Seoul Trip- Stories From An Autumn – Day 1

GYEONGBOKGUNG PALACE (경복궁)

The national treasure of Korea is located right in the center of Seoul and can be easily reached by subway. The Gyeongbokgung Palace Station’s Exit 5 leads straight to the side gate of the palace. We needed to walk along the outer wall to reach the main gate of the palace – the famed Gwanghwamun (located closer to Gwanghwamun Station). The gate, as well as the palace, were destroyed and restored many times throughout history. The latest restoration did a splendid job, building the structure with mesmerizing details, almost refuting the dramatic events it had to experience.

From the Gwanghwamun gate we could enjoy a superb view of famous street Sejongno, looking straight to the prominent statues of admiral Yi Sun-sin and King Sejong the Great.

The official information of the Gyeongbokgung Palace can be found here. Note that the palace is closed every Tuesday so if you can, avoid visiting it on this day! Some 2 idiots arrived at 9.30 am, excited to take pictures, were instead greatly disappointed upon finding out this fact… Luckily the National Palace Museum next door was still open!

NATIONAL PALACE MUSEUM OF KOREA (국립고궁박물관)

The National Palace Museum is right next to the Gyeongbokgung Palace, and is certainly worth a visit. The exhibitions are very well displayed with pleasant lighting and arrangement. It gives great insights into the feudal period of Korea. We found the Joseon Sciences’ exhibitions particularly interesting. In display here among others is the gigantic water clock from the Joseon period, which showcases the impressive craftsmanship achieved in the Joseon dynasty of Korea.

There was also an interesting exhibition of 3D photos taken by state-of-the-art cameras developed by LG, showing treasured items around the world in unmistakably most advanced TV screens in the world! To be honest, that might have been better than seeing the items in real-life: every nook and canny was clear as day in 360-degree display, we almost felt like touching that..

The museum offers free group tours in English but we didn’t want to wait for the designated start time and off to wander on our own (and sneakily listen to other tour groups). We managed to cover the highlighted exhibition within about 2 hours . After getting some souvenirs and a delicious lunch at the elegantly charming museum restaurants, we continued with our city tour, just in time when a big group of (noisy) school kids entered for their lunchtime feast.

Official website of the museum can be found here.

BUKCHON HANOK VILLAGE (북촌한옥마을)

The most beautiful/famous traditional village in Seoul is conveniently situated between the two palaces (Gyeongbokgung and Changdeokgung), offering a great stroll path in a nice day. We took a walk along the wall of Gyeongbokgung palace towards Anguk station, passing a beautiful street of Insa-dong on the way and reached Bukchon after a quarter. Our navigation had to rely entirely on Google Maps/GPS as the village was not clearly signposted, but all the effort fell into oblivion as soon as the breathtaking view of Bukchon came in sight.

Navigating through the village to Changdeokgung palace was not the easiest thing we have done, even when we got a paper map at the entrance. Luckily, Bukchon was full of coffee/tea houses, food/ice cream stalls and cultural centers not to get bored. The exuberant neighborhood is full of youthful afternoon meetings over coffees, cakes and myriads of unpronounceable snacks. We got an eyeful of the unique mix of modern and tradition that sort of defines Seoul: A few dozen café’s and shops are set up inside traditional Korean Hanok houses (a sort wooden house built on stones), decorated with Western interior; tasty American cakes and Italian ice-cream are sold by young and old Koreans who barely speak any English.

An Americano coffee cup costs 2-3,000 Korean won; and by default you will get a take-away cup with some liquid that kind of smells or tastes like coffee. Ordering mostly consists of pointing and trying to pronounce the name of the food/drinks as clearly as possible. And don’t even think about complaining as no one will understand you anyways.

But that’s not to be noticed when you are bound to be overwhelmed by the amazing sights and cheerful chatters. And of course, the tasty snacks sold everywhere on the streets are not to be missed. Warm fish paste broth and Korean sweet pancakes are heaven for an outing in November.

Although Bukchon is the most famous and impressive Hanok village in Seoul, there are other Hanok villages to visit as well. For example, if you stay close to Chungmuro metro-station, the Namsangol Hanok village also provides a quiet sight-seeing point for a short visit.

After some detour, we managed to escape the maze of narrow hilly streets, lined with buildings of various shapes and colors, to reach Changdeokgung palace. Being smaller and less prominent than Gyeongbokgung, Changdeokgung offers absolutely tranquil scene, hidden behind gigantic trees and leaning to mountains in the backdrop. If anything, Changdeokgung is a real “familial place”, where the royal family members would be resting and enjoying quiet weekends.

CHANGDEOKGUNG PALACE (창덕궁과) AND THE SECRET GARDEN HUWON (후원)

Changdeokgung is in more to our liking than Gyeongbokgung, as it is the most well-preserved and is somewhat cozier than Gyeongbokgung. Changdeokgung is surrounded by a more traditional Korean neighborhood and photo’s can be taken without the odd skyscrapers of the modern Seoul. The beautiful palace is perfectly integrated with nature, boasting huge, beautiful old trees and an up-to-par “Secret Garden” (honestly, what a sexy name!).

It was Tuesday and the palace was not crowded (rare for a UNESCO heritage site!). There were completely empty corners where we could while fully appreciate the architectural feast that speaks of the glamorous lives of Korean royalty used to enjoy (and take many pictures of course). A perfect place to dive in vivid imagination of glamorous royal happenings and listen to the voices of the past (and singing birds of the present as well!)

We would definitely recommend visiting Changdeokgung to anyone who is planning to spend a nice day trotting around Seoul. Changdeokgung is exquisitely charming, elegant and fits well into a half-day visit. It can easily be reached with the metro and costs little to enter. Reserve about 3 hours for the palace structures and definitely more if you want to visit the Secret Garden (which is 60% surface of the whole Changdeokgung site).

Although we didn’t have enough time for the Secret Garden (as we wanted to watch the gorgeous sunset from the Namsan Tower – see next section), friends who have been there all agreed it’s the better part of the Changdeokgung. So, don’t miss it!

Tip: Since Bukchon-Hanok Village is next to Changdeokgung Palace, definitely try to incorporate these two into your itinerary.

NAMSAN TOWER (N SEOUL TOWER)

We chose to get to the famous TV tower in Seoul by bus from Jongno, and it turned out to be easier than we thought, as there run several buses with few stops on the way, and the buses were not crowded. Here is some official information about the tower.

There were hundreds of tourists when we arrived (duh, sunset with a view!), but buying tickets took just about 15 minutes, thanks to the quick Korean service. There is no time limit for staying on the observation deck and the queue for the lifts was moving much more slowly. We do think that it’s nothing to complain about since such queue for the Eiffel tower or the Petronas twin towers would easily take 3 times longer!

Then again, the spectacular view was just worth all the effort (yes we said it before and will say it again). The lift is equipped with a mind-blowing graphic simulation of a fly to space (talk about technology and service!), and we could feel some pressure on our ears, making it scarily real. Drinks and popcorn are sold on the deck, and there are restaurants and bars at the adjacent levels, meaning anyone can stay for a while here. The observation deck is spacious enough that everyone could get a spot at the windows, and the glass is clean enough for good photos (just look at ours)! We stayed from 5pm to 7pm, enjoyed the gorgeous view with some beer and took hundreds of amazing pictures.

Only from above that one can appreciate fully the enormous size of Seoul as a city. Houses, streets, bridges, parks, skyscrapers, canals, stretch all the way to the reddish horizon, surrounded by gigantic mountain ranges. Where does it even end? And it will keep expanding in the years to come. This is the sight which true show the vast power of us humans, as builders and conquerors.

What more to say, except for “don’t miss the sunset view from Namsan tower!”.

As for us, fully satisfied with our tour of Seoul, we headed to Myeongdong for some traditional Korean dinner, the famous night market and some drinks to conclude the day.

Myeongdong (명동) at night

Myeongdong is the perfect neighborhood for a budget night in Seoul. Endless shops and restaurants lie there trying to compete for customers. Young people, highschoolers to college students, tucked in latest fashion from local designers, go on date, shopping, eating with friend. In the middle of all that, food stalls stand line up street after street, displaying some extreme food craft, making from mouth-watering baked mussels with cheese to fresh grenade-apple juice.

Although it can be rather crowded, finding a place in a good restaurant is fairly easy. Most restaurants offer food with good quality (otherwise fierce competition would have forced them to close!). We didn’t see many foreigners around (possibly foreigners would go to Itawon or even Gangnam), and could fully enjoy eating among the locals.

Menus are usually in Korean only, but luckily with pictures! Cuisine ranges from Korean to Western, Chinese or Japanese. Beware that if you are eating Korean, the food can range from nothingness to spicy and extremely spicy, without anything in the middle. Thus, order with caution.

The streets of Myeongdong are rather narrow, meaning few dining or drinking terraces. Most bars are confined in small space and we didn’t like it too much. The exception being high-class bars/restaurants in hotels nearby. We highly recommend checking Lotte Hotel (they have also a huge outlet department store next to the hotel). Lotte is one of the biggest corporations in Korea and own the luxurious entertainment facilities in this country. If you can afford to pay some EUR30 for a drink, then you are welcome to enjoy the exquisitely chick restaurant/bar located on the lofty ground floor.

Even if you don’t want to stretch your budget, just come for a walk to appreciate the level of luxury. The hotel offers a man-made fountain behind the glass window, live music from a quartet and fully-dressed servers who never stop bowing to customers. We have seen deluxe places and can assure you that Seoul Lotte’s décor and services are of world-class and not to be missed!