An early morning walk around central Seoul

Lying wide awake at 5:00 a.m. in my bed at the Lotte Hotel in Seoul, I couldn’t help to think that jet lag is one of my least favorite things. Right up there with stubbed toes and stale bread.

I eventually rolled out of bed at 6:30, and replied to several business related messages.

By 7:00 a.m., I was feeling completely lost. My original plan was to sleep in a bit, grab some breakfast, and then go outside and walk around.

I was wide awake, the sunrise was looking beautiful, and the temperature was just about perfect (55 F). Walking weather doesn’t get any better than that. I quickly got dressed, and headed out to explore Central Seoul…

Spoiler alert: I ended up walking 2.68 miles. Here’s the path that I ended up taking:

A map showing my early morning walk around Seoul

I started out by walking west towards the Plaza Hotel (a property I stayed at during my last visit to Seoul in 2015). I remembered that there was a vibrant Street market located just south of that hotel, so I went in that direction.

Scott exploring downtown Seoul — Feeling lost…

I never got the chance to see this city so early in the morning during my last visit. It was a completely different experience this time. It felt fresh. Clean. Calm.

Seoul Namdaemun Market — Found it! This the Namdaemun Market.

Namdaemun Market is a very interesting place to walk around – even at 7:30 AM. Here is some video footage that I shot during that walk:

Scott walking down Myeongdong 8NA-GIL Seoul — Walking down Myeongdong 8NA-GIL

Myeongdong 8NA-GIL Seoul — So much texture!

Hunger was getting the best of me by 8:30 a.m. (as were the effects of jet lag), and I returned to the hotel and went wild with room service breakfast. Why not, right?

If I learned anything from this experience, it was to embrace sleeplessness more often. Had I been able to sleep, I would have missed an amazing morning that I’ll remember for a very long time.