Author: OTRAdmin November 13, 2023

For our final day in Seoul and of this epic road trip we headed over to the Lotte World Tower, the fifth tallest building in the world at 555 meters according to Google.

Being a Monday morning, there were no epic queues or crowding which made a nice change. ‘Seoul Sky’ tickets to the top and four floors of observation decks and cafes worked out at 26,000 won (around 700 baht) each. Most places in Korea gave us a 10% discount if we used a MasterCard which is what we had for the trip – a multi-currency one from Kbank for Thais called ‘You Trip’. There was an option to walk across an open-air sky bridge with harnesses on the highest level but it was too cold and I am too old for that!

The high-tech elevator whizzed us to the 118^th floor in an ear-popping sixty seconds. Exiting the elevator was a little disorientating at first as the view was like something you would see out of a plane window just after takeoff.

We were just under half a kilometer high on a crystal clear day with zero smog and you could see for miles. The view was dizzyingly spectacular as the tower blocks below us looked like toys.

The tower was part of a larger Lotte Mall complex with duty-free shopping and no end of food. It also had a supermarket where we could load up on last-minute shopping before our return. Korea is very similar to Thailand in that wine and spirits are taxed to hell but their local juice called Soju was cheap so we grabbed a few of those. However, unlike Thailand, there are no silly taxes on confectionary and chocolate so we loaded up on that also.

On the way back we stopped at the iconic Dongdaemun Design Plaza. With its alien ship-looking curves and surfaces, it provided some good photo opportunities.

Our final meal in the country was of course the Korean barbeque. We found a local place close to the apartment and immediately realized why this style of eating was so popular here. Outside it was 2 degrees, inside you had an open fire in the middle of your table with as much beef and pork as you can eat and plenty of Soju to keep you warm, what could be a better way to round off a monumental road trip?

Previous: Seoul Part 1