Banpo Bridge: (its a very neat fountain!)
Address: Banpo-dong, Seocho-gu, Seoul
April-October (Duration: 15min)
* Weekdays: 12:00, 20:00, 21:00
* Weekends: 12:00, 17:00, 19:30 (July & August only), 20:00, 20:30, 21:00, 21:30
※ Operating hours are subject to change.
More Info: http://hangang.seoul.go.kr/
http://www.visitkorea.or.kr/enu/SI/SI_EN_3_1_1_1.jsp?cid=1011983
Directions: 1) Dongjak Station (Seoul Subway Line 4), Exit 1 or 2.
2) Express Bus Terminal Station (Seoul Subway Line 3,7 or 9), Exit 8-1. Go straight for 250m, and turn right at the Express Bus Terminal 4-way intersection. Continue going straight for 400m and cross the street at the crosswalk. Go straight through the underpass to arrive at the park.
[Bus]
Take Bus 405 or 8340 and get off at Banpo Hangang Park.
So last minute I decided I was going to go to a meetup group. They were going to see the banpo bridge. I looked at the directions and it took 32 minutes to get to the destination from the subway so I decided to leave my house around 6. I thought I'd have plenty of time to get there by 7pm.
I got to the subway stop about 6:50. It took about 6 or so minutes just to get out of the subway station. It was a long walk.
Then I was suppose to take exit 6 and keep walking straight till I get to the steps heading down to the Han river. sounded simple, but it was about a 30 minute walk! Then once I got there I didn't know where to meet. I didn't know which bridge was the Banpo bridge.
(Why didn't I look at the website to get better directions?)
The Banpo bridge is the longest fountain bridge in the world(its a bridge that cars drive over)(I've never seen one that had a fountain show before!). 570 meters on each side. There are a lot of fountains that pump water out and there is a show with lights. Its also called the "rainbow fountain". It's over the Han river.
I saw a plain bridge over the river then I saw a bridge that was lit up with all these colorful lights. I thought that was probably the place, but I was wrong. At 8pm I saw the bridge light up and the fountain started. I was at the wrong bridge. I started walking towards the banpo bridge but I couldnt get there in time to see the show up close. I got pictures from far away. The show lasted for 20 minutes. I was so far away that 20 minutes wasn't long enough for me to make it to get good pictures.
They needed a lot more detail in the directions. They assumed that everyone was familiar with Seoul. (I should have known Seoul better..I'd been there 6 months already!!) I would have left earlier if the group would have mentioned that it wasn't really near the subway station. there was a 30 min walk from the subway station. There should have been more signage as to which one was the bridge. there is more than one bridge in the area. If i would have known that they were meeting in the park area I wouldn't have went up to the other bridge.
I'll have to go again sometime since I know now how much time I need to allot and where I need to sit to get good pictures.
So I've tried to go to meetup groups twice and I've failed both times!
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