• Dave HipplerJapan 2025Traveler
    Changing of the guard at Gyeongbokgung Palace
    Changing of the guard at Gyeongbokgung PalaceChanging of the guard at Gyeongbokgung PalaceKimchi potsNational Folk Museum of KoreaThe National Folk Museum of KoreaA statue on top of a building. Robotic Pieta?1Jogyesa TempleJogyesa Temple1Outside of a Lotte department storeThere's always someone with a stupid jacketMyeongdong Night MarketOutside of a Lotte department storePanmunjom at the DMZ. Now and then. I was there in 1995 but they won't let you near there now.At the DMZOutside of a Lotte department store1BibimbopBongeunsa TempleMucha exhibit at Alt.1Mucha exhibit at Alt.1Underground walkway between 2 mega mallsNational Museum of Korea. Amazing place!Starfield Library in the Coex mall1Lunch at the National Museum of Korea Cafe2Gangnam Style sculpture in Gangnam. Ride that pony!Dinner with friends Tom and Hye- JinYou can't leave Korea without a stop at an Olive Young.KFC- Korean Fried Chicken. Sooooo goodDongdaemun Design Plaza (DDP)

    Seoul Man

    Nov 28–Dec 3 in South Korea ⋅ ☀️ 43 °F

    I spent 2 weeks in Seoul in 1995 and loved it. This trip was no different, except everything is new and improved. We have five nights here before we head home.

    Unbeknownst to us, we booked a room in a trendy neighborhood full of foreign restaurants and lots of bars. However the last thing I wanted to eat was foreign food. I came here for Korean food! We had to leave the neighborhood for that.

    We bought a week-long transportation pass and thankfully it was relatively easy to get around town, although the buses did get stuck in traffic a lot. The subway system here is world class. The all-you-can-travel week long pass only cost about $15. The dollar is pretty strong against the Won.

    Even though we've been traveling for 5 weeks we wanted to get out and see all we could. First off, we booked a tour to the demilitarized zone (DMZ). That was the highlight of my 1995 trip and I wanted Deanne to see it. But ever since a troubled American soldier defected a couple years ago they don't let you see that fun stuff at the JSA (Joint security Area) at Panmunjom. Looking up and seeing a North Korean soldier glaring at me while I walked across a negotiations table to North Korea was interesting, to say the least. But there was none of that on this trip and it was somewhat underwhelming.

    But pretty much everything else was amazing: the museums, meeting up with new friends Tom and Hye-Jin for dinner (twice), the food, the markets, the modern architecture, temples, and even the crazy mega malls. They seem to be everywhere.

    At one point we took an underground moving walkway for about 3 blocks past shops to get between mega malls and then couldn't find the way out. The IFC mall must have been designed by a casino architect. Yes, there was a casino here, along with the highest end fashion stores in the world. We went there to see a small art museum on the top floor that had a great exhibit on Mucha, our new favorite artist. There was also a VIP lounge in the mall for people aged 21 - 45, ala an airport lounge. Must be a rough life getting so tired from shopping so much.

    It's been an amazing 6 weeks. We'll have to come back to explore more of Korea. And we are definitely coming back to visit Japan because it's become one of our favorite places in the world.

    More photos and videos are here.

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