Seoul "N" Namsung Tower & Han River

A fantastic clear and sunny day it was and a brilliant one to go to Seoul "N" Namsung tower.

I have heard a few horror stories of lines stretching for miles to get up and down the tower and being the weekend prior to Chuseok I expected many many people. However it was a relatively relaxed day with a comfortable amount of people about that it all turned out to be an easy exercise.

It all started with a walk up the hill with a friend of mine to meet her sister and her sisters husband. I must say that the scenery of nature was amazing and I need to get out and about and do some hiking soon... I'm not exactly sure when it will get too cold to comfortably do so.

This is the first time I was not able to keep tabs on the costs on things as if you are familiar with Korean custom its first to the ticket booth or first at grabbing the cheque who pays (and then that's not always the case). Luckily I have a link to costs of admission, cable car and other things that may be of interest to you:

http://www.visitkorea.or.kr/enu/SI/SI_EN_3_1_1_1.jsp?cid=264550

The tower is not as tall as the Sky City tower in Auckland New Zealand but it still has remarkable views and for me it truly was an eye opener when looking out into a sea of white buildings where millions of people live. The windows around the observatory level have indicated on them the names and distances of major cities all over the world so of course I had to have my picture taken in front of the New Zealand section.

I have been told that the night view is worth coming back for so maybe at a later date I will have some night photos but still there is much to see and do and my social calendar seems to be filling up... I need to find more time somewhere.

So from here if you are super excited about bears or maybe a little curious you need to visit the bear museum.

There are bears in there as you would expect but you have to keep your eyes out for the naughty ones that are doing things they just shouldn't be:

Head on back outside and you just might see a Martial arts performance:

Probably one of the nicest ways to get back down from atop this peak is to take the cable car or gondola... (not sure what the difference is).... Ok so Yahoo answers says:

A "cable car" can be part of a system of train cars that all are driven by an underground network of cables that are kept in motion by a large central power plant. That is how the cable cars in San Francisco, California have operated for many decades.

The type of gondola you are asking about is a "car" that is suspended beneath a moving cable.

So here is a video of the gondola ride back down:

So then here it was a cab ride to Seoul to take a rest and have a drink and then onto the Han river by subway and then another taxi.

So once again I was unsure of the cost of this but here is another link:

http://www.lifeinkorea.com/Travel2/53

This is worth doing!!! Believe me. For the cost of a round trip you get amazing value! The cruise lasts about an hour or more. On the cruise we were on there was a magic show to keep everyone entertained until the boat reached the bridge for the water and light show. All the cruise boats seemed to mill around or congregate like salmon swimming upstream and then the show begins and it is amazing... (like I said) and lasts a substantial time. This is where again my data runs out on my camera card... looks like another 4Gig or an 8Gig card is needed... :/

The cruise continues passing the night city scenery and to my surprise there is a fireworks show with an impressive display (arrrhh no data left on my camera... forgot to bring my back up camera!!!!........Lesson learned!).

Then on the way back we were entertained by a singer. Overall a fantastic way to spend an evening.

Here is an idea of what the water/light show was like:

Finishing the night with a late bite to eat it was an amazing day (there's that amazing word again :)

Chuseok this week http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chuseok so I am going to have a little rest. Well at least on Monday and then I will see what is going on and maybe do some travelling with my new T-shirt (I will be sure to take a picture with me in it for the next post) most likely to Bucheon finally!

Here is the photo slide show:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/53007881@N03/sets/72157624987774906/show

Well to finish up I have finally been sucked into this Dub Step craze that's going on so here is something for your speakers :)