Daelim Station

Lodging: No

Tourist Office: No

Of interest: Chinese restaurants and stores

The same day that I discovered Soyosan, I discovered a real Chinatown in Seoul.

As anyone who visits Korea (or Japan for that matter) discovers, there are a couple of fake Chinatowns in Seoul and Busan. You might think that there are few Chinese people living in Korea. In fact, there is a large Chinese community in Korea. Most Chinese do not live together in one area, but are spread out through the country. One area that has many Chinese residents is an area south of Daelim Station.

Daelim Station is a transfer point between lines 2 and 7 in southwestern Seoul.

I walked out of one of the line 7 exits and started to explore. At first, I didn't see much, although the area is one of the more attractive in Seoul. Between a triangle of main streets is a maze of alleys and houses. In the middle of this labyrinth is a road that is larger than the rest that is lined with restaurants and shops with signs in Chinese.

I used to know more than 500 characters. I used to be able to read the names of at least some Chinese dishes. But not anymore. I couldn't read much, but I noticed that a few places were advertising Szechuan food. That is interesting because most Chinese residents of Korea come from north eastern China, particularly Manchuria. I also noticed a dish whose first two characters were "cow" and "sun". I would very much like to know what a cow sun is.

Perpendicular to this road is a food market with many Chinese products along with the typical Korean stuff.

With all this and finding out that part of line 2 runs above ground, I thought I was never going to come to the end of the days discoveries. Rail travel opens up whole new worlds.

Dobongsan Station

Lodging: Not certain, but probably yes

Tourist Office: ?

Of interest: National Park

Coming back from Soyosan, I changed trains from line 1 to line 7. The view from the train station is beautiful, but since I didn't even have time to climb to the top of Soyosan, I obviously didn't have time to explore here. The mountains here are a little farther from the train station, but there are several to choose from. Like Soyosan, this area is a nice little break north of the city.

Soyosan Subway Station

Lodging: Yes

Tourist Office: No

Of interest: Soyo Mountain, Jajeam Mountain, Peace Museum, Wonhyo Waterfall

I like to go exploring because of the unexpected things that I see. Here I saw maple trees with pink seeds. I have only ever seen brown maple seeds.

Soyosan Station is at the northern end of line 1. San means mountain, and this station is at the foot of Soyo Mountain.

Almost everyone who gets off here is going to the mountain, so just follow the crowd. You will walk through a little town with motels and restaurants. There is a motel actually on the mountain along with several restaurants, so I recommend waiting.

There is a also a peace museum right outside the little town.

I didn't stay overnight, but I did eat. An excellent meal. The restaurant was next to the stream that comes off the mountain. They specialize in mushroom dishes. I had mountain vegetables which were really good.

One of the oldest temples in Korea is located here although the current buildings were actually built after the Korean war. The Buddhist monk Wonhyo built Jajae'am-sa in 645.

The walk from the station is not the only way up, it just one of the easiest and most convenient. You can also walk from one of the back gates of Camp Casey.

Cheongnangyi Station

Lodging: New Boolim Hotel, motels

Tourist Office: No

Of interest: Near Dongdaemun

There are two Cheongnangyi Stations, one train and one subway. They are right next to each other. From here you can take a train the Chungcheon or into Ganwan-do. The subway line number one runs through here which means that you can get to downtown Seoul, Incheon, and Uijeong-bu from here.

I go to various places in Dongdaemun-gu often, and I have stayed at the New Boolim Hotel twice. I was satisfied both times, but my room was not as clean this time as the first time. I notice that the reviews on asiarooms.com have gotten worse in the last six months.

A lot of people come to this area at night. It is particularly good place to come to eat at night. Go across the station/department store plaza and there is a street with a variety of traditional restaurants. The road is next to the Skin Food store.

Trains for Gangwan-do leave from Cheongnanyi Station.

Seoul subway - light blue line

Today took the light blue line from Yongsan to Deoksu. I had a really good time because I spent most of the trip talking to another passenger. Meeting people is one reason that I like traveling by train.

This line goes into Gangwan-do and once it gets out of Seoul, the scenery is really beautiful. Within Seoul it runs along a river for a while and is a good way to see the city. This line is really more like a regular train line than a subway line. It is less crowded than the other subways, faster and all above ground.

Deoksu Station
Lodging: No
Tourist Office: No
Sights: None

Deoksu Station is both the end of the line and station on the train to Wonju. I walked around the town. It is a fairly typical suburb. Nice landscaping and better than average sidewalks, but worse than average traffic. I was really careful crossing the street.

If you are interested in a short trip into Gangwon-do, I recommend getting off at one of the earlier stations.

Train Routes in Korea

There are nine train lines in Korea. The Gyeongbu and the Honam lines run both high speed (KTX) and regular speed trains. Here are a list of the all the rail lines that cover Korea. Please note that not all trains stop at all stations.

Gyeongbu Line

Haengshin (KTX only)

Seoul (KTX)

Gwangmyeong (in Seoul, KTX only), Yeongdeungpo (in Seoul), Anyang, Suwon,

Osan, Pyeongtaek, Cheonan (KTX trains stop at Cheonan-Asan station.), Jochiwon, Sintanjin (Daejeon), Daejeon (KTX), Okcheon,

Iwon, Yeongdong, Chupungryeong, Gimcheon, Gumi, Waegwan, Daegu, Dongdaegu(KTX), Gyeongsan, Chyeongdo, Miryang (KTX), Samrangjin, Mulgeum, Gupo (KTX) (Busan)

Busan (KTX)

Honam

Haengshin (KTX only)

Yongsan (in downtown Seoul, KTX)

Same as Gyeongbu line from here to Shintanjin except no stop at Anyang or Osan.

Seodaejeon (KTX), Gyeyreong (KTX), Yeonsan, Nonsan (KTX), Ganggyeong (Nonsan), Hamyeol,

Iksan (KTX), Gimje (KTX), Sintaein, Jeongeup (KTX),

Baekyangsa, Jangseong, Gwangju (KTX) (All trains for Mokpo stop at Gwangju Songjeong instead.)

Naju (KTX), Dasi, Hampyeong, Muan, Mongtan, Irro, Mokpo (KTX)

Janghang

Yongsan (in downtown Seoul)

Same as Gyeongbu line from here to Cheonan except no stop at Osan.

Asan (This is the same station as Cheonan-Asan KTX station.), Onyang-oncheon, Dogo-oncheon, Sillewon, Yesan, Sapgyo, Hongseong, Gwangcheon, Daecheon, Ungcheon, Pangyo, Seocheon, Janghang, Gunsan,

From Iksan same as Honam line to Seodaejeon Station.

Jeolla

Yongsan

Same as Honam to Iksan.

Samnye, Jeonju, Osu, Namwon, Guggyeong, Guryegu, Suncheon, Deokyang, Yecheon, Yeosu

Trains that run along the southern edge of Korea are also considered to be part of the Jeolla line. It starts same as the Homan line until Gwangju Sonjeong.

Seogwangju, Hycheon, Nampyeong, Hwasun, Neungju, Iyang, Myangbong, Boseong, Deukryang, Yedang, Joseong, Beolgyo, Suncheon, Gwangyang, Okkuk, Jinsang, Hadong, Huingcheon, Yangbo, Bukcheon, Wansa, Jinju, Gaeyang, Nammunsan, Galchon, Jinseong, Banseong, Jinjusumokwon, Pyeongchon, Wonbuk, Gunbuk, Haman, Jangri, Masan, Changwon, Jinyang, Nakdonggang, Samrangjin, Mulgeum, Hwamyeong (Busan), Gupo (Busan), Sasang (Busan), Bujeon (in Busan)

Gyeongchun

Cheongyangni (in Seoul), Seongbuk, Hwangrangdae, Twaegewon, Sareung, Geumgok,

Pyeongnaihopyeong, Maseok, Daeseongni, Cheongpyeong, Gapyeong, Gangchon, Gimyujeong,

Namchuncheon