Asia Tour 2010 Day 3: Myeoungdong, Korea

I arrived in the afternoon, so after settling down for my first night in Korea, I went to Myeongdong, which is supposed to be one of the largest nightlife/shopping areas in Seoul. I think it's named after an assassinated empress, but I'm not sure, since I only read about the story at a palace and they are named the same.


This area reminds me of the many shopping districts of Tokyo. I read afterwards on Wikipedia that it's supposed to be blocked off from traffic, but I was dodging cars all night on some of the paths.

Anyways, I walked around Myeoungdong all night, checking out Korean fashion (there's a Migliore right next to the subway exit), and sampled most of the local cart snacks, even though they were generally bland; the spicy rice cakes were decent though. The fried potato chip spirals were disappointing though, oily and dry. After dinner, I went up the hill across the street to North Seoul Tower. Think "Seattle Space Needle" and you will get the idea.


I wish I had a better picture, but my regular camera was still dead at this point, and my phone camera is a poor substitute at night. It was a pretty cool view from up top, and you even take a sky tram to get up there (the sky tram and Tower require different tickets).

Not bad for a first night and fitting for single travelers (and couples too) since the area caters to a younger crowd.