Early Morning
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| Jay explaining the Hanyangdoseong Wall |
Today, Jay took us on a walking tour of the Hanyangdoseong Wall that surrounded the city of Seoul.
Built and repaired over centuries, it has different stone-masonry styles depending on the period.
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| Map, Hanyangdoseong Wall |
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| Frances, Hanyangdoseong Wall |
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| Different stone-masonry styles |
This led to the site of the one of the King Tangan’s palace, now part of Inwangsan (Mountain) national park. It’s now a heavily used parkland and walking track, and we were constantly amazed at the number of, particularly Korean, walking groups with the absolute extreme walking gear – everything they wore was straight out of the latest hiking catalogue.
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| Frances with jay and her son |
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| Hiking gear |
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| The archery range |
This led to the site of the one of the King Tangan’s palace, now part of Inwangsan (Mountain) national park. It’s now a heavily used parkland and walking track, and we were constantly amazed at the number of, particularly Korean, walking groups with the absolute extreme walking gear – everything they wore was straight out of the latest hiking catalogue.
The park also contains an archery range, where the targets are so far away, they light up if hit, and there is a car-park in the in the dip between the archer an the target.
Mid-Morning
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| Entrance to the Gyeongbokgung Palace |
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| International crowds at the palace |
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| National Palace Museum of Korea |
Frances & I then walked the short distance to
Gyeongbokgung Palace which was the main royal palace of the Joseon dynasty and built in 1395.
The grounds are vast and the crowds were huge, so we spent most of the time in the National Palace Museum of Korea. It had a fanatic coverage of Korean history, and highlighted the cultural difference from China and Japan although influenced by both at different times. Amongst the many visitors were a large number of young Koreans dressed in traditional costumes which were incredibly colourful.
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| Palace Guard |
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| One of the king's suits on display |
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| Women in traditional costumes |
Across the road, there was a reunification expo aiming to raise awareness of the push to unite North and South Korea.
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Frances getting a massage
at the Expo |
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| Reunification Expo |
A long time off I’m afraid, given that
Kim Jong-un would have little to gain, and there is some resistance in the South because of the poor state of the North’s economy.
The overall impression in Seoul is of a bustling economy and a strong middle class – Samsung phones are very popular.
Midday
We decided to have lunch in the National Palace Museum - it had nice ambiance and not too expensive.
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| National Palace Museum restaurant |
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| Goldongban Royal Bibimbap) |
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| Pan-fried Bibimbap |
I had the Goldongban (Bibimbap according to the royal recipe) featuring balloon flower roots, bracken, wild aster, chamnamul, bean sprouts and julienned Korean radish on a bed of rice. Frances had Pan-fried Bibimbap, which was a large rice fritter containing balloon flower roots, bracken, wild aster and eggs. Of course it was all accompanied by kim-chi, pickles and Korean chili sauce. Especially tasty were small pickled chilies, a little hot and a little sweet. Both meals were vegetarian and delicious. You’re in trouble in Korea if you don’t like pickled vegetables.
Afternoon
After lunch we went into
Bukchon Hanok Village adjacent to the palace. It’s composed of lots of alleys and is preserved to show a 600-year-old urban environment.
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| Hanok rooftops |
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| Typical Hanok house |
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| House lamp |
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| Hanok house |
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| Hanok house courtyard |
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| Korean ice cream |
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| Can you feel it? |
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| Hanok street scene |
It quite interesting if a little over-commercialised (like the Rocks), but had some nice boutique shops, including innovative fashion designs based on the traditional Hanok style. We were getting a little burned out by now as the day was quite hot and sunny, so we decided to walk back home which took a good 45 mins in the heat, Time for a shower and a nap.
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| Hanok fashion house |
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| Hanok fashion |
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| Hanok fashion |
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| Modern Hanok fashion |
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| Young women in Hanok clothes |
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| Traditional Hanok couple |
Evening
