Nam San Tower

Nam San Tower is atop a mountain park in the middle of Seoul just near the Han River and just across the Hannam Bridge from my place.

It’s quite an adventure trying to get to the top. The night before we did the trip, I watched a Korean comedy show on TV which was a bit like a Korean version of “the great race”. Five guys set out from their houses and had to race to the tower. They weren’t allowed to take a taxi.

It took them hours. They all got lost over and over and that’s why the show was funny. The idea being that even Koreans don’t have this figured out. So what would a tourist do? At least, that’s what I took from it.

An American friend I met on the visa run to Osaka is always up for sightseeing, which I didn’t do a lot of the last time I came here. So I’ve been getting around the city on the weekends.

Well, after about an hour of walking towards the tower, (having watched the show the night before was no help), we took a cab.

Now I know how to do it - which is actually useful, because I’m going to head up the tower again, next time for the night views.

This is an idea of what the downtown of Seoul looks like from the observation deck of the tower.

Seoul has about a thousand “downtowns”. Every subway station is essentially the center of city in itself.

But this area is the most developed and I guess it’s the “geographical centre” of Seoul when you’re looking at a map.

From the tower, the apartment blocks of Seoul expand like lego block land through the hills as far as the eye can see in every direction. It’s a massive city.

I didn’t take my camera to the tower trip. These two picks were sent to me by a friend.