Namsan Park

The morning of my last day in Seoul, I headed to Namsan, where the Seoul Tower is.

Luckily the weather on that day was pleasant, not too hot (not like the scorching first day!). It was actually foreshadowing the rain in the afternoon.

entrance to the park

map of the park

There is a cable car going up the hill, but since I didn't plan to take it, I didn't look for it.

there's a path on the left (you can see the people walking there), and stairs on the right

there are signboards marking some of the scenic viewpoints

Then we reach the park.

Seoul Tower in the background

that wooden railing is the way to the stairs in the photo earlier (I came up from the right, taking the path)

path exiting the park, going toward Seoul Tower

signboard

Please note that it was 1.3km to Seoul Tower. Which is why I didn't reach the tower. :P

There was a garden of rock monuments at the end of the path (can we call it a garden?)

There was a historical site next to the rock monuments.

a tour was going on

When I stepped up to read the plaque, the guide actually told me to move back into the group that she was explaining to. But the tour was in Korean...useless for me. :P I remember that I moved on because I didn't want to wait for the explanation to end, but I can't remember whether I went back and snapped the photo below after they left, or whether this photo was of another exhibit. (likely the latter, but I can't be sure)

view of Seoul Tower...and the climb that leads to it

This was the closest I got to the Seoul Tower! :P

another site

Then I went back downhill.

the wall, on the right of which are the steps down (that you saw earlier)

I took the stairs down (since I had taken the path up), but made a detour into the little parks by the path.

After coming downhill, I happened to spot a little temple.

see the Buddha inside, through the doorway?

and the Buddha on the roof, that we saw from the back in the first photo of the temple

It is worth mentioning that the road that I took leading up to Namsan (even before reaching the entrance to the park) was extremely steep. I was actually horrified at how steep it was; and that is why I took a different road on the way back. You can already see a bit of the slope in this photo.

Dongdaemun Design Plaza

I first went to the Dongdaemun Design Plaza (DDP) in the morning, because that was my pick-up point for the trip to the Garden of Morning Calm and Nami Island.

note the humanoid statue on the far left

Returning from the trip, I got off at the same place and headed to a nearby restaurant to try marinated crabs for dinner (that will be for another post). After dinner, I came back to visit the plaza (we can go in if there is no event ongoing).

the humanoid statue I mentioned earlier

the plaza is kind of a maze, I didn't figure it out the design until I saw the miniature (you'll see it later)

heart on the stairs (I can't remember whether it was painted or lighted up)

light on the ground in the "tunnel"

exiting the "tunnel"

there's a path going down

someone was playing the piano in one of the tunnels

He sounded pretty professional to me.

outside (see the blue orb on the left?)

it can change colour! (like almost everything with lights? :P )

the lights on the building is made to change colour and patterns as well

see the new colours?

above is the arch I came through, and this is the path going down (that was in the photo earlier)

see the panda hiding behind the pillar on the left?

some Sanrio 50th anniversary thing going on

remains of Dongdaemun Stadium

a closer look if you're interested

the heart

But the highlight for me was the panda. :P

for DDP's 10th anniversary, it seems

But I have no idea why a panda. And not some other animal, for example. Anyway, it should be an inflatable one just like most other decorations like it. I touched it, and the surface was slightly furry (or velvety).

And this is a miniature of the DDP! You can see in one of the earlier pictures that it was somewhere beside the panda.

on the left is where I entered

another angle

And after that I returned to the hotel, with a little detour to Cheonggyecheon (as I had mentioned in a previous post).