Trip to Korea, Seventh Day

 



Up early and off to Seoul!

Not likely. Up early means the guys left at 8:30 to go rent a van big enough for four adults and two car seats. They got in a mess at the guard post on the way back and didn't arrive until after ten. Somehow the preparations to get moving with Baby One and Baby Two lasted until nearly eleven-thirty. Eventually we left--who knows when--and drove in the horrible mess of traffic that characterizes this place.
Mountains at last!

We ended up at the War Museum. Interesting place. After a diaper change and a second clothing change, we wandered around and looked at the exhibits. It was a refreshing change to see a war depicted from a non-American point of view.  All I know is what I learned from watching M*A*S*H.



Possibly I was "taught" in my readings on the cold war that it was Russia which orchestrated the war from behind the scenes and it was America who sent troops to combat communist agression. That's not exactly true--although Russia armed the North Koreans, it was the Korean leader who was determined to invade the south and a UN action that fought back. No doubt America bullied the UN.
 


 After all that history, adults were truly fascinated by a vending machine.





It was getting awfully cold by then but we were within sight of the Seoul Tower. Driving there was an adventure unparalleled even by the one we experienced when we decided to continue the Road to Hana by circling the entire Island of Maui. On Maui, the roads were one-lane without shoulders--when you encountered an oncoming car, both vehicles had to squeeze sideways into the undergrowth and scrape sides to pass.  However, on Maui, we seldom encountered another car.

Replace "undergrowth" with "parked cars" and "seldom" with "constantly". Add on a five-way intersection jammed with cars who were determine to proceed at any cost despite the whole mess being stopped dead still.  Wow.

We half-circled the hill that the tower was built upon and eventually found a parking lot big enough for the monstrosity of a van we'd rented.  From the parking lot, we could walk up at 1.3 kilometers to the tower entrance or we could walk down stairs almost as far to take a skycar to the tower entrance. The team chose down--bad choice. Who goes down must come up.




So there we were, in the middle of Seoul at seven o'clock on a Thursday evening. Not a holiday and school was in session. But we were surrounded by thousands upon thousands of (mostly) young people, all heading up to the tower too. On the way up we passed a fence adorned with locks--apparently lovers write their names on the locks and leave them there forever.





It was magnificent. I even took a selfie in the pottie with the lights of Seoul behind me. Will share only to close relatives.