Arrived to a sunny Seoul after the short 2 and a bit hour hop from Tokyo. Sad to wave bye to the sushi and a certain mouse but excited for the next adventure.

Incheon airport was a high-end, classy affair, all wide walkways, and tech as predicted. Spent an hour getting through immigration and faffing with travel cards esims and the like before boarding the bus to Namdaemun Market and my home for the next 7 days.

Korean culture dictates quiet on the bus, and the driver was quick to shut up the obnoxious Americans (told you they get everywhere!) on the way. If only everywhere did this! Daydreamy journey through the windy roads to civilisation with only my subhuman sleepiness for company. Didn’t risk a nap for fear of where I’d end up but glad to see the hotel beaming like a beacon exactly where it should be – ready to welcome me! Phew.

Checked in, popped to 7-eleven for supplies – much like in Tokyo a viral and iconic list when in Korea so grabbed the things that seemed appealing and a potter of ramen for a speedy snack, put a wash on and settled in with Queendom the Comeback…what seemed to be Korea’s answer to K-pop X Factor. Facetimed the fam thanks to favourable time difference. A perfect Thursday night!!!

Friday was a literal washout. Rain of biblical proportions!!! Knew was on the cards, so I like to think the universe was enforcing rest. Didn’t set an alarm and woke up at 11.30. Dreamy!

Had something noodly for lunch and embarked on first edition of a special South Korean too much information game I’m calling “Ring of fire roulette”…where we guess if every meal will be so horrifically spicy that I live in the bathroom for the rest of the day! Escaped day 1 unscathed… but I don’t predict I will be so lucky as the week goes on. Let us pray.

As someone who medically requires 3 monthly vitamin b12 injections for annoying anaemia, the main aim of the day was to track down a much needed overdue jab to help combat the ensuing brain fog and fatigue. Spent most of the morning wondering what year it was, let alone what day, so I knew it was an essential task. I had done plenty of research prior and knew thanks to the booming cosmetic industry here it should be a relatively easy find. Or so I thought….

Tracked down Three Wishes aesthetics about 20 mins away and booked in. Perused their extensive menu of offerings and decided to pass on whale sperm facial and labial whitening….very much not when in Rome and just get the jab and get out before it bacame a remake of face/off.

Lost in translation later and instead of a jab I am hooked up, LA style, to a vitamin stuffed IV drip and after much Google aided clarity confirmed it was just a b12 and vitamin c cocktail not the “Cinderella” drip they also offer…which claims to induce skin whitening from the blood outwards…..cool. Remains to be seen if it works to combat the fatigue or if, instead, I develop radioactive powers in the coming weeks. I’ll keep you informed.

Myeongdong market next up, in spite of rain, and in and out of Korean beauty shops. K beauty is a multi-billion dollar industry, and I have never set foot in a nation so obsessed with self. I picked up some cult face masks and got fed up with shop staff following me. They do this cute thing where they hound you round the store making suggestions on what your haggard face would benefit from…in my case eye bag and wrinkle reduction apparently…but don’t worry they’ve got something that will help tide me over until I get the recommended surgery. Thanks then…I’ll be off.

The night market was a deliciously multicoloured maze of pop-ups and products a plenty. The rain was closing in, so I plumped for a speedy chunk of egg bread, which was a quid and delicious, and saw lots of people tucking into buckets of baby crabs!

But sought sheltered solace in Lotte department store for substantial sustenance. It’s sort’ve like Seoul’s answer to Selfridges, with the basement level stuffed full of stalls selling all sorts. I went for some delicious dim sum and spent the evening having my DNA adapted to being 75% garlic clove (25% mystery IV substance probs…maybe I’ll be garlic woman by the morning? A good superhero who keeps the world safe from vampires!) A nectarine beer, more washing, and bed. All rock ‘n’ roll here!

Heyyyyyy sexy lady! This morning, I headed to Gangnam on to check out the home of K-Pop and a handful of Seoul’s other must-see top spots. Including this giant pilgrimage to Psy, the godfather of the international K-Pop revolution. His multi-billion streamed YouTube clip is playing on a loop on an interactive screen nearby.

Stopped for a doughnut that turned out to be sweetcorn flavour (Asia strikes again) and wandered the COEX mall to shelter from yet more rain. Popped by the insta worthy Starfish Libraries, a free public library of aesthetically pleasing proportions and wandered the racks and rows.

Had a proper fail exploring wider Gangnam. Deciding to swing by famous K Pop Road to soak up some Korean K-pop atmosphere. Got on the wrong bus (airport express) and ended up paying £9 to go 3 stops. Regular bus fare to end of line is 81p…excellent! When I got there, thanks to the kind driver who dropped me off anyway, it was pissing it down and quite shit. So that wasn’t a winner.

Managed to work my way back to central. They play an adoreable disneyesque fan fare every time the train pulls into the subway, and I was relieved to hear that bad boy, to say the least! I was hangry and annoyed and soaked, and I realised I knew nothing about K-pop anyway. Not a day for the history books! Oh well, all part of the rich tapestry of travel eh but was pleased I was on my larry as I would’ve been an awwwwwful travel companion today, I think!! Even I didn’t wanna hang out with me by the end of it!

Back to the life and Seoul of it and starving on account of only sustenance being sweetcorn snack…!

Plumped for famous fried chicken but again have been foiled by Korea’s approach to group catering. It’s virtually and bizarrely impossible to eat at restaurants solo here…with places like Korean bbq and others almost expressly for 2 or more people and actually turning you away when you ask for a table. Really annoying as scuppered quite a few options I was keen to try.

Went to Kkanbu anyway for famed chickeny goodness and after i’d been seated in the solo losers side of restaurant (on my own….just me, the other side buzzing with group tables and atmosphere)…I got served a whole fucking chicken….should’ve realised the £20 price tag was suspect (you can eat well for about £7 here) but figured it was just tourist area…oh well. Delicious all the same, which is worrying for me and my disasterous gut as probably means stuffed full of garlic, and that will come back to ruin my life imminently. But I took the remainder for the road and the fridge tomorrow!

Slowly becoming beyond shattered and longing for my downtime days next week. Utterly joyful but a tad relentless this seeing new cities malarkey. Have been on the go for 6 weeks solid nearly, and it’s catching up with me. Throw in the fact that South Korea is really tricky for solo travellers, and you’ve got a recipe for tired and over it.

Well needed lie in and scooping up some other key points of interest day today. Sorted my bullet train over to Busan to be sure of minimal stress on departure day. Seoul station is a behemoth!!! So, there is no risk of not finding it come next week.

Namdeumun market was up next for a wander. Lots of the big markets close on a Monday, but this one was still alive and kicking. Swarming with all sorts from food to frilly dresses.

And a few left field anomalies such as this thing from Harry Potter in a jar (not a total philistine it’s ginseng and hailed as a miracle healing root here!) Had a red ginseng tea yesterday in hope would fix my cynicism….jury’s still out.

It was quite a clear but breezy afternoon and forecast to stay dry, so I made the most of a break in the rain for a venture to the Seoul Tower and the observation deck. That’ll be a chill day….spoiler alert reader…it was not a chill day!

How do you get there? Yep, you guessed it was another bloody cable car. I had baaaaad asian cable car memories from Vietnam after they carried me and my leg of many pieces down in one…so I think this is well and truly what you’d call exposure therapy!

How do you get to the cable car…fucking vertical hill climb. Me and my Beyonce thighs will be going into the walnut cracking business upon return to the UK, so I guess it’s all an investment in my future. But maaaaaan, everything is far and steep and long here!

Was a really cute (uphill) wander through an artsy part of Seoul, though. Loads of street art and graffiti as well as a few galleries and design shops. Nice to see, despite puffing like an actual bull mastiff to reach the top!

Got up to the base of the tower, and the clouds have rolled in, so I didn’t bother with the extra few meters up to the pricey observation deck as base camp still gave decent enough views. To be honest, I’m a bit over seeing places from high up, and it wasn’t as impressive as Tokyo  plus, you guessed it, started to rain!

So headed back down in the cable car and over to catch the Bampo rainbow bridge light show, an aquatic display that only happens between April and August.

Logistical juggle of yet more buses and cursing to self that even though they have an exceptional subway here, it doesn’t seem to link any of the important or must visit locations!!! Working out international bus routes in Korean is not for the faint-hearted. They also don’t believe in Google, so use Naver, Korean app for most things here. Every place I’ve visited has involved 20 mins walking at each end and at least 2 changes of bus. So, palava, to say the least. Plus, when you’re on your own, it makes you realise the joy of sharing the wealth with these sorts of teamwork activities like route planning and the like.  Also realised on day 6 you’ve gotta tap off the bus as well as on…so that’ll explain the cost discrepancy in every journey! Fail.

The Bampo rainbow bridge was at least an easy 10 min walk from.the bus….in the rain….to an uncovered wharf along the river where I stood, in the rain, and watched quite an underwhelming show through the fog. Think post disney epic, waterfront actual pyro stuffed, ariel performing masterpiece I should’ve limited my expectations somewhat. But they did at least set it to the music of Justin Bieber to ensure it was fully unenjoyable…..

More walking with more buses and another soggy walk and back to hotel, and I’m shattered again. Got a baked potato and sat in bed and ate it ahead of 6am alarm for Nami Island in the morning. Please, God, let there be sun!!!

Well, that was the plan. Instead, I was so ill I had to reschedule it and give in to body screaming for rest and search for non spicy, un fried food. So I went to super swanky cinema to see Mission Impossible and got a pedicure. Self care daaaaays for the win. Much, much needed and means I can enjoy that day trip better when I come back to Seoul in 2 weeks before I fly home (boo!). Luxe cinema was a fully lie flat, lazy boy bed!! And only 20 seats in screen. A dream. Partition to block out having to look at other people and snacks and drinks invluded and waiting at the table! Yes, the table…of my cinema seat, ha.

Got a pedi done in insta recommended Seoul salon as nails a bit of a minefield given the language barrier. Delighted to see that leaving with a colour that bares no resemblance at all to the one you asked for is a universal concept. Joy….too tired and too much lost in translation to find a way out of that one! I was there for 2 hours and it smudged as soon as I got home. Great.

Consoled self with a visit to the Hello Kitty cafe in Myeongdong, for comedy cake and luminous sugar stuffed bubble tea style cocktail.

Today was a day of palaces and much better than the last couple. Got toe nails redone for beach trip and headed to the iconic Gyeonbokgung Palace.

If you rent a traditional Hanbok entrance to the palace, it is free. It was a great concept, except it was 32⁰ today and 75% humidity. Still, as my fathers daughter and not to miss out on a freebie on an otherwise ludicrous trip for the bank balance, my hanbok and I headed to the palace.

10 minutes outside, and it’s giving ‘sweaty, pregnant, Asian, potato bride’….so if you ever wondered what I’d look like in that scenario…here we go!

I managed an hour of wandering pretending I was in a K drama before, quite frankly, the heat was wholly unbearable, and I had to admit defeat. There’s nothing like returning a sweaty fancy dress for someone else to enjoy! I also now know exactly how one of my beloved besties felt on her wedding day – when I had the delightful maid of honour duty of getting under her dress to remove her sweaty hoop underskirt. I’ve done the sweaty hoop now Bec, and I take back everything I said…it was an emergency we got rid of that thing as soon as humanly poss!!

Sat in the air con for a while contemplating next moves in this my final day in Seoul for now. Ice cream and shower were both high on the agenda but was keen to see the traditional Hanok villages whilst nearby, so headed over to Bukchon to tread the traditional terraces.

Had an emergency ice cream and cold drink stop before I cried of tiredness and felt much better for the sugar and icy air con boost.

Bukchon is lovely. So, soooo beautiful and much more what I envisaged from traditional Korea. Gorgeous avenues and alleys littered with traditional houses and ornate and beautiful frontages for miles. Loved it!

Back to the centre of the city, truly melting by now and finally back to Myeongdong market for another meander. Given it’s always a busy, bustling vibe, it makes for a sensory overload but a fun stroll through.

Home to hotel rest, repack, and get ready for the beach. Just a scoot round the Demilitarized Zone and a glimpse into North Korean territory tomorrow!!! Intriguing…..