South of the river

Today we spent the day on the south side of the river - around the Jamsil area. We headed off to Olympic Park - where most of the sports venues for the 1988 Olympics were. The park itself was beautiful, with lots of sports stadiums, statues, gardens and paths. We wandered around - climbing to the top of a large hill which gave us 360 degree views of the parks and grounds.

The massive World Peace gate built for the Olympics was amazing - so huge and impressive. The Olympic flame is still burning at its base. We managed to find the Australian flag amongst the sea of flag poles.

We then headed in to Jamsil - so that Kim could buy a cap he had seen earlier in the week before jumping on another train to the Olympic stadium, where we grabbed a bit of lunch in a small cafe. When Ian and I visited the stadium in 1998 you could buy an entry ticket to go inside - this time the security guard just opened one of the gates and let us in. We sat and watched some soccer training on the ground.

One of the places I had wanted to visit on our last trip was the Seonjeongneung Royal Tombs but we hadn't been able to get there. Today was the day that we managed it. The grounds are amazing - entry price for the 4 of us was 3000 won which is $3 - ridiculous. The tombs are high on hills with raised mounds and statues surrounding the buried king or queen. A beautiful place to visit.

We ended our day with a return visit to see Jump - another non verbal Korean performance filled with tumbling, tricking and a lot of slap stick humour before tea at Hongik. Our day involved 11 different subway rides, a mad rushed taxi ride to get to Jump and some absolutely scrumptious Pork Tonkatsu and Beef curry. We were out and about from 9.00 till 7.00 and we are all exhausted!

One of the views from the top of the Olympic Park....