I'm leaving from Tokyo, the direct flight will take a little over two hours. In downtown Tokyo I use the Yamanote subway, continue on to Nippori, where I weave through the maze and follow the signs to reach the platform of the local, which is twice as cheap as the airport express. Anyway, it takes twice as long as the express. It's always a quid pro quo. I transfer from one train to another on one platform and use Access Tokkyu to Narita Airport. The transport to the airport is very good, the whole journey of about 60 kilometres takes about an hour, there are plenty of connections and they are only slightly more expensive than a regular metro.

At check-in, I was only assigned a seat at the counter because I didn't have a seat pre-selected. Occasionally you get lucky and there's a emergency seat where there's more legroom. Security at Narita was slightly unfashionable. In a normal airport, they let personal and metal items run through the scanner on their own, here the staff carried them by hand. Yeah, classic Japan. Then at the immigration counter, one gets one's passport stamped and is ready to fly. Other paperwork for immigration and customs is then filled out on the plane while still in flight.

Traveler's  tip: It's a good idea to bring an empty clear plastic bottle that one can fill with water before getting on the plane before the gays. Unlike many airports, Narita is equipped with many drinkers, so there is no need to buy bottled water. 

We land at the clean and shiny Incheon Airport, which is on an artificial island in the sea, because it would not fit in Seoul due to its size. But because of its size and inferior signage, it was also quite difficult to navigate our way out of the plane and into downtown Seoul. You need to get on the shuttle train from Terminal 2 to Terminal 1 and then only to Arrivals and out. 

After fighting with one ATM, I withdrew a couple hundred thousand won from another. One can be a millionaire very easily here, it just doesn't buy much, the exchange rate is around 50-60 won to one Czech crown. Plus, the cash is tearing his wallet apart, even though he has almost nothing in it. So maybe it's better to pay by card wherever you can. Fortunately, unlike in Japan, it's more common here.

You can then get to downtown Seoul by a modern express train for about 10,000 won or by a subway-type train for about 5,000 won, which practically goes all the way to Seoul as a classic surface train.

The technological maturity of this part of Asia is evident at every turn here. The efficient built-up area, where, say, three train lines build into a station on top of each other and it then takes up only a few metres of width, the functionality and size of the station, where they don't actually need any inspectors because nobody just walks through without a ticket, the precision, the cleanliness. A lot of positives that I could imagine in Europe or in the Czech Republic.

After a full day of moving, I arrived in Seoul in the evening. The first and last destination of the first day was only the Namsan digger, an icon of Seoul visible from most places of the city. At the top is the N Seoul tower, a lookout tower and a destination for many tourists, from where you can get a view of the whole city. The sunset over Seoul's hilly terrain is magical here. Even after dark, crowds of tourists, foreigners and rowdy Chinese kids flock to Namsan.

First impressions of Seoul can be negative, with many places in the centre looking untidy, ugly shop windows, dingy alleyways with crappy accommodation. However, the impression improves when one starts exploring the nicer parts of the city. The main tourist sights of Seoul are in the north of the city. On my way to them, I stopped at Hwangudan altar, which are remnants of traditional architecture and historical monuments wedged between the skyscrapers and high-rises around. It so breaks up the modern character of the city and creates a stark contrast.

The main Sejong Avenue in front of the Gyeongbokgung Palace Complex was bustling with activity. It is one of the main avenues, like our way across the Nusel Bridge and past the National Museum. There are several large expensive hotels here, displaying their opulence, gardeners tending to every leaf, fishing from the fountain and stream the petals of flowering trees, taking good care.

In the afternoon I met a Czech girl studying there near the historical bell tower in the Jonggak district. In the Czech Republic, we would chase each other in the crowd for half an hour before we found out who we were waiting for, but here it's clear: just a guy waiting who is not Korean. A blonde who isn't Korean. 

Travel tip: It's a good idea to get a T-money card for the Korean subway, which is the equivalent of the PASMO card in Japan. Then you just top up the money and ride and just beep at the turnstiles.

The next day I woke up to fresh air after the rain in the Sinchon district. I went for a walk through the sleepy neighborhood, people were cleaning the streets, working, tourists were nowhere to be seen, just quiet, like it was Sunday. Downhill streets, uphill streets, it's up and down here. Around Yonsei University, the bustle was brisk, and onward I took the subway to today's main destination, Bukchon Hanok village.

Bukchon Hanok Village is an area in central Seoul between the Gyeongbokgung and Changdeokgung complexes with traditional Korean houses, called hanok, that were built during the Joseon Dynasty. There is some nicely preserved old Korean village architecture. I was quite hungry after walking around the village, what's there to eat for a snack? Maybe some onigiri.

Culinary tip: Onigiri are triangles of rice wrapped in nori seaweed with different flavours. The Japanese ones are good for snacking, usually slightly drier without a strong flavor. Korean onigiri, however, are even better in my opinion, better flavored, slightly spicy, usually with kimchi cabbage inside.

I move on to the palatial complex, whose name, like the names of other places, I can't remember off the top of my head, of course, because it's unmemorable in Korean. Changdeokgung. However, I say unmemorable. Admission was a pittance, about 3000 won, yet there was hardly anyone in the complex. The complex is listed by UNESCO and I'd say it's even nicer than Gyeongbokgung. 

Next door to Changdeokgung is another area with an even worse name, Changgyeonggung, where a ticket costs just 1000 won. The adjacent gardens are a truly beautiful sight, though, especially when it's spring and the azaleas are blooming. 

One of the most important sights in South Korea is the national and UNESCO World Heritage Site Jongmyo. This monument to honor the ancestors of the Joseon royal family was built in 1394 at the beginning of the dynasty. Jongmyo is divided into several sections, including the main gate and several shrines. Every even hour, for a folk fee of 1000 won (that's about 20 CZK, some things are really cheap here) you can go on a very good hour tour in English with a guide around the grounds. This Confucian shrine is still used for rituals for deceased kings for several centuries. Some are kept in the small hall because they did not accomplish much, while the big hall houses the most prominent ones who contributed to the development of the state. And beware, you are not allowed to walk on the main road because it would disturb the ghosts of the dead rulers.

The parade ends, I continue on into the city, this time to the "suburbs", the marketplace and the business districts around. It is common here for shops with similar products to merge into one place in town. For example, next to Jongmyo there are several blocks exclusively with jewelry stores and jewelry shops. In another part, they sell only textiles, fabrics and clothes, for example. Shops here - as in Japan - also often effectively fill unused spaces under large intersections, for example. And food markets are perhaps not even worth writing about, or making one drool on the keyboard from all the street food from shops packed side by side in covered streets, offering literally piles of varied food. Mostly cooks preparing food of all shapes in front of people, e.g. a lot of different skewers, soups, noodles, meat or potato propellers on a skewer, strawberries in adzuki batter, made from rice dough, well, a joy to behold. And of course to taste!

I walked all the way to the very centre of Seoul, which is crossed by an artificial stream in Cheonggyecheon Park. It's kind of like the Czech Wenceslas Square, but with more nature and especially running water, which makes this part of town very pleasant. There are tall towers everywhere, towers of skyscrapers of banks and other institutions, here already Seoul looks like a really typical and at the same time nice big city. 

Travel tip: Asian communities(e.g. 7-Eleven) are open late and one can get almost anything one needs at the moment. Another advantage is the ready meals or lunchtime bentis, which in the larger combos can be heated right in the microwave and eaten at a table between the shelves in peace. So for a total of a few crowns and a few minutes, lunch or dinner is solved efficiently, without having to visit a restaurant, which sometimes comes in handy when time is short.

Interesting fact: Buses run all the time and everywhere in Seoul, with groups of perhaps ten buses at a time arriving at stops. Anywhere in the city, at any time, and on any major street, you can always count several buses in sight.

The whole memorial is just something incredible, the exhibitions are absolutely well done, audiovisually incredibly interesting, well put together from the prehistoric conflicts in this part of Asia to the current political situation around North and South Korea. There's no admission fee, the operation is obviously funded by the state, probably to get as many people as possible to "experience" the horrors of war, realize what it's all about, and learn and condemn the kind of political and military moves and maneuvers that lead to wars. However, the conflict with North Korea is still alive. 

Inside the main building, the three floors are filled with rooms that showcase the early days of the Korean peninsula up to about the 20th century, all the national formations that have been on Korean territory, and the battles that have been fought here. Then on the second floor, the main exhibit breaks down why this memorial was probably created in the first place, which is the Korean War, remembering the 150,000 fallen both Koreans and Allies, and thanking the Allies for contributing to democracy. Then, during the tour, one is constantly surprised by something, such as when, after a brief two-minute intro to the Korean War, the floor lights up and the remains appear under the glass floor.

The visitor also gets a glimpse under the hood of the UN, how the resolutions and United Nations operations work, what the current political situation is between the Koreas, and learns a bit about the demilitarized zone. In the few days in Seoul, I realized several times that it is probably actually a short distance to North Korea and that an escalation of the conflict could theoretically happen at any time, although at this moment it looks a little better than ever. And because it could happen at any time, the South Koreans are prepared for such a conflict. You can find signs all over the city telling you where the hiding places are, if anything, it's usually somewhere in the subway or something like that. Most rooms also have rescue supplies, in case of evacuation, primarily emergency flashlights, and possibly ropes and pulleys for rappelling from tall buildings.

There is a beautiful park around the memorial, everything is blooming now in spring, azaleas are everywhere you look. This contrasts humorously with the surprisingly large display of army weaponry, with tanks, a ship and planes, like a B-52 among the trees.

Originally, I thought I wouldn't have anything to do today with only this memorial on the itinerary, but I ended up regretting having to continue away from Seoul today. After all, the memorial to the wars was so big, sprawling and crammed with information that one could easily spend a complete day there. Or rather, two days, absolutely no problem, I'd recommend that more than less - at least one afternoon on the first floor with early history and the other day with 20th and 21st century.