Day 10: Han River Ferry
There were about 3 times during my trip where I wish I could just press a button and magically appear back at my aunts place because I was tired or frustrated or both. Not being able to find that McDonald’s after visiting the KBS Exhibition Hall was one of those times. As my trip went on, I started to pay more attention to ensuring that I wasn’t running on an empty stomach, even if it meant snacking to fill me up along the way until I could find a place to sit for an actual meal. The walk from the KBS Building all the way to Yeouinaro Station felt like the longest walk ever and I actually had to stop and sit down a couple of times along the way because my feet were hurting. I was actually going to just hop on the subway and go straight back to my aunt’s instead of checking out the ferries because of how I was feeling. I rationalized though that since I made it this far, I might as well keep going and see all the things I came here to see.
The pier for the ferries is located a short walk north-east of Yeouinaro Station. As I approached the pier, I figured exactly what was going to be for lunch as I saw a sign for a KFC. It wasn’t McDonald’s but it was close enough.^^ I was hoping to buy a ticket, have time to get lunch and then hop on the ferry but the next ferry at 1:30PM was leaving in about 5 minutes. I had just enough time to buy a ticket and hop on to the ferry (sans KFC) before it left the pier. There were several trips to chose from but I chose the round trip which cost 14,000WON.
One of the best memories I had from my trip to Tokyo was riding the cruise boat down the Sumida-Gawa River. When I think back, I am finding it hard to come up with something exciting to say about that ride that made me like it so much. I think perhaps it’s because I tend to gravitate towards things that are more relaxing than exciting, although I do like my share of exciting things too. It was nice to be able to get some distance between myself and the city and see it from afar along the landscape. I just remember how calming it felt to track objects slowly moving in the distance as I passed them by and staring at the waves and watching the waters. Thinking of that ride in Tokyo made me want to push myself to take the Han River ferry and I was glad I did.
For someone who was tired and achy, the Han River Ferry ended up being the perfect remedy. The ferry had 2 levels so I went up to the top level and found a seat outside at the very end that was a low traffic area where I could sit and stretch my legs out. There were several classes of kids on board and they were quite energetic running around the ferry most of the time but I was able to zone them out. Being on the ride made me feel like it was very much my time to not think of anything else such as places that I still needed to visit or what I was going to do next. It was simply my time to relax and enjoy watching Seoul pass by.
There was a snack bar inside the ferry which was popular with the kids who then threw pieces of their snacks overboard for the seagulls to fetch. For the first 1/3 of the ride or so, there was a flock of seagulls conditioned to fly along side the ferry because they knew it meant that there was food. They stopped following us though after a while. I had seen on TV that if you hold out a prawn cracker that seagulls would pick it out of your hand. Some of the kids were doing this but I guess the seagulls weren’t feeling as adventurous on this day as they were content to just stick with the food that was being thrown into the waters.
The ferry first travelled East along the Southern shore of the Hangang River and then turned around and travelled West passing Yeouido before heading back East to where we boarded. The ride lasted over an hour and the main sights were the many bridges that stretched across the Han River and seeing buildings like the 63 Building. Like the ride in Tokyo, it was nice to get that distance between myself and the city to observe it from afar.
You can see that the weather continued to be cloudy for the remainder of the day. 태극기!
Here are some clips I took while riding the ferry.
After we docked, I headed to KFC and ordered a Tower Burger combo. I had never seen this burger before (I don’t go to KFC at all in Toronto) and from the picture it looked like a chicken burger with tomato and bacon. When I opened it up however, I found that the picture of what I thought was a tomato and bacon was actually a hash brown on top of the chicken in between the buns. Yikes. I only ate about half of it before I gave up and started my way back to my aunt’s where I stayed in for the remainder of the day.
The pier for the ferries is located a short walk north-east of Yeouinaro Station. As I approached the pier, I figured exactly what was going to be for lunch as I saw a sign for a KFC. It wasn’t McDonald’s but it was close enough.^^ I was hoping to buy a ticket, have time to get lunch and then hop on the ferry but the next ferry at 1:30PM was leaving in about 5 minutes. I had just enough time to buy a ticket and hop on to the ferry (sans KFC) before it left the pier. There were several trips to chose from but I chose the round trip which cost 14,000WON.
One of the best memories I had from my trip to Tokyo was riding the cruise boat down the Sumida-Gawa River. When I think back, I am finding it hard to come up with something exciting to say about that ride that made me like it so much. I think perhaps it’s because I tend to gravitate towards things that are more relaxing than exciting, although I do like my share of exciting things too. It was nice to be able to get some distance between myself and the city and see it from afar along the landscape. I just remember how calming it felt to track objects slowly moving in the distance as I passed them by and staring at the waves and watching the waters. Thinking of that ride in Tokyo made me want to push myself to take the Han River ferry and I was glad I did.
For someone who was tired and achy, the Han River Ferry ended up being the perfect remedy. The ferry had 2 levels so I went up to the top level and found a seat outside at the very end that was a low traffic area where I could sit and stretch my legs out. There were several classes of kids on board and they were quite energetic running around the ferry most of the time but I was able to zone them out. Being on the ride made me feel like it was very much my time to not think of anything else such as places that I still needed to visit or what I was going to do next. It was simply my time to relax and enjoy watching Seoul pass by.
There was a snack bar inside the ferry which was popular with the kids who then threw pieces of their snacks overboard for the seagulls to fetch. For the first 1/3 of the ride or so, there was a flock of seagulls conditioned to fly along side the ferry because they knew it meant that there was food. They stopped following us though after a while. I had seen on TV that if you hold out a prawn cracker that seagulls would pick it out of your hand. Some of the kids were doing this but I guess the seagulls weren’t feeling as adventurous on this day as they were content to just stick with the food that was being thrown into the waters.
The ferry first travelled East along the Southern shore of the Hangang River and then turned around and travelled West passing Yeouido before heading back East to where we boarded. The ride lasted over an hour and the main sights were the many bridges that stretched across the Han River and seeing buildings like the 63 Building. Like the ride in Tokyo, it was nice to get that distance between myself and the city to observe it from afar.
After we docked, I headed to KFC and ordered a Tower Burger combo. I had never seen this burger before (I don’t go to KFC at all in Toronto) and from the picture it looked like a chicken burger with tomato and bacon. When I opened it up however, I found that the picture of what I thought was a tomato and bacon was actually a hash brown on top of the chicken in between the buns. Yikes. I only ate about half of it before I gave up and started my way back to my aunt’s where I stayed in for the remainder of the day.
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