underground seoul

My Dad read my first post (a while ago now) and became rather concerned about the possibility of people being lost underground for hours/days/months on end (his actual question was whether anyone had died on the subway system for lack of being able to find their way out again).  To contextualise, here is the metro map my Dad knows compared to the metro map I am now faced with.

Melbourne metro map

Seoul metro

Perhaps, for the purpose of some memory exercise/weird party trick, I could get to know the Seoul subway map off by heart but the map is just the beginning of the crazy subway world here. In hometown land, not only is the track map simpler (the lines go to the same middle point with none of this crazy crisscrossing, round and round caper (unless you are on the city loop (all of a massive 4 stations))) but the stations themselves don't require special orienteering skills to navigate. Most of the stations (again, with the exception of the city loop) are above ground (which already makes it easier to orient oneself) and have only one escalator or set of stairs taking you to the same entry and exit point. This is what you find when you enter the Seoul subway. Bring on a labyrinth of underground tunnels, travelators and escalators that take you several floors down. Know your exit - is it exit 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 or 12 (I haven't been to a station higher than 12 exits yet but I am sure it exists) that you need? Lack of attention to detail (a common fault of mine) regarding the correct exit for your intended destination means you will face a completely different part of Seoul then where you wanted to be when you do (eventually) emerge from the underground. Yes, this can be rectified, but it means either returning underground to walk a further 2 kilometres to the correct exit or finding your way across highways upon highways, each with 5 to 10 lanes of traffic, whilst juggling the GPS on your phone and holding grimly onto three crazed children who have become frenzied by finally making it to the outside. 

I am yet to confirm whether Seoulites are born with an inbuilt GPS which allows them to navigate the subway (or the highways upon highways for that matter) better than anyone else (understanding the Korean language is probably also a distinct advantage). Koreans all seem extremely calm (hurried, but calm) underground. This is in complete contrast to me who stands like a deer in the headlights,  transfixed by the signs (that I cannot read), furiously looking for numbers (which, thankfully I can read - ten years of university finally comes into its own) while scrolling through my phone to check what it is I am meant to be looking for in the first place (why I have even left the house is often the question that pops into my mind around this stage). But, to assuage Dad's concern, it really wouldn't matter if I did become temporarily disorientated while in transit underground: remember, this is Seoul and there is everything and anything to be found, especially when taking a train.

For starters you can recharge your phone and it's free. Yes, free.

You have access to gas masks. Reassuring if slightly confronting.

You can peruse art works, sometimes displayed in underground gardens. Serene.

I like the slogan 

You can shop. Mostly for books, bags, lingerie, the infamous leggings and mini skirt sewn together spring combination and hiking shoes (in any fluroscent colour you like) but also for your weekly shop or your next plastic surgery appointment (all with the mobile phone and the posters with the QPR codes). Underground is the only option for cheap coffee, either from a coffee chain (for below the average above ground price of $4.90) or from various contraptions placed practically right on the train tracks. (Be warned though; you are not allowed to take drinks on the actual train. Don't do it. Adjumas do get very cross if the rules are not obeyed.)

hot coffee on the tracks

Or how about just sitting and watching the rest of Seoul go by? I am yet to discover a subway stop with less than 1000 people in it so it does provide an excellent option for people watching (and love match snapping). It is all very orderly of course, provided that you stay on the correct side of the escalator/travelator/stairs/walking path (that is often wider than a double car lane) and are prepared for some serious closeness (can I just say now that not being able to buy deoderant very easily in Seoul is a crime?).

All of this for the price of around $1.00 per ride/adventure. Bargain!

Soul to Seoul: so many souls in the underground.