Sam's Adventures in South Korea: Namsan Tower (tandem biking will have to wait)

Last weekend, we finally followed through with Amy's dream of visiting Namsan Tower - the big tower sitting atop a hill in Seoul overlooking Itaewon, Myeongdong, etc etc etc. If you check the pictures from the Skyway, you'll see it lit up atop a hill in one of those.

Namsan tower is fairly new. It's got amazing views of the city, boasts a restaurant, a few museums, and a post office (yes, I sent a few post cards - if you didn't get one it's because I didn't know your address from memory (or I don't know you), sorry). It's a steep walk up a hill to get to the cable car, or you can hike the mountain up. We took the cable car, which was a massive line too, but for 6000 won (about $6) it was worth it, even though it was scary and the line was long.

We had to wait a long time, and when you reach the end of the line, they cram as many of you into the thing as possible, and it swings on the way up. There were maybe 25 to 30 of us crammed into this little box:

When you reach the top, there's a few more steps to climb to the main top place, which is where the tower, the museums, and a Coldstone is (you cannot escape this place whereever you are). There's a Teddy Bear Museum, a pagoda, and a nice gradual walk down the other side to the bus stops (you can get buses from Itaewon and from Myeongdong). WE got there right when the sun was starting to go down, so we took our pictures, ate some hurricane potatoes (they're fried potatoes twisted in a spiral up a skewer and coated in powdered cheese, yum!), and paid to get into the tower, which boasts a very very fast elevator. Since the ride is so smooth, to remind you it's fast, they make you stare at the ceiling, where an image of you blasting into space is projected, but other than that, it's not that cool.

Inside the cable car, that's Seoul on the Myeongdong side below

View from the base of the tower

Namsan Tower

Brooke and Beks at the tower

Amy at the tower

The pagoda as the sun set

At the base of the tower are a bunch of wire trees, to which thousands of padlocks are attached. These padlocks are left by couples, sometimes with messages, always signed and dated, and it's supposed to represent being together forever. There's also some rubber phone cases for longer messages attached to the trees with the locks.

The padlock trees

Inside the tower, when you get up there, is a cafe and an observatory, which looks out in all directions over the entirety of Seoul. We made it in time to watch the sun set from the tower over the last of the hills, and then we sent off a few postcards. We found Denver, and London too, and Brooke found Australia (that's where she's from), and the views were spectacular.