Seoul Off the Beaten Path Tips by AKtravelers

Korean Professional League teams play at two stadiums in Seoul (at least) -- Jamsil and Dongdaemun. The quality of play is good and you may see some future US Major Leaguers. Chan Ho Park, Hee Sop Choi and Byung Young Kim all played in the Korean League, and former Pittsburgh Pirates star Al Martin now plays for the LG Twins.
Baseball games are a bargain by US or Japanese standards. Good seats can be had for W10,000 and a beer only costs W2000.
Games usually start at 6 p.m. and I recommend you eat before you go or bring some food. I don't like fast food, so the monopoly on concessions enjoyed by Burger King and Kentucky Fried Chicken did not appeal to me. I ended up eating a huge bowl of steamy hot soup (mostly broth) on a hot humid night. This barely kept my stomach at bay until I could have a better meal after the game.

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While Insadong is a very popular place to visit in Seoul, most tourists walk past one of the most amazing sites in that artisan area. Off to the right about midway along Insadong street is an enclosed cart where three young men make and sell Kkultarae, a traditional royal Korean snack made from hardened honey. If you ask for a demonstration, they will start with a block of honey, push a hole through it with a thick sharp stick and dip it in confectionary sugar. It is not edible at this point, but it will be after they're through with it. It storts with one hole, but then they soften and twist the honey -- bending it so there are now two ropes of honey around a central hole. They twist it again so that the rope of honey count goes to 4, then 8, then 16, 32, 64... okay, you get it. Soon the ropes of honey are strings as they do it enough times to go over 16000. You can buy a package of kultarae for pretty cheaply (W5000 I think) and they're pretty flavorful. But mostly it's just fun to watch them create something fine and delicate from a brick of honey.

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The major river that now bisects Seoul and used to form its southern boundary is the han. When I first started coming to Korea, it was an ignored cesspool, thought of only when its flooding closed some of the bridges that barely scrape the wave-tops. However, the river has been cleaned somewhat and parks have been built on its banks, allowing for pleasant strolls with river views. You can even take cruises on the Han, though I have never done so -- it's not quite the Hudson or the Seine yet!

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The Baekje kingdom was one of three monarchies that divided up Korea before the peninsula was unified for the first time in 676 CE by the Shilla Empire. The Baekje controlled an expanse of territory in the central part of the Korean peninsula and used Seoul as their capital for a time. To bury their monarchs they built terraced mounds such as the ones you see behind me -- these mounds date from around 470 CE
I found these mounds by taking a bus south from the Jamsil metro stop and noting the sign that opinted towards them. No one had ever told me about them nor had I read about them in a guide book, though I was aware of Baekje burial sites in Seoul due to my recent visit to the National Museum. Putting two and two together, when I came back via the metro's pink line, I got off at the Sokcheon stop (just south of Jamsil) and checked the neighborhood map they post in every subway station. Sure enough, on it was marked a park with Baekje graves. When I arrived, it was walled in traditional stone and beautifully landscaped, filled with local children and their families. I wouldn't go out of my way to come here unless I had an unhealthy fascination with tombs, but it was a pleasant visit given that I was in the area and I've seen most of Seoul's other sights.
In wandering around te graves I met a guy who claimed to be a retired police officer despite the fact he was sleeping in the dirt and would cock his leg while farting loudly every 100 meters or so (though he never stopped talking or seemed to consider this an etiquette issue). Though bizarre, he was nice enough so I chatted with him until he walked me right to the subway turnstile. His picture is shown here next to the only mound tomb in the park.

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