I got a pass from work to attend services at the Army Religious Retreat Center on Namsan Mountain in Seoul. The plan was to go up there on Wednesday evening and return Friday night or Saturday morning. The pass finally got approved at the last minute so I rushed home, packed a bag, and called the base taxi. My first mistake was asking the driver to take me to the subway. He drove onto base thinking I meant the subway restaurant! As soon as I realized this I remembered the Korean word for subway and asked to go to the "jihachul." At the subway I figured out the route I needed to take to get to the Hangangjin station. I had been told the retreat center was very close to it, only a 6 minute walk, so I figured even though I didn't have super clear directions, I'd be able to find it. WRONG! I ended up wandering around Itaewon as it got darker and darker without ever finding the place. The city taxis didn't know where it was, even though I had an address - apparently it wasn't the right format. I also didn't know how close I was to Yongsan base so I didn't know if I could call a taxi from there. Finally with a dying phone, I found my way back to the subway and went home. I had been gone for 6 hours and never really made it anywhere.
The next day I asked around till I found out the closest station to Yongsan and called the Yongsan taxi. Fortunately the driver they sent knew where to find the place and even pointed out interesting sights on the way. Turns out, I had gotten to within a 10 minute walk of the place, but it would have involved walking up a hill, up a bunch of stairs, under one highway, across another, and finally up a winding driveway through the woods. Perhaps it's best I didn't try this in the dark!
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