Probably the biggest dive in Itaewon and the closest thing to an old fashion Southern honkytonk you’ll ever find in Asia is the Grand Ole Opry bar.  Dirty, dingy, and half way up Hooker Hill.  Great place to go for country dancin’.  At midnight they play Proud to be an American by Lee Greenwood, and folks stand and sing along with lighters held aloft.  This is followed by The Star Spangled Banner.  And then it is back to dancing with Skynard’s Sweet Home Alabama.

I didn’t frequent the place too much.  But if I was ever feeling a tad homesick, this is where I’d go for a taste of deep fried Americana.

Sometimes after a night of darts and drinking at Dolce Vita we’d have a late night dinner at Don Valley and then head on over to the norebang for some music making.  I must be good because my singing never fails to bring tears to my listeners eyes.  Even when I sing a happy song!

I started a joke…

Riding the cable car from the top of Namsan to Myeongdong (Seoul).

At the bus stop in Itaewon

Down on Main Street, er, Itaewonno Blvd.

Ok, where’s the damn bus…

…ah, here it comes

Woo hoo!  A seat for everyone!

My tour guide (girl friend) suggested we switch to the subway…

Alright, this is where we are, now to get to where we are going

Maybe we CAN get there from here!

Here come da train!

Restless riders

After another short bus ride we reach Uidong…

The temple is up the mountain and we are going to join the hikers…

But first we’ll have some lunch at an outdoor cafe and enjoy the springtime flowers…

…and the view from our table

Meat on the grill…

…sides on the table.

We enjoyed this gurgling stream on the way up Bukhansan…

…and the blossoms just past their peak

Eventually we made it to the temple gate…

Even statues love flowers I suppose

Regurgitation?

A better photographer would have found a more pleasing way to capture what was really a very nice view…

The lanterns were nice too

Colorful architecture

Didn’t want to stand to close to this one for fear that I’d get my belly rubbed too…

I think this is kinda like a wheel of fortune, but what do I know…

Anyway, my girlfriend was there to worship and I’m also uncomfortable taking photos of the Buddha while folks are being reverent, so this is all she wrote.

Hiked back down the mountain (much easier that way!), lined up for the bus in Uido and reversed our trek.

And so ends today’s journey down memory lane.

Seoul Tower awaits after a pleasant hike…

Clearing the streets in Itaewon…

Technically, this was taken in Itaewon so the bus may have been arriving at it’s final destination…

This was always one of my least favorite dart venues.  Crappy service and usually filled with people looking to hook up.  Back in 2005 there was a more or less credible terrorist threat against this place because it was usually filled with foreigners.  Coincidentally, it is in close proximity to the large Muslim Mosque.

One of the original dart bars in Itaewon.  Lots of mostly good memories here.