Tasmania to Tokyo – Incheon, South Korea – Day 57 can be found here.
Today’s Chronicles can be found here.
Our slothful ways have come to an abrupt end – we are up at 6:30 am this morning so that we can take the Silversea bus into Seoul for a private KPop Demon Hunters-themed tour. (Also – since we had to look this up – before you read any further it is indeed KPop Demon Hunters however when referring to the genre it is K-pop. We have used each spelling accordingly.)
For those of you who do not have regular contact with children – or who have been living aboard a cruise ship – KPop Demon Hunters is an extremely popular Netflix movie / musical that has taken the world by storm. It is also wonderfully and unabashedly Korean in terms of the characters’ culture, food, and the locations in which it is set.
(Somewhat fittingly, we elected to watch KPop Demon Hunters as a family when we were aboard the Silver Cloud – accompanied by our Indian dinner.)
So when it came time to plan a private tour in Seoul, they leaped at the chance to do a KPop Demon Hunters tour.
The adults then shared a sideways look – “What have we done?”
And that’s what we are about to find out. But first, breakfast in Arts Cafe. La Terrazza won’t open til 7 am, and we’ve had some disappointing experiences with in-suite dining, so we figured we’d go with this instead. And it’s pretty good! Yoghurt, ham-and-cheese croissants, and fruit plates – all served within moments.
Back to the rooms to pack our kit – including our daughter’s laptop, so that I can blog from the road – and then we attempt to disembark prior to 7:30 am so that we definitely, definitely make our 8 am bus.
We started shifting berths at 6:30 am and it takes right until 7:30 am before we are ready to disembark. But – at least we don’t have to take a shuttle bus this time around.
Disembarkation goes quickly, and we are boarding the bus by 7:40 am. There is a bit of back-and-forth as one of the guests heads back to the cruise terminal to change some money before we leave, but we are still on the road by 7:50 am.
Something that we learned early on this classic cruise – if there is more than one bus, they will get underway as soon as they fill up. So show up early if you want to leave early! Also, passengers who are inclined to be on the first bus are quite likely to be on-time for all further deadlines. This can make – or break – an excursion for us.
Our bus is making good time, so we send a quick message to our guide Sally to let her know that we will be arriving early, likely around 9:30 am. She confirms that she will be ready when we arrive.
We also let her know that our guide on the bus has mentioned that a marathon is on today – she is already aware of this, and will adjust the itinerary accordingly.
Our bus guide, Min, also teaches us a bit of Korean – Hello is “annyeonghaseyo”, and thank you is “gamsahabnida.” I also go through my usual routine of downloading the Korean dictionary to Google Translate, just in case – though our Airalo eSIM seems to have excellent signal here. For those without internet on their phones, Min recommends they visit the nearest Starbucks for free wifi or a bathroom stop.
I mention our eSIM to some of the other guests, but they seem distinctly uninterested. Which – if you want to travel off-grid and accept the trade-offs – I totally get. But we’ve also heard fellow passengers complain about not being able to read anything in Korean, haggle for items or access a bank machine – all problems that could be immediately solved with an internet connection. Ah, well.
It soon becomes clear that we are arriving much, much earlier than expected – Silversea had estimated one and a half to two hours, and we had left ourselves two hours. For security reasons you are not able to see transit times on Google Maps in South Korea by private transportation (car, foot, bike) which is a bit of a curveball for us. Our bus trip is actually closer to an hour. We tell our guide who quickly confirms that she can meet us even earlier – we pick out a nearby Starbucks, and we are on our way.
Look! A Tim Hortons:
After a brief game of broken telephone, we meet Sally in the Starbucks. She kindly presents our kids with a gift of shrimp chips and rameon – both of which appeared in KPop Demon Hunters – and goes over the agenda for today. We’re going to visit the sights in a slightly different order due to marathon closure, but will visit the Bukchon Hanok Village, folowed by HiKR Ground (a K-pop Studio), Gwangjang Market for traditional Korean food, the Naksan Park Fortress Trail, and a visit to a traditional Korean wellness centre that also featured in the movie.
There’s also a brief misunderstanding as we are told that – since we ordered drinks to go – we are not able to drink them inside Starbucks. (Thankfully Sally translates this, as otherwise we would have no idea of what’s going on.) As much as the worker at Starbucks would like to accommodate, there are of course cameras everywhere and so she has to follow the rules. Echoes of dystopia continue.
Thankfully, we arranged for Sally to hire a private taxi for the duration of this trip, so we just hop in there instead. Our driver seems to have thought of everything!
Sally asks if there’s anything else we want to visit, and our son mentions that he would love to see a Haechi statue – a Korean mythical guardian figure representing justice, integrity, and protection against natural disasters. Our guide seems impressed that he’s aware of what they are – and takes us off to Gyeongbokgung Palace.
We luck out – we are just in time for the changing of the guard!
They explain (in Korean and English) each of the steps as they go, including the marching on of the musicians, the inspection of the new guards, the banging of the drum, and more.
There are plenty of people wandering around in traditional dress inspired by Korean period dramas.
We pass back through the entrance, where we note the intricate painting on the ceiling:
And spare a brief look at the Gwanghwamun Square:
The Korean K-pop band BTS will be playing here to more than 400,000 fans in just a few days time. The concert will be live streamed on Netflix.
From here we head to Bukchon Hanok Village – which is right in the heart of Seoul.
While rapid modernization and the Korean war has resulted in dramatic changes to the Seoul skyline, the Hanok village represents an effort to maintain traditional Korena houses, called Hanoks.
Those not staying in guesthouses in the area can only visit between 10 am and 5 pm – a rule that was put in place in 2025 to manage overtourism.
New houses built in the area must confirm to the same traditional design and building standards. This often costs three times as much.
The workmanship is incredibly intricate
And there are definite downsides to living in cramped quarters:
This area was traditionally the residential area for high-ranking government officials and nobility. Sally notes that a former Hyundai CEO had a house here, and a larger property outside the village.
Such beautiful homes.
Soon it’s time to re-board our van.
We’re really enjoying our tour so far – particularly the manner in which Sally is connecting traditional Korean history to KPop Demon Hunters. It’s a great way to make historical tours engaging for the kids.
From here we head to the HiKR K-pop studio, set amidst more modern surroundings:
They have a series of sets here that can be used to film your very own K-pop videos – including dynamic lighting and a range of music that you can choose yourself.
The sets are recreations as opposed to genuine film sets, but still very fun.
None of us are huge music video fans so it’s a bit lost on us – I think it might help if they had some “Just Dance” style dance move inspiration, but we still have lots of fun.
We have even more fun with the upstairs floor, which includes a karaoke room as well as simulators for DJs, skateboarders, street artists, food influencers, and more.
The top floor has an art installation which encourages visitors to slow down and take in some of Korea’s natural beauty:
But you know us – “hurry up, hurry up, hurry up”
We then re-board our van and head to the Gwangjang Market:
Sally explains that the food stalls here were originally for the shop owners, but they became popular with international visitors after athletes from the winter Olympics visited.
The market was also featured prominently on Netflix Street Food: Asia, and was visited by Gordon Ramsay.
There’s a wet market and butcher shops:
Unfortunately the stall owned by Cho Yonsoon (who makes knife-cut noodles) is closed today, along with many other stalls…
… So we return to Parkgane Bindaetteok:
I’m really proud of the kids – ordering off a menu when you don’t know the food or understand the language (or even the script!) is an intimidating proposition. But they do brilliantly.
We get some mung bean pancakes:
And banquet soup:
We are the only tourists in the restaurant. It’s fantastic – and so, so tasty.
We once more mount up in our van, and from here we make a stop at a boba tea shop. But first, we walk through a neighbourhood near Sungkyunkwan University.
Once at the boba shop, we use an automatic kiosk to circumvent the language barrier…
… But paying becomes a problem. Eventually we manage to get the machine to take our credit card.
Back in the van, which has mastered the art of the rapid drop-off and pick-up.
We carry on until we reach the Naksan Park Fortress Trail:
The Seoul City Wall was built in the 14th century to defend against invasion from the Chinese and Japanese. It is absolutely inspired by the Great Wall of China.
It highlights the contrast in Korea between the old ways, and the new.
But thankfully it’s not the same endless sameness of Incheon – mountains extend in the distance:
There’s also a KPop Demon Hunters-friendly area here, but no performers today:
Sally notes that workers were well compensated for their efforts in building the wall, and many inscribed their names within the stones.
There are always trade-offs with whirlwind tours but I really wish we had more time to hike these trails.
Back in the van once more, and we head to the traditional Korean wellness centre – and to the Sancheong Museum of Herbal Medicine. (In KPop Demon Hunters, this is where Rumi visited Dr. Han in search of a cure for her ailing voice, but received only rebadged grape juice as a charlatan cure instead.)
They have some great exhibits, including a touch-and-feel centre where the kids can touch the various herbs.
There are plenty of other kid-friendly exhibits – like poisons:
Drawings show how the wellness centre would have once been a village unto itself – and forms the basis for the current cluster of wellness businesses in the area.
The museum is only a single floor, but well worth the visit – and another great example of how Sally has managed to tie KPop Demon Hunters back to Korean history.
We make one last lightning stop on our way back to visit a stage that features prominently in the movie:
Sometimes cosplayers and other performers will sing here, but no such luck today. Back in the van we go!
We’re then dropped right next to our pick-up spot for Silversea. We pay Sally the US$100 that it cost to rent the van for the day – a bargain and a half – and tip her for a truly exceptional tour. (Tips are by no means required – but we insisted given how much we enjoyed our time together.)
For those looking for a guide in Korea, we highly, highly recommend Sally. You can find her on Instagram here or on Facebook here. The GoWithGuide tour that we booked is listed here.
Requirements for guides in Korea are quite stringent, and Sally is an expert in a broad range of Korean history – so I would definitely recommend her for historic, cultural and other tours. We plan to book with her the next time we visit Seoul, hopefully in the not too distant future.
Back aboard the bus to return to Incheon. We once more luck out with traffic, and arrive roughly 75 minutes after departing Seoul – which means we are back in time for trivia. (We can consider ourselves quite fortunate as yesterday’s trip to Seoul ended with a long wait at the gangplank – during which one passenger began screaming at the terminal staff. Not a good look.)
Anyway – trivia. Our son correctly recalls the flag which as both an eagle and a snake (Mexico) and the two most translated English authors (Agatha Christie and William Shakespeare). We learn that Charlie Chaplain insured his feet (not his mouth), and that the process of steeping raw ingredients to absorb their flavour is called maceration (not pickling). Our performance is good enough to tie for first!
Off to dinner at SALT Kitchen. Tonight’s menu:
My wife and I start with the Korean fried chicken:
And move on to the beef bulogi:
No dessert for anyone tonight – we are just too stuffed!
Off to bed, perchance for a more slothful tomorrow – one more sea day before we arrive in Busan.