Seoul, South KoreaWednesday, April 7, 2010
Frank and I are still relatively new to the concept of travelling with children. We may live overseas, but actually travelling to a new city with a 2 year-old is quite a different matter. The main take-away lesson from this trip to Seoul: scale back your expectations. And then scale them back again.
Nevertheless, this morning we got up feeling more ambitious than usual and decided to do the "Shamanist Hillside Walk" that is described in the Lonely Planet. After all, the location was only two subway stops from our hotel...
The book warns that the walk is quite steep, but Frank figured the worst that could happen is that he'd have to carry A up the hill.
That was a miscalculation, of course. At A's request to find the bathroom, we first we had to climb an extra set of super-steep hills. Back again at the entrance to the walk, it turned out that A wanted to WALK up all those stairs and ramps--or push her stroller--which ended up taking a long, long time.
We finally made it most of the way to the top to see the Shamanist temple (it was secretly relocated here in 1925 after the Japanese demolished the temple at its original location) and were able to enjoy the views before A requested a return to "her hotel."
Still, with or without a toddler, I recommend the walk.
To get there: Take Line #3 to Dongnimmun station.
