Seoul, Suwon & Nami Island

I’ve already been in South Korea for six weeks now. Time flies! I’m still following online courses and hopefully we can start following courses at the university on the 2^nd of May. Besides following the courses, there’s enough time to visit things in Seoul. The weather is getting better and more and more people are on the streets… Some of them even without a mask.

The meerkat cafe was very special! Besides meerkats there were kangaroos, a raccoon, foxes, cats and an anteater. In the photo below, you can see that the raccoon likes my curly hair. 😹

We’ve also visited Gyeongdong Market. It’s a big market that mostly sells food. I couldn’t believe it at first, but I’ve also seen dog meat there… It’s actually illegal in South Korea, but you can apparently still find it in some places.

We’ve also seen Dongdaemun Design Plaza. It is the newest and most modern park in downtown Seoul. It’s “worlds largest atypical architecture”. Unfortunately some exhibitions were closed because of COVID-19.

Furthermore, we’ve been to the Color Museum and as Dutch people we had to cycle through Han-River Park. Also, the blossom season started and we visited multiple parks to make 1000000 photos of it like most Koreans. 🤪

Last week Jim and I realized we’ve already seen most things in Seoul. We thought it was time to visit another place. This brought us to Nami Island. This is one of the most touristic attractions in South Korea and some K-dramas have been filmed there. We took the ferry to the island. On the island you can walk, cycle and make many photos. It’s the picture perfect scenery. From high trees to a waterfall, a railroad and a fake mountain full of snow.

Another place we went to outside of Seoul was Suwon. Here we visited  Hwaseong Fortress. This is a UNESCO Heritage.

A highlight of this trip was the old teahouse that we walked in. I’ve never drank tea that tasted so delicious! The owner was totally surprised that two foreigners walked in. “Usually only Koreans come here to drink tea.” She brought us five different kinds of tea, hot and cold, served with potatoes. It tasted very good! The owner was very nice and from the interior you could see that she’s fascinated by alternative movies (not English). It was an amazing experience and she gave everything for free!

In Seoul we’ve also had dinner with a Dutch man who has lived in Seoul for almost 20 years. Apparently his family lives in the same village as me in the Netherlands (Hulsberg). His name is Maik Slijpen. We ate Japanese in the nice district Itaewon. The sushi tasted very good! And he even took his dog with him, which was very nice, because I miss my own dog. He gave us many tips and he lend us his bikes. Now we can explore Seoul even better!

As you can read, I’m still enjoying myself in South Korea and I feel safe. It’s strange that everyone in the Netherlands has to stay at home and has to keep distance, while in South Korea everything besides the universities is still open. I understand that that’s important in the Netherlands and I think that everyone there should follow the rules. But… I’m happy that I decided to stay here in Seoul.