where there is a pleasant coastal walk along the beach train tracks to the Haewol Observatory. Despite it being incredibly windy, Bernii enjoyed watching the cute Sky Capsules.

After five nights in Busan, we caught the metro from Haeundae to Busan Station and then the KTX bullet train back to Seoul. We again stayed at the ibis Styles Ambassador Seoul Myeongdong. For our first night back in Seoul we went to Euljiro Nogari Alley where we had beer, soju, nogari (dried fish) and fried chicken.

On Saturday, Bernii went to Naksan Park and walked through the Ihwa-dong Mural Village to a section of the Seoul City Wall Trail known as the Naksan Fortress Wall Trail. It was a popular section of the trail connecting part of downtown Seoul with the cafes and shops of the artist village. Later, we enjoyed another delicious Korean BBQ.

We have both really enjoyed our time in South Korea, particularly the capital city of Seoul. There was so much to do and it was just a very cool city. Busan was good but I think we spent a few too many days there. We return to Thailand tomorrow where we will catch up with a friend from Brisbane and spend a few weeks travelling around the country with him.