19 April 2026
Korean Harajuku
Hongdae red road
One of the main places in Seoul that white people enjoy going to is the Hongdae red street, which is very much like Harajuku in Tokyo. I guess the Korean version is longer and more than just crepe shops, so I would say it is better. It is not really made for old grey strange looking angry guys like me though. Still I like to wander through in my filthy hiking shoes and pass judgement on all the western tourists there who are taking photos of Korean girls dressed as Japanese girls dressed as cartoon characters.
The problem is the food places all seem a bit like they exist to scam tourists, so my top tip is to wander at least a kilometre beyond the end of the red road before normal cheap food options resume, and you can have Japanese food made for Korean people.
Before you get to the red road itself, there are many streets full of shops, nice trees, sunsets.
Time to start the traverse of the red road. Arches announce the start point.
As there is no room to walk along here, they have decided to plonk a few booths down in the middle of the walking area.
On previous visits I have always walked along here in the opposite direction, will it be different facing this way?
There are a lot more people than pictured, I wait for a gap in the crowd for the photo.
Mostly cheap earring shops. And of course, vape stores.
Theme toilet.
Bonus points for me for finding red road written on the red road.
Right at the end, a craft market, selling more earrings, custom vape covers.
I wandered to the next station before settling on my meal, bravely I went up a dark set of stairs after viewing the menu at street level. Once I got to order, I realised the thing I wanted, which was a beef bowl of some kind, was a seasonal special, so curry hamburg steak, with cheese, was the best of the non seasonal options. Delicious but not very healthy, I add the kimchi to healthify it. Thankfully, tomorrow IS a hiking day, but not a long hike, although lately I seem to make the not a long hikes long.