Ten days and counting. That’s how long I have left here in Korea. And that means it is almost time for my road trip to come to an end.

We are heading back into Seoul today. And when I say Seoul, what I really mean is a suburb of it. I will be staying six nights in Ilsan, before finally returning to where my trip first started, Jongro, to spend my last days there.

Today I am both slightly excited and rather nervous. This morning we are heading over to Yongin Daejanggeum Park, the outdoor filming studio for MBC, one of the large TV production companies that produce a lot of dramas here in Korea. This is the source of the excitement.

This afternoon, I need to drive through Seoul to get to my new accommodation. Driving in Seoul was something I swore I would never do; it’s far too large, busy, and crazy. This is the source of the nervousness.

I have decided to visit a film set today on a little bit of a whim. I have rather taken a fancy to checking out locations I have seen on TV during my time in Korea, and figured it would be fun to see a massive location verses the smaller individual sites I have so far.

If you are interested in visiting a drama filming site here in Korea and want the most bang for your buck, you can opt for one of the large permanent outdoor sets that are used for multiple projects. There are several options you can choose from, the most well-known being: Yongin Daejanggeum Park, Buan Cine Park, Naju Image Theme Park, and Korean Folk Village.

I picked Yongin Daejanggeum Park for two reasons; it was relatively close to the route I was planning on driving, and there are a number of dramas I have watched that had been filmed there. Do be warned, this place is literally in the middle of nowhere with a ridge of mountains surrounding the back of it.

When I arrive, there are only a handful of cars on the car park, and as I walk around the site I can count on one hand the number of other tourists I see. I practically have the whole place to myself, this makes it easier to visualise the scenes that were filmed here and makes my visit today a really cool experience.  

I approached the ticket booth to make my payment to get in, and was rather taken aback when immediately after I pay the lady inside the booth says ‘Are you a BTS fan?’ Now, I don’t want to say I was offended by her question per se (No, I’m not a fan and I’m sure BTS are a perfectly nice group and all), but personally I feel like rolling out either ‘Excuse me, I’m an EXO-L’ (along with the simultaneous finger-thumb L sign) or saying ‘Look, I know you might think all foreign people who come to your country are into BTS, but I’m really not, sorry’.

I bite my tongue and go with a simple polite no and a smile, but I understand her question when she pushes the guide over to me, it appears they have filmed something for a music video here and obviously have been having a lot of fans show up (in fact, there are some in the gift shop on the way out buying BTS themed norigae – the fancy ornaments that hang from hanbok).

The lady also lets me know there is filming taking place today and to be aware there may be some areas roped off for a short time. Yes, that’s right; you can visit the park while it is in active use. Honestly, I had no clue, but am excited to find this out.

I thank her and do what I think anyone else would – I head straight for the area where they are filming – you never know what or who you might see!

As it turns out, not a huge amount, but for me it is very exciting simply because I get to see a couple glimpses of actual behind the scenes filming in action; including seeing the crew watching the TV monitors, the staff wandering around where I can hear the directions being given over their walkie-talkies (as well as a loud shouts of ‘Action’ and ‘Cut’ across the grounds), and some of the filming equipment being set up and taken down. I also walk past a massive building which I can only assume is used for indoor sets, another building where costumes are being actively rolled in and out, and a make-up building where ladies in historical costume were being prepped (but sadly I didn’t recognise anyone).

I have no idea what they were filming for but I’m going to keep my fingers crossed, daydream, and say it was something that I might be, or have been, watching. And I say this only because I walked the whole park taking photos of absolutely everything in the hope that I might recognise something again in the future. And low and behold, last week I finished watching Alchemy of Souls, which aired just after I returned home to the UK, and sat bolt upright when I saw two scenes where the backdrop looked incredibly familiar…

Yup, the big open arena was used several times in the last episodes with Jin Mu and the crazy council people (this was also apparently one of the BTS sites), and the courtyard with the pretty flowy design on the floor was used in an epic fight scene (and to be honest I’m surprised no-one tripped over the paving slabs).

The park is like wandering around a historic town or mini city, all the elements you could possibly need to host a drama are there, at least, all of the outdoor bits. There’s a folk village for peasant people to live in, a temple on a hilltop, an old wooden arena and tavern type buildings, several houses and buildings for nobility, an underground prison, a city wall and gate, and finally, a palace with courtyard – a wonderfully immense structure and open space that made me gasp as I walked through the gateway and took it all in.

As for what I recognised, hmm, that’s hard to say. The only thing I am fairly certain looked familiar was the big city wall and gate, because I am sure this was used for a rather sad death scene in Empress Ki.

However, I do know that I have watched dramas which had elements of them filmed here – The Red Sleeve, Tale of the Nine Tailed, The King: Eternal Monarch, Hotel Del Luna, The Crowned Clown, and Mister Sunshine to name a few. Now I can look forward to re-watching them and seeing what I can spot or looking out for these places in any new dramas I see.

At the back of the film set, up the hill were the temple sits, there is a small exhibition detailing how the film park was constructed, scripts of the dramas filmed here and photos from the dramas. Additionally there is a small shop on site if you want to grab a souvenir, though personally nothing there took my fancy.

As a drama enthusiastic, this was a good solid visit, made more interesting by the fact there was filming taking place while I was there. You can spend hours wandering around, and I’m sure it’d be pretty fun to try recreating scenes from dramas if you have someone visiting with you!

With my head firmly in film land, I make a bit of a snap decision to go and check out another location on route to Seoul. I feel I might be on a bit of a wild goose chase here, but I have found online the apparent address of the film set for the drama Arthdal Chronicles. I say apparent, because when I view the address on the map, it appears to be right in the centre of the city of Osan. That to me seems a smidge suspect, especially for anyone who has watched the drama and knows it is set in this wild fantasy world that isn’t remotely like the downtown of a Korean city.

And yet, there it sits.

Admittedly, the site is closed. It is not an open set like Yongin Daejanggeum Park, or at least maybe it is at other times, just not today. However, you can wander up and down the road that partially encircles the buildings and look down for a sneaky peek at what’s there; so that is at least cool and worth the drive over.

And as if that wasn’t enough, cross the street and you’ll also find this…

Yup, this is a small specific set from The King: Eternal Monarch, the series the first ever episode of Korean drama that I watched came from. Here you’ll find a nice selection of Lee Min Ho photos and you are able to walk through the small pagoda-type structure. There isn’t anything else here and it feels a tad random to be sat in Osan with seemingly no reason; I don’t know if it was built here or moved here just to be slightly more accessible for tourists who might be in the city.

Fully satiated from my morning of film sets, I am ready to brace myself for my drive into Seoul.

It’s fair to say I was gripping the steering wheel rather tightly as I made my way through chock-a-block traffic in a city where roads 8 lanes wide is the norm. Driving in Seoul is made more anxiety-inducing by the fact I have no idea of the local area. It’s not like driving around a large city supported by the knowledge of local roads, cut-throughs, problem areas etc. I am at the mercy of my GPS and my wits, and I am at least thankful my GPS and I have spent the past two months making peace and becoming friends, I trust it to deliver me where I need to go.

And I breathe a sigh of relief when this turns out to be true. As if I didn’t need any more reasons to be on high alert, my final road trip accommodation is within a high rise apartment block with an underground permit parking basement. I’m having daylight nightmares as I get ever closer preparing myself for what I might find or any problems I might have but, as with the rest of my trip, someone is certainly looking out for me. I find my block amongst the many others fairly easily, it is clearly marked and I am 90% I have the right one. I take a deep breath as I pull the car into the car park entrance, descend and magically the parking barrier opens to admit me. I circle the car park once and only find a single spot available, but that’s not a problem, I only have one car!

What I do realise is that space is at a premium here in Seoul, and it seems this is even true when it comes to parking; the spaces are so narrow, you can park your car however…you can’t get out. The doors literally don’t open up far enough, especially where there are pillars involved. Now, I’m not the skinniest person in the world, but even at a squeeze I can usually get out of a tight car space. Today however, until I learn the special secret for this, I am resigned to climbing over the passenger seat and out the other door which has marginally more room to slip through.

In case you’re wondering, you really only have two options to be able to use your driver’s door, and mostly it depends on finding the right car space neighbour – you either park right on the line with the passenger door boxing in the person next to you or you get lucky enough to find a space with a pillar that has been aligned in such a way that when you pull in, you can pull back far enough that your door opens behind the pillar.

Or, you can just be Korean and do this…

Yup.

I am feeling a little out of sorts as the evening draws in. I am back in the city, I have just over a week left here in Korea, I have a jumbled plan in my head about how best to spend my time and am getting a little stressed thinking about it.

I decide to try and calm down a little by scoping my locality just so I know where the convenience store is at least. And I am quids in to find I have two shops literally right on my doorstep, one just inside the ground floor of my building and another out the door and across the street. Purchasing some banana milk, baked eggs, and beef jerky instantly makes me feel better.

I go for broke and cross the road to check out the restaurants I can see from my apartment window (I am up on the 9^th floor); I am hoping to find a takeaway where I can score some comfort food for tonight. And I hit the jackpot! There is a chicken restaurant at the far end of the complex with a menu outside so I can choose what I want before going in. I decide on some sweet sticky fried chicken and go to place my order, and discover a really chirpy lady inside who speaks English (her sister lives in London) and who is happy to chat away while my order is prepped after helping me pick out a combo meal.

I have just two things to say about my meal in the interest of public service. First, the chicken from Kkanbu Chicken near the Goodmorning Hill apartments is absolutely, no complaints, mouth-wateringly delicious. I was surprised when I opened my box to find there was tteokbokki mixed in with my chicken, but fully support this culinary decision. Additionally, the orange-tinged sauce they include for your fries tastes scarily close to the addictive Chik-fil-A dipping sauce, again something I am very happy to find out.

The second thing to be aware of is that fried chicken in Korea has more recently made a bit of a leap in price. I am not sure why, but it is certainly eye-wateringly expensive in my opinion. My box set cost me ₩30,000, roughly $25. Having said that, I ate it for two dinners and a breakfast portion, so I guess for me that evens out in the wash.

Safely delivered to Seoul, happily satiated on chicken, enjoying the night time lights out the window from my 9^th floor apartment sleeping platform; I quietly fall asleep with thoughts of adventures in the week ahead.