Landmark of Seoul -Seoul Tower

Last weekend we went on our last trip to Seoul. Since after a fortnight we will be leaving from here, we decided to see the famous Seoul Tower. Its a landmark as it is visible from any part of the city.The 236.7 meter high Seoul Tower built on the 243m Mt. Namsan has been known as the best tower in Asia. The travelling wasn't much an issue as we had travelled in the same line before changing a train in between. The station we got down was Myeong-dong another famous shopping area of Seoul. Dongdaemun & Namdaemun provide an inexpensive shopping experience where as Myeong-dong provides a high fashion but affordable shopping. Its known as Mecca for Shoppers. First we decided to see the tower then before boarding the train just stroll in the market. So we walked straight as we had read the instructions from here. We went left from the Pacific hotel through the resturants till we reached a stairway then taking right and walking ahead towards the Mountain we came across the Cable car station. This picture is the way we followed.

As it was morning time there was no major line to get the tickets. And we were in cable car in 5 mins. The view while going up was spectacular. The mountain below us and the breathtaking view of the city is a  must-see. There are also walking trails to climb the mountain but if you are coming for 1st time the Cable car is a must. And walking will take around 1-2 hrs. Within 5 mins we reached Mt. Namsan and started going up the stairs towards the Plaza. It was a big open space with people doing many sort of stuff. Some one had built a structure from empty bottles. And as Spring is approaching the trees

have beautiful flowers which looked really pretty with the surrounding. We took some snaps and got the tickets for Observatory at top. The tower has mainly 5 floors. The Observatory was in 3rd floor and in 5th
floor there is a revolving resturant but its too expensive. We got a package ticket (for Observatory & Teddy bear museum). First we went to see the museum. There are 2 parts. One side showing the history and culture of Korea using teddy bears and another is the modern Korea. Both were too good and I found it really cute. It wasn't much crowded so Hubby and I took our time to see and take snaps. At the end of the tower there is a Photo zone where you can take pictures with cartoon

characters even from your own camera. There is a TV screen and a camera attached below it and when you go in front of the camera you can take photos with digital images of many characters. Its kind of like special
effects as the screen behind you will be blue and you add any image you can be part of it too! It was fun to take the photos adjusting ourselves with the imaginary characters next to us.

Then after that we went up the tower to the Digital Observatory. The view from top was beautiful. It had huge glass windows at the side so we had an uninterrupted view down below. And in the glass the names of places was written i.e. in which direction the city is located. There were high power telescopes to see the city closely. It was awesome too. We spent some time there just soaking in the view in front of us.Then the floor below it was the Analog Observatory,nearly similar but with chairs at the sides so that you can sit and enjoy the view while having a snack. And another must-see place in that floor was the restrooms. It had the toilets with a view. Really one of a kind and people took snaps mostly rather than using it :-)...

Then we came down to the Plaza and had lunch at one of the resturants present in the terrace. After that we came to the Roof terrace where thousands and thousands of locks were there at the side. It was a 'couple thing' there to go and take 2 locks,lock it together writing your love message and throw away the key. We also got a lock and locked it at the

fence there. It was sort of sweet. The whole place was filled with locks at the sides and it was interesting to read the messages. Then in the center of plaza some local royal guards were performing some martial arts. It was beautiful to see their skills.
After that we decided to come back as it was getting crowded. By the time we reached to take the cable car it was already a big line and we had to wait 15-20 mins for our turn. But when we reached the other end the line was even bigger. It was really spectacular in the evening with the lighting system of the tower so many prefer to see the night view but its a lot of waiting involved. We then came back and on our way to Myeong-dong we had a hot cup of coffee and we sat at the sitting area near the station and sipped it. It was getting little cold so it felt really warm to have it. Then we crossed the road by doing down the subway and coming up from another exit in front of the shopping area. First we went in the big Shopping complex called Migliore which was famous for its trendy and fashionable items. We went through some floors and I was awed by the cute dresses there. The items were not very high priced but very fashionable. Then we came out and just strolled in the lane looking at stuffs. After a while we decided to call it a day and return home. I kind of felt sad as it was our last journey to Seoul and after that we won't be having adventurous journeys by the subway in Seoul.