Seonyudo Islet

The man from the National Assembly tour said that the Islet was 1 KM away. It wasn't. It was more like 4 KM. I had more to drink on the way, and tried to enjoy the slight breeze coming off of the river. The Islet was a disappointment. A small island on one side of the Han River, it's connected to either side by a bridge for cars and to one side by a pedestrian bridge. After floods in 1925, rocks were taken from the Islet to build banks on the Han River, which led to degradation of the island. Later it was used as a water purification plant. Now it's basically a park. The remains of the plant are used to support a "wild plants" area that amounts to some cattails and bamboo and a separate shallow pond area for kids to splash around in. A big deal was made of the World Cup Fountain, reaching 202 meters high, apparently the tallest in the world. Everything in Korea is the tallest or the biggest or the fastest or the best!

When I got back to the mainland I could not find the subway station. I walked one way and then another. I asked a man walking with his daughter where Dangsan Station was (in Korean), and he told me in perfect English how to get there. I continued walking, saw a bus stop with lots of people across from a building under construction that said Dangsan Station on the side. Huh? Are people taking buses instead of the subway from here? I'm not doing that, especially hearing about how horrible navigating the buses are. I'll walk back to Yeouinaru Station (on Yeouido Island) if I have to!

I walked some more, noticing how different the neighborhood was from the downtown part of Seoul. This neighborhood was no different than Ulsan--mostly 3~5 story buildings, people in more subdued fashions, fruit being sold from the front of stores, etc. It also looked like a newer area of town, or one that was being redeveloped. There was construction everywhere.

After eating at a McDonald's I crossed the street to what I had figured out was a subway station. I was expecting to see it underground like the others, not raised above the ground.

Back in Insadong I visited the tourist information center to ask about the postal museum. The volunteer was fascinated by my booklet full of Seoul museums, and asked if she could copy it. OK, sure....aren't they still available? Well, apparently the Seoul government put out a lot of tourist literature during the 2002 World Cup, but hasn't done much since then. I warned her that some of the information wasn't accurate or was outdated. While she copied I used the internet briefly.

I was really hurting at that point. I had gotten entirely too much sun over the course of the day, especially on my lower arms and on the back of my legs. My legs which were previously white white white white had changed to red. I was tired and sore and had aching feet. I had a heat rash on my lower legs (some left over from wearing pants yesterday). I returned to the yogwan shortly after 8 PM and ate half a Subway sandwich (another food I rarely get in Ulsan) before going to sleep at 11. What a long but exciting day!