Cheonggyecheon, the underground stream

Let's go and see the giant seashell!

From the other side, we can see that there is an opening, and that the seashell is hollow (we can climb inside? :P )

the mini-pagoda for the Buddha's birthday

Behind it is Cheonggyecheon. It is an underground stream that was restored in 2003-2005. (There's a plaque with its story, which you can see later)

the stream, with a fountain at the beginning!

water jets from the side (is this where the stream gets its water?)

had to get a selfie

you can scan this yourself...I didn't really go through it

information about the restoration of Cheonggyecheon

the first of numerous bridges. Every bridge has a name

looking back to the beginning of the stream

see that sheet of water pouring down from where the fountains are?

underneath the bridge is a lovely cool place to sit (on such a hot day!)

colourful decorations for Buddha's birthday

just because I caught a bird in flight :P

there are stairs going up at some parts of the stream (but only some parts! After passing one of them, you might need to walk quite a bit before reaching the next exit)

I would have liked to come back and watch this light show, but the timing was not suitable for me.

another bridge to sit under (ahh...another cool place to hide from the sun!)

I don't know what that area was, but there was some warning about needing to evacuate when it rains, because the pathways may get flooded

spotted a duck!

duck diving

found a friend

notice the sheet fountain on the right?

looking back to it

an umbrella providing shade...and the benches have little ornaments

the bridge right before reaching my hotel

spotted some fish in the clear water

more fish

went up to the bridge and looked back down

Then I went back to my hotel to check in...

I didn't make it back to the stream until the following night, when going back to the hotel. There are two metro stations close to my hotel; the closest is very near by, and the other is reached by crossing one of the bridges over this stream (one bridge further than this one). So when I came back to the hotel after a long day of walking, I chose to go to this metro station which was a little further away, but which allowed a quick visit to the stream to see it by night. I had seen photos, and it was a must-see for me!

view down from the other bridge

portrait view

I went down to take a look too

the same view; I just can't decide which photo is better :P

But I was too tired to walk further and come back...so that was it. 

The stream is actually very long. Just to let you see how long it is, here are snapshots from my tourist map:

You can see a golden cup that is marked as Insignia Shopping Center. The bridges before and after it are the bridges before and after my hotel, respectively. My hotel is really close to the blue line of Jongno3-ga.

That map is continued in the photo below...you can see that I did not even cover half of what was on the map! I doubt most tourists do, though. :P