Korea Autumn Trip – 4 – Seoul

So here’s Part 4, describing Day 3 of my trip. This time I spent a full day in Seoul to visit the royal palaces, Insadong and finish the day at the Seoul N Tower at Namsan.

Deoksugung Palace

Early in the morning I took the subway to City Hall. I had decided to take another quick peak at Deoskugung Palace, since I had only been there at night. As I expected it was much more crowded than at night and I therefore would recommend anybody to go visit Deoksugung at night. One reason to go there during the day is to watch the changing of the guards ceremony at the entrance gate. Although I was there at 10:30 and the ceremony was supposed to be at 11:00, there was a small ceremony taking place. However, the performance wasn’t too impressive, so I wonder whether this was the real ceremony.

Royal Guards at the entrance gate of Deoksugung Palace.

Gyeongbokgung Palace

Next up was Gyeongbokgung Palace. With a little rushing I arrived right in time for the 11 o’clock changing of the guards ceremony at the Gwanghwamun entrance gate. This ceremony was by far more impressive than what I had seen at Deoksugung, which could also be noticed by the huge crowd that had gathered in front of the gate.

Changing of the guards ceremony at Gwanghwamun entrance gate of the Gyeongbokgung Palace.

Royal Guards at the Gwanghwamun entrance gate of the Gyeongbokgung Palace.

After the ceremony I entered the palace and headed towards the first main architectural sight, the Geungjeonjeon, the main palace building where the kings were crowned. The huge two-story building was an impressive sight.

Geungjeonjeon, the main palace building where the kings were crowned.

However, I noticed that many Koreans found a two meter tall European a far more impressive sight. Especially kids were very interested in me and pretended to be taking interviews just to have a chat with me. Of course every interview was concluded with a picture. Fortunately the kids were not annoying, like in some other countries I have been, but merely amazed and remained very friendly and respectful. Apparently Koreans find me ‘very handsome’ or even that I ‘look like a model’ or a ‘celebrity’. I guess visiting Korea as a tall European could give you quite an ego boost.

When most of the kids were satisfied with my answers to their questions and the pictures with the ‘superstar’ I moved on towards the Gyeonghoeru, a large raised pavilion resting on 48 stone pillars and overlooking a large artificial lake. From thereon I walked towards the National Folk Museum past Hyangwonjeong, a pretty small hexagonal pavilion. The National Folk Museum (entry included in palace ticket) is definitely worth visiting. Modern displays show the history, culture and traditional lifestyle of Korea. You can easily spend over an hour at the musuem, but unfortunately my busy schedule didn’t allow me to stay longer. Through the living quarters I made my way back to the entrance of the palace.

Gyeonghoeru, a large raised pavilion resting on 48 stone pillars and overlooking a large artificial lake.

Hyangwonjeong, a pretty hexagonal pavilion in the back of the palace.

The five-storey pagoda on top of the National Folk Museum.

Insadong

After a quick lunch break I walked towards the Insadong district. This small, compact neighbourhood is packed with art galleries, souvenir shops and traditional restaurants. A great place for shopping. However, I was more interested in the Jogyesa Temple, just outside the shopping area. Besides the beautiful Buddhist shrine and the giant locust tree towering above it, the area around the temple was beautifully decorated with real flowers. This gave the area a very happy and peaceful atmosphere.

Flower decorations at Jogyesa Temple.

Daeungjeon, the beautiful Buddhist shrine and the giant locust tree towering above it.

A large golden Buddha sits inside Daeungjeon.

Galleries, souvenir shops and traditional restaurants at the Insadong district.

Jongmyo Shrine

From the temple I walked through Insadonggil, Insadong’s main street, to the other end of the district and from thereon to the entrance of Jongmyo Shrine. In the Jongmyo Park I found a lot of elderly men playing games, sharing stories and doing caligraphy. Fortunately I arrived right in time at the entrance to join the (mandatory!) guided tour at 16:00. A lovely Korean lady guided us around the area, explaining about the Korean traditions in honouring their deceased kings and the huge amount of spirit tablets inside the many rooms of the shrine.

Retired men playing board games at Jongmyo Park.

Wooden spirit tablets containing the spirits of deceased kings and queens.

The shrine of 19 rooms containing the spirit tablets.

Namsan Park & Seoul N Tower

From Jongmyo I rushed my way to Seoul Station to start my hike described in my Lonely Planet through Namsan Park up to Seoul N Tower before the sun would set. Finding my way to the park from the station exit was a bit tricky, but finally I made it just in time for the sunset. From the lower parts of the park I was able to see the sun drop behind the tall city buildings with a beautiful orange glow. Somewhere higher up the mountain I set up my tripod on a viewing platform and waited for the darkness to come and the city lights to turn on. Slow but steadily the city started to glow, resulting in some great night shots.

Sunset at the lower parts Namsan Park. In the front is a renovated part of the city’s defence wall.

The streets light up at night.

The city glows after sunset.

Once I was satisfied with my shots I hiked the last bit up towards the summit and the Seoul N Tower. At the bottom of the tower I noticed that about 90% of the people around me consisted of young couples who were on a date. Apparently the Seoul N Tower is thé place to take your girlfriend. On a viewing deck below the tower people attach padlocks to the fence to ‘lock their eternal love’. Although this was all way to cheesy for me and I felt a bit uncomfortable around all these couples, I decided to join the flow of young lovers and take the elevator with them to the observatory deck up in the tower. However, after a few minutes up in the tower and shooting some nice pictures, all this love in the air became a little too much for me and I took the elevator back down to get some fresh air. The 360 degrees panoramic view was amazing though. At the bottom of the tower I enjoyed a nice kimchi hotdog. Alone, on a quiet bench.

Seoul N Tower and the octogonal pavilion.

Young couples ‘lock their love’ at the fence of the viewing platform.

The view over the Han River from the observatory deck up in the Seoul N Tower.

In my next blog it’s time to leave the big city of Seoul and head towards Seoraksan National Park. Stay tuned!