Changing of the Guard ceremony at Gyeongbokgung.
After Sunday’s excellent adventures, I was looking forward to my Monday in Seoul – the plan called for me to meet my tour guides at 1pm at the Gyeongbokgung metro station – this left me a few hours to kill in the morning.
Which I did by hunting for a coffee shop recommended by my guidebook – but I failed to find it – instead I enjoyed some time wandering the streets of a local Seoul neighborhood. Eventually, after time killed, I made my way to our meeting point, where I met my tour guides, just in time to witness the changing of the guards at the Gyeongbokgung palace – the last time I witnessed such an event was in Prague.
Changing of the Guard Ceremony at Gyeongbokgung – the man on the drug is signalling the end.
Gyeongbokgung is an incredibly beautiful complex, filled with a plethora of interesting buildings – dating a long way back.
This is Gyeonghoeru — a lovely pavilion surrounded by water.
Parujeong is a very ornamental library.
From there we wandered through an art market street, Insadong, before landing in the Bukchon Hanok Village – this being an area with wooden houses that look absolutely fantastic. Some place I would love to live.
Roofs of Bukchon Hanok Village
The brick work on the homes in Bukchon Hanok Village is stunning. This is just one example
When in Bukchon Hanok Village, you can lose sight of the fact that modern Seoul surrounds it — but not always.
My tour guides were again local university students, members of the Meteor Youth Voluntary Club – and to thank them for their free tour, I picked up the tab for our dinner at a local restaurant – where the fixings were good.
Dinner for three, Korean Style.
I must confess that I did not allot enough time to Seoul and to South Korea. It is worth more exploration – I got the feeling fairly quickly that I could live in Seoul—assuming, of course, that I could put the security situation out of my mind.
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