Tuesday, September 3, 2013

Korea: 2nd Day in Seoul


With the schedules well laid out in advance, we knew what to do and where to go for the day.

Our tour guide, Dai got to our hotel on time catching us finishing our breakfast at the hotel. The dinning area was nice and clean. There was 240 degree view of Seoul, but quite a bit was blocked by sky-high buildings.







Dai bought subway and train tickets ahead of time, so as soon as we walked out the door, we were on the roll. The subway was about 5 minute walk from our hotel. From there it was another hop on hop off for 20 minutes more. Gyeongbokgung Palace subway station led us right by the National Palace Museum attached to the palace grounds.






We walked up from the station to a very bright but cold sunshiny day. In front of us was a huge boulevard. The center of the road is humongous with statues, monuments, lamp posts on both sides.








The palace itself is very nice and buildings are spread out for an enjoyable walk. The admission fee was 3 thousand won at the time (about US$3) for the actual palace entrance.







On the other side of the palace grounds there is also the National Folk Museum.



We came quite early in the morning knowing that we had to cover lots of ground here. There is only choice for transportation: walking. We had about 2 hours before coming back out at the entrance for the changing of the guard ceremony, which is just like a scene in a Korean drama series. It wasn't long, 10 minutes or so.






The architecture of the structures and the huge area on this palace gave us a good view of the history and stories from the early dynasty and the King's life.










There is a secret garden which part of the palace, it is one of the favorite spots of the royal family explained by our tour guide. It is not a fully styled garden, and is quite small. The lake was frozen when we were there. There were some mid size birds with such a vibrant colors made their nests in this area. I couldn't remember their name, but I haven't seen anything like them since.




Changdeokgung palace is a short walk away. It is a little smaller in scale then the more prominent palace at center of city but that made it all the more lovely. Beautiful brick details. Lots of little spaces to wander through without a big crowd. Nice setting in landscape park.












I noticed that all the buildings and structures look kinda new. To answer my curiosity, they were just newly rebuilt after the destruction during the war.








Our next stop was The National Folk Museum. It located inside the grounds of Gyeongbukgung Palace. This museum gives visitors the history lessons about Korea and its people.











The use of exhibits here is a clever way to explain how people, from rich to poor, lived, ate, married and were buried in the past of Korea. There were English signs explaining the exhibits every steps of the way.





The different galleries give you an insight into the highlights of Korean people lives, from birth to death.

Here I learned first hand how Korean people in the past set up their underfloor heating. We were invited to step inside one of the houses there. Soon after walking in, the welcoming indoor air warmed our cold bodies, though no heater or radiator was in sight. After removing our shoes at the entrance, we stepped up onto the floor and find that it was warm. Sitting on the floor and resting our hands on it, we felt our frozen hands started to thaw.






In Korea almost every house has this kind of floor heating. It is called ondol. How does this unique home heating system work? It's worth the effort to find out yourselves.










There is an outdoor area with a street typical of a traditional village that is also interesting. And with free entry there is no reason to miss it.










After viewing the changing of the guard ceremony, our bodies were shivered with the cold air outdoor, and our stomachs started growling, it was time to find a restaurant to try out some Korean foods.






After finishing our lunch in a very nice and warm atmosphere, it was so hard to stand up and walk away back out into the cold, but our young tour guide didn't want to slow down, so here we went.






















Our next stop was Bukchon Hanok Village a little over a mile away. We simply walked again. The roads that lead to this village is beautiful by themselves.











All kind of mix designs are here. They really mix well in my opinion. The different structures create a unique view that you can't find anywhere else.








I was quite impressed with this old Korean village. The traditional homes here are still lived in and this is an active neighborhood.










The narrow serpentine streets are very fun to wander with many great views, the most famous is the view of the far off Namsan Tower. There are arts and crafts places in the village. Great place to stroll around and experience old Korea.










However, this place is becoming a bit touristy and in spite of the signs to keep quiet it is rather difficult to control an excited crowd.






During our time there, there weren't many visitors but I can't imagine the bothersome created by a huge crowd during the peak season to the residents here.






















Our next stop was in the same area, here we walked again to the Seoul Education Museum.











This place is small with many exhibits again depicting the education systems of the old Korea from a few hundreds years ago up to recently.










It's more for the children than for adults but it shows the progress changing thru ought the times.











Our last stop for today was Cheonggyecheon Stream & Cheonggye Plazabefore heading back to Myeodong for the famous Nanta Show.










The Cheonggye Stream is over 5 miles long and located in downtown Seoul, Korea.








The river has a path on both sides and decorated with art, statues or special themes for events. At night-time parts of the river light up and you can enjoy a laser show.






















We started at Gwanghwamun station and followed the course until it met up with the Han River.









What a lovely place in the middle of the hectic city. Walking at the stream gave me relaxation within minutes. Just strolled around, sat down, and watched the waterfall. What a pleasure!








Watching the laser shows at night - Crossing through the stone paths - Enjoying the many street performers singing along the way are the many things this place could offered at no cost.








The Nanta show was so famous and to be sure, I had to buy the tickets when I was home 3 months in advance knowing the theater is quite small, and the seating are very limited. I was right on. Every shows during our stay there were sold out, specially at the theater in Myeodong shopping district. They were known to have the best actors and actresses there.

After a long day with miles upon miles of walking, this was the time to sit down and relax.

Cookin' Nanta is a world class show!

Some audiences were invited to participate in some parts of the show, which made it very entertaining. The story and plot is pretty simple but very creative. They used many different types of kitchen utensils, knives, pots, pans, brooms, and mops as musical instruments. I laughed so hard the whole show. The performers were really funny! We had a great time.



We didn't see much of this Myeodong shopping area last night, so we'd explore some more tonight.































No comments:

Post a Comment