Seoul Impressions: Odd Couple in N Seoul Tower

I like cities which preserve a certain amount of greenery and provide places where city dwellers can enjoy nature. Despite being a crowded metropolis, Seoul has these pockets of oasis where one can simply breathe in the fresh air and have a relaxing time.

N Seoul Tower is located on Namsan Mountain. Getting there from the city is quite convenient with the Namsan Circulation Buses, which pick up passengers from certain points and brings them to the Namsan area.  The bus drops you off at the base of a hill. You then have to climb up a steep slope to get to the entrance of N Seoul Tower compound. Depending on your pace, the walk up the slope takes about 5-10 minutes. I know this because I walked up and down this path frantically for 30 minutes because my companion got lost – but that’s another story. The climb was thankfully worth it. The air up there was much cooler, the area was very spacious, and the view was fantastic.

The view from N Seoul Tower - miles and miles of Seoul at your feet!

It seems to me that the whole place caught on the “Love” theme. The N Seoul Tower has been famous for having an area (a balcony actually) where couples hang padlocks with their names written on it and throw away the key. It’s believed that by throwing away the key, the lock remains sealed, symbolizing that the couple’s love will remain forever. 

A different kind of Christmas tree! N Seoul Tower's Locks of Love! 

Inside the Tower, the same theme continues. We took the ride up to the observatory floor where you can have a 360 degree view of Seoul. Aside from the usual gift shop and coffee shop, there was also a postcard station where you can buy cute postcards and send them out to loved ones at home. There were also walls filled with couples’ declarations of love written on refrigerator magnets and displayed onsite.   

Cute postbox! 

The journey back to the city was more interesting for me. We joined the long queue for the cable car. Though the line was long, it moved quickly in keeping with the typical efficiency of Koreans. I was expecting a cable car which could accommodate maybe a maximum of 8-10 people and which had all passengers seated. Instead, what came was a big rectangular piece of glass container like this…

Packed like a flying can of sardines! 

Clearly, the engineer who built this didn't care much about aesthetics! :) 

We were there during a public holiday and the place was full. They packed about 20-25 people inside the cable car and sent us on our way. I felt like being in a can of sardines, flying across the skyline of Seoul.

That's us flying across Seoul in the cable car

Upon reaching the terminal of the cable car station, we scouted around for a way back to the city. We were still very much on higher ground and there seemed to be no taxis or other public transport nearby. I had read somewhere that there was a new “escalator” which brought people to the cable car station, so we followed some locals who seemed to be headed that way. Very soon, I found the “escalator”. It was actually a glass elevator, but instead of moving up and down, it rested on some rails which moved diagonally across the slope of the hill.  A very different escalator indeed! 

Hi ho hi ho! and down the ramp we go!

Love and engineering -- odd couple to describe my N Seoul experience!