2 April 2026
Over the hill
Namsan tower and Itaewon
Could this be my only visit on this trip to the famous Namsan tower? Possibly. At the end of the trip when I return to Seoul I will be on the other side of the river and probably won't venture much back over to this side. Normally I visit 2 or 3 times, take the same photos, make phallic references, talk shit about people who take the cable car up, all the usual things. I won't do that tonight.
After hanging around looking at the view, I descended down the far side through the hiking trail area of Namsan park (forgot to take a photo), and then headed into Itaewon. The streets are very steep in this area, which was where the Halloween crush tragedy occurred days before I arrived here on a previous trip. I avoided that specific area today. Most of the main street is full of bars and so instead of getting drunk I headed back down to the subway. So that was a boring update, without any jokes only I understand or inappropriate observations.
Tonight I will start my walk up to the tower area via the path where the old part of the wall is. Often I come down this way.
The view gets good early on.
The wall actually descends down into the city behind where I am standing, but it is newly re-created.
Nice gardens surround the area.
Under that shed is parts of the old wall. I think they used to close this and restrict access at different times, it appears to be wide open now.
Here is the old wall, or possibly building rubble. Check out the pollution.
Down there somewhere is where I am staying, and also the nearby Myeongdong that most people associate with Seoul.
There are numerous places to take in the view.
I tried to get a shot of the cable cars passing each other, but the yellow flowers and pylons got in the way.
It does not take too long to get up to the top, maybe 20 minutes if you don't stop.
I have taken the shot of this view so many times now.
It is unclear to me if you can walk over to that tower, the map shows no trail. Maybe next time I shall try it.
Run.
Time to head down the far side.
Itaewon is where a lot of westerners live. Hence the old style western housing from when there was an army base nearby.
All the streets are steep.
It does look a bit different to the rest of Seoul.
Ramen time. Strange lighting. Alarmingly I was the only customer the entire time I was there.
Hmm, the streets are nice, but after dark it turns into drunken fools, so I am not sure if I heart Itaewon or not.
Tomorrow is a big hiking day, I will be back late.