At the entrance, we witnessed another change of guard ceremony. After the ceremony, we headed inside the palace grounds and gotten our tickets for entry into the palace. The main gate of the palace, Gwanghwamun, looks like two big pavilions stacking on top of each other. The double roofed, three-storey gate has wooden structures painted in bright green and red, a typical colour scheme for royalties in Korea (as seen in Suwon Fortress and Changdeokgung), is perched high atop of a stone wall with three arch entrances. Passing through Gwanghwamun, a large courtyard awaits the visitors before one would reach a second gate in the palace grounds. Heungnyemun, the second gate as one enters the palace, guards the entrance to the throne hall. Heungnyemun, compared to Gwanghwamun, has a much simpler architecture. The gate also has two roofs stacking on top of each other and painted in elaborate decors on its under roof. The base of the three arches wooden gate is painted in red. There are two additional doors at either side of the gate, forming part of the walls protecting the throne hall area.

Heungnyemun is a wooden structure that looks like two pavilions stacking on top of each other. This gate guards the entrance to the throne hall

Heungnyemun up close

Geunjeongjeon – The throne hall

Sujeongjeon

Me at Sujeongjeon

Another view of Sujeongjeon from the cafe

We moved backed into the throne hall area and headed to the throne hall. The throne hall, Geunjeongjeon Hall, is nested on top of two raised platforms. The throne hall is where the King held important state functions and court officials’ audiences. It also served as a venue where the new kings were being crowned. The decor of the interior of the throne hall is rather simple, covered with black tiles with high elaborated decorated ceilings, painted with red and green colour schemes. In the centre of the hall is the throne, perched on a raised platform, decked in red with a painting of mountain as a backdrop, the throne hall looks different from that in Changdeokgung. In comparison, the throne hall in Gyeongbokgung looks smaller and modern, while that in Changdeokgung looks roomier and older. There is some furniture in Geunjeongjeon, which probably serves to show visitors how the throne hall was decorated in the olden days.

It seems that all royal places are painted in green and red colour schemes in Kore

Under the roof of Geunjeongjeon is pretty elaborate in its design

A guardian statue at Geunjeongjeon to ward off evil spirits

The throne inside Geunjeongjeon Hall

Taking a wefie with Geunjeongjeon at the background

There are several such statues around the palace to ward off evil

Around the throne hall

After taking some pictures of the throne hall, we headed to the rear of the throne hall to the Sajeongjeon Hall. This simple stand-alone building is one of the three buildings directly behind the throne hall. It is at Sajeongjeon where the king carried out his daily kingdom affairs, akin to the office of the king. The interior of Sajeongjeon feels like a miniature version of Geunjeongjeon. There is a smaller throne in the centre of the building, with a portrait of the mountain again as backdrop to the throne. Together with the buildings to the left (Cheonchujeon) and the right (Manchunjeon) of the Geunjeongjeon, this area forms the office quarters of the palace. The king would use the building in the centre, whereas his ministers use those to the left and right.

Inside of Sajeongjeon, which looks like a scaled-down version of the throne hall. This is where the King used to work and discuss country affairs with his ministers

Sajeongjeon on the left and the building far right is Manchunjeon, which are two of the three buildings that form the office district behind the throne hall

Sajeongjeon with Cheonchujeon in the office district

Sajeongjeon up close

Cheonchujeon up close

Inside Cheonchujeon which serves as the office of the ministers

Inside Cheonchujeon

Around the office district of Gyeongbokgung

Passing a gated wall to the rear of the office quarters, we arrived at the living quarters for the royal family.  The centrepiece of this area is the king’s sleeping quarters – Gangnyeongjeon Hall. The centre portion of Gangnyeongjeon Hall was left open for visitors to see how it looked inside. This open area is rather large and I would imagine this is where the king would entertain some of his subjects and even his queen and concubines. There weren’t any items of furniture placed here at the time of our visit. There are some buildings around Gangnyeongjeon Hall, which are closed to visitors. To add to the confusion of the purposes of these other buildings around the King’s chambers, there aren’t any signages around to explain the purpose of these buildings. I can only imagine these are perhaps quarters for the king’s bodyguards, who were likely to keep watch over the king while he is in his chambers.

Panoramic shot of Gangnyeongjeon hall, the sleeping quarters of the King

A large living room of some sorts in Gangnyeongjeon hall

Some other buildings within the compounds of the king’s sleeping quarters. We overheard a tour guide explaining to the group that the reason for having a sandy floor is so that the movement of assassins managing to get past the heavily guarded entrance of the palace can be heard

Around the King’s sleeping quarters

Some buildings around the King’s sleeping quarters

Back alley around the King’s sleeping quarters

As we did not get a copy of the map around the palace (the compounds of the palace is huge), my friend and I roamed around the remaining palace grounds, without knowing what is what. At a certain point, all the buildings looked the same to us and we were starting to get bored. As we were walking around from buildings to buildings, we ended up in an open area where we saw a frozen pond with a man-made island in the centre, connected by a small bridge. On the island is a two-storey pagoda building decked in mostly green painting. I reckon the pond and the pagoda built in front of mountains form a picturesque and tranquil scene.

We roamed around the palace, having no clue the significance of these unmarked buildings

Exiting the compounds of the palace to the back of Gyeongbokgung

Hyangwonji pond and Hyangwonjeong pavilion forming a picturesque view with the mountain as the backdrop

Panoramic shot of Hyangwonji pond and Hyangwonjeon Pavilion

Walking past the pond, we headed to the buildings to the north of the pond. This set of buildings looks very simple and small as compared to the other areas of the palace.  A little research reveals this compound- Geoncheonggung residence is an annexe of the palace where the king and the queen would stay to enjoy some peace, away from the hectics of running the country. There are a few buildings within the compounds of Geoncheonggung consisting of the sleeping chambers for the king and the queen, as well as a library.

My friend at the entrance of Geoncheonggung residence

Inside the compounds of Geoncheonggung residence, which is located the furthest north within Gyeongbokgung

Me at one of the buildings in Geoncheonggung residence. This might be where the king used to sleep

Other buildings in Geoncheongung residence

My friend in Geoncheonggung residence

Roaming around within Gyeongbokgung

We are still inside Gyeongbokgung grounds

A Side Detour To the Korean Folk Village

We continued our tour inside of Gyeongbokgug and came across a side entrance to the palace. This happens to be an entrance to the Korean Folk Museum. A staff stationed at the entrance came up to us and encouraged us to visit the Korean Folk Museum. Entrance to the museum is complimentary and we can gain re-entry into Gyeongbokgung with our ticket later. As we thought we could afford a moment of a detour, we decide to heed the advice of the staff and make a quick visit. As we were not interested in museum visits, we saw some interesting structures at the compounds outside the museum and headed to these structures instead. This is the open-air exhibition area which showcases rural life as well as modern and contemporary streets of Korea. We headed to the rural area to find a farmhouse and a mill on display. Nearby the rural farmhouse is an open area with spirit posts, which were used by the villagers to prevent natural disaster and bring about a bountiful harvest. Next to the mill, is a Street of Memory, which comprises of a street scene of Korea in the 1970s. There are some shops replicated here. We headed back into Gyeongbukgung after taking some pictures here.

The Korean Folk Museum is located at the side entrance of Gyeongbokgung

This is a guardian that the Koreans prayed to for peace and good harvest

Korean Folk Museum

Typical farmland in Korea

Replica of farm land in Korea at the Open Exhibit area

Typical Korean Farmhouse

Typical farmhouse

Next to the farmhouse is a mill where the ox was used to mill harvests

Spirit posts which the villagers prayed to prevent natural disasters and for a good harvest

The “Street of Memory” depicting a typical Korean street scene in the 1970s

Some of the shops here include a photograph shop and a tailor shop

My friend in front of a shop selling clothing

Some of the replica of shops on the “Street of Memory”

Back into Gyeongbokgung

Heading back into Gyeongbokgung, we continued where we left off. By this time, the palace is about to close and we could only brush through some of the buildings, hoping to cover as much as we could in the remaining time we have in the palace before it calls off the day. As we headed southwards towards the entrance of the palace, we came across the Jagyeongjeon Hall, the living quarters of the adoptive mother of King Gojong, Dowager Jo. This hall is composed of two rooms with Ondol (heated) floors, Bogandang and Jagyeongjeon Hall and a veranda, Cheongyeonnu, to the southwest. The east side of Cheongyeonnu is connected with another room. 

The walls surrounding Jagyeongjeon Hall where the adoptive mother of the King used to stay in

Outside Jagyeongjeon Hall

Some of the buildings inside Jagyeongjeon Hall

This is the main sleeping chamber of Dowager Jo

A guardian statue protecting the Dowager

The building where the Dowager used to sleep in

Peeking at the other side of the wall inside Jagyeongjeon Hall

The scene inside Jagyeongjeon Hall

Inside the compounds of Jagyeongjeon Hall

The holes at the bottom of the building were where firewood was burnt during winter to keep the floors warm

The backyard of Jagyeongjeon Hall

Panoramic shot of the back yard of Jagyeongjeon Hall

Feature wall at the backyard of Jagyeongjeon Hall

Outside Jagyeongjeon Hall

As the palace was about to close, we hurried back to the entrance of the palace and decided to stop at the throne hall to take some pictures. After taking some pictures, we headed out of the palace.

Back to Geunjeongjeon

Geunjeongjeon at this hour is rather empty as most of the visitors have already left

A final shot of Heungnyemun

Bukchon Hanok Village

One of the places we wanted to visit is the Bukchon Hanok Village. Bukchon Hanok Village is a residential area which still retains the traditional Korean house architecture. As the village is smack in between Gyeongbokgung and Changdeokgung, it is a short distance from Gyeongbokgung. We relied on the Goggle map to bring us there on foot. As soon as we reached where Bukchon Hanok Village, we were expecting to see some traditional housings the moment we reached Bukchon Hanok Village. We were disappointed to see some modern architecture, we continued to walk towards a more secluded part of the area and soon some traditional buildings came into our sight. As it is already close to nightfall, most of the tourists would have already called it a day here. Strolling along the alley of Bukchon Hanok Village, looking at the various traditional houses is indeed a joy. Soon all the buildings looked repetitive, we decided to get out of Bukchon Hanok Village and visit Namsan once more, hoping that there will not be a crowd like Day 1 of our trip in Korea.

Near the base of Namsan Cable car station

Boarding the cable car towards N Seoul Tower

N Seoul Tower at night from the cable car

Namsan is famous for couples placing a pair of padlocks here and throw the key out at Namsan. To facilitate this, there are grills near the cable car station in Namsan set up for people to do so. The amount of locks here is practically countless. There are more unused grills around. We headed to the viewpoint near the padlocks to catch a glimpse of Seoul at night. The view here is stunning, coupled with the cold winter wind blowing, and not too much of a crowd (only a handful of people were here at the time of our visit), the feeling is free and peaceful. From the viewpoint, we could see the busy Myeongdong shopping area, with the shoppers and cars near Myeongdong shrunk to the size of an ant, the feeling is great!

View of Seoul from the cable car

Getting close to N Seoul Tower station

On top of Namsan

Countless padlocks where it is believed that couples locking their pair of padlocks here will stay together forever

N Seoul Tower

More padlocks at the base of N Seoul Tower on top of Namsan

View of Seoul from top of Namsan

N Seoul Tower and the padlocks

N Seoul Tower at night

Pavilion at the base of N Seoul Tower

Panoramic shot of the view of Seoul at night on top of Namsan

N Seoul Tower closed up

After we took some pictures of Seoul at night, we headed towards N Seoul Tower. At the base of the tower, we found out that we would have to pay entrance to get up to the tower. As we were hungry, we opted to spend our time filling our stomachs instead. We headed to one Korean restaurant and got our stomachs filled. Though the food at the restaurant isn’t fantastic, the view from our table is enough to compensate for the lack of taste in the food.

View from the restaurant is enough to make up for the lack of taste of the food here

I ordered Jajiangmien

My friend had the omelette fried rice

After dinner, we headed back to the viewpoint again and took in the view of Seoul at night. No wonder comments from people who have been here recommended to visit this place at night. It gives one a different feeling, a feeling of peace and zen, rather than having to squeeze with the crowd we had the luxury of time and space. We also did not have to take pictures with people in them. As the temperature seems to get colder by the minute, we headed towards the cable car station for our ride back to the base. Alighting from the cable car, we followed the crowd to what appears to be a single cabin tram up to the base of the cable car station. At this point, I turned to my friend and commented: “I felt cheated”. Now to walk up the cable car station from Myeongdong subway station requires one to walk upslope, with this tram system, it made getting to the cable car station a breeze and effortless.

N Seoul Tower ticketing counter

View of Seoul from Namsan at night. It is very peaceful here, partly due to the absence of  crowds

Night view of Seoul from Namsan

The single carriage tram fetching people up from the base of the cable car station

Tram approaching our stop

Inside the tram

Last Shopping at Myeongdong

We headed to Myeongdong to walk around when we reached the base stop of the tram system. Myeongdong at this hour, despite close to 10 pm, was still buzzing with life. Thought most of the shops are closing, the street food vendors and pushcarts selling goods do not seem to abide by the 10 pm close shop timing. We did some final shopping and walked around, munching on street food as we walk along Myeongdong. As we had to wake up early the next day to catch our flight out of Seoul, on top of that we have yet to pack our luggage for our trip home, we decided to call it a day and headed back to the hotel.

Myeongdong at night

Last shopping at Myeongdong

Despite being at 10 pm, these pushcarts do not seem to be closing

Still quite a crowd at Myeongdong

Tteokbokki!

Myeongdong at night

Myeongdong at night

I would consider this day to be the climax of our Korean trip as today is the day we will be seeing natural snow for the first time. We planned to head out to the Ski Resort today, as with the day before, we planned to visit the ski resort on a weekday so that we will not be bumping into too large a crowd at the ski resort. I was hoping to see snow at the ski resort, after all, it is the middle of winter and the past four days in Seoul we were rather disappointed that it did not snow at all. Talking about the ski resort, there are several ski resorts in Korea. There are several ski resorts located nearby Seoul, whilst some others are further into other nearby provinces. We chose to visit High1 Ski Resort partly because this resort was designated to host the upcoming 2018 Winter Olympics to be held in Seoul. The other reason for our choice to visit here is the opportunity to ride the gondola up to the peak of the Baekwoon Mountain standing some 680m above sea level, where we thought we might catch some great views of the surrounding mountains.

Up these stairs is where Cheongnyangni Station is located

Ticketing counter at Cheongnyangni Station

Our train tickets to Gohan Station

Outside Cheongnyangni Station

Murphy’s Law in Action

We got our breakfast here and was late for our train

On our way to DongSeoul Bus Terminal

DongSeoul Bus Terminal is located next to Gangbyeong subway station, which is just a few stops from Cheongnyangni station. We arrived at the Bus terminal and quickly got our bus tickets to Gohan (costs us ₩14,500 each for the one way trip). Since there is some time to kill, we found a place and finished breakfast we just bought awhile ago. We arrived at the bus bay for our ride to Gohan 15 mins before the scheduled departure to prevent missing the bus. The bus departed on schedule to Gohan. Around 1.5 hours into our ride, the bus pulled into an area for a pit stop, unlike the bus we took the previous day (operated by a different company), there was no announcement how long the pit stop will be. We got down the bus to buy some drinks and at the same pit stop, we got ourselves some ear muffs. By the time we returned to where the bus parked, the bus was not there. At this time we realised that the bus had left without us! Wow twice within one morning things had turned south for us. At this point we were thinking about what to do, there isn’t a bus stop and we are in the middle of nowhere. To make things worst, we do not even speak Korean to even hitch a ride from others. After some time, we approached a couple of Korean ladies and told them our bus had ditched us. They do not seem to understand what we are talking about, but somehow know we were lost! The ladies pointed us to an information booth, where we seek help.

Our bus to Gohan in DongSeould Bus Terminal

Heading to Gohan on a bus

Heading to Gohan on a bus

Heading to Gohan on a bus

Pit stop! This is where the bus ditched us

We went around taking pictures of the pit stop while waiting for our bus to come and pick us up

Seem like frosting on the ground. It is very cold at the pit stop

At the booth, we explained to the staff about our situation and showed her our bus ticket. With her limited knowledge of English, we surfed the web to get the number of the bus company. The staff managed to call the bus company, luckily the guy at the other end spoke good English and told us they will arrange for another bus to come and fetch us in 30 to 45 mins time. We waited patiently and dare not move from the booth. Peeking out of the windows occasionally to see if the bus has arrived. Around one hour later, two buses called into the pit stop and both drivers came up to the booth to fetch us. Soon we found ourselves on our way to Gohan. Another 1 hour has passed and the bus called into a bus terminal. From our Google map (which I kept it on ever since our first bus ditched us), I know we were supposed to alight at this bus terminal. To play safe, we asked a fellow passenger who confirmed we were at Gohan. From here we took a 5 min cab ride to reach High1 Ski Resort. What an eventful day!

Continuing our journey to Gohan

Back to Myeongdong for Dinner

A quiet Myeongdong at night

A quiet Myeongdong at night

Kimchi for dinner

We ordered the spicy chicken for two

View of a quiet Myeongdong from the restaurant

Mountain range of Seoraksan National Park

Making our way to Seoraksan National Park

Seoraksan National Park is at the end of the bus service. We alighted the bus at Seorak-dong, we were captivated by the majestic mountains in front of us. I cannot imagine under 1 hour ago, we were still facing the coastline, watching the waves hitting ashore as we were riding on the bus. Moments later we were greeted by the mightiness of the mountains that were in front of us. I can’t help but marvel at the wonders of Mother nature. We were greeted by a Korean style archway, marking the entrance to Seorak-dong, confirming we were at where we were supposed to be. A short walk from the archway, a large metal statue of a bear, that is an icon in this national park. Almost all visitors would stop here to take a picture of this statue. As there were people waiting to take pictures, we skipped our photo opportunity with the bear and decided to come back later. We headed for the cable car station, which would whip us up into the mountains within mere minutes.

The entrance to Seoraksan National Park is just a couple of mins away from the bus stop

Entrance to  Seoraksan National Park

We are here at  Seoraksan National Park

A pagoda structure on our way to the cable car station

Waiting to board the cable up to the mountains

View of the mountain from inside the cable car

And we are on our way in the cable car up to the mountain

Riding in the cable car

The cable car passes above the stream

View inside the cable car

Seorak-dong is getting smaller by the minute

We can see the coastline from afar

Frozen waterfalls are seen from the cable car in  Seoraksan National Park

Up to the Mountain on a Cable Car

We got our cable car tickets (costs ₩10,000 round trip for adults) and were surprised there were hardly any queues for it. This proves that coming to Seoraksan National Park on a weekday is a good decision. We got into the cable as soon as it called into the station. As the cable car made its way up the mountain, through the woods below us, what was originally gigantic turned into miniature. From the cable car, we can see the entire Seorak-dong and far into the shores of Sokcho that we passed by while making our way to the National Park. Below cables of the cable car, frozen waterfalls are insight. There is also a narrow and steep set of the stone-made stairway up to the mountain. The cable car brought us to the mountain top station in less than 10 mins. We got out of the station as soon as we disembarked from the cable car and headed out to the lookout point. The lookout point faces the base of the national park. From here we can see the temples and the various buildings and temples at Seorak-dong. At the lookout point, we can see as far as Sokcho and the sea. The cold crisp mountain air blew across our faces, despite being cold, the air is so fresh that we did not want to get inside the station to shield us from the cold. At the lookout point, we can also marvel at the wonder of mother nature, where part of the mountain range can be seen. It is not the best place to view the mountain ranges here. As we were a little hungry, we ordered tteokbokki (Korean Spicy rice cake) and Korean pancake to munch. Having some Korean food with the view to die for is enjoyment itself

After having our meal, we headed to the Gwongeumseong Fortress. The 30 min walk with well-laden walkways and stairs, is more of a walk than a hike. The journey is mild and is suitable for all ages. Gwongeumseong Fortress is situated some 860m above sea level and was situated on top of the mountain where the cable car station is. The history of the castle was sketchy and is believed to be built by the 23rd King of Goryeo Period. After passing through some well-maintained pavement, the area opens up to a vastness of rocks. This is where one would have to be careful when walking up to the edge of the top of the mountain. At this point, I was expecting to see some form of castle ruins or any reminisce of a castle, however, all I see was rocks and more rocks. Does not seem to have any humanly made structures up here. Wonder how the fortress looks like in the earlier days. Nonetheless, the view here is simply breathtaking. I walked up to the edge of the rocks and looked into the mountain ranges of inner Seorak. Miles and miles of unspoiled nature with no presence of mankind draped in the clear blue cloudless winter sky of South Korea, this is a place where one can sense peace and zen. Great place for meditation or simply just absorb the wonder of Mother Nature. It is a good thing that we came on a weekday when the crowd was thin, we did not have to bump into a lot of people, which brings more peace into the area. This is a place where one can enjoy the cold winter mountainous breeze. We headed further up towards the peak. The upslope walk was easy despite having no clear marked path or handrails. We simply followed the visitors up the slope towards the peak. I did not go all the way up but stop near to the tip of the mountain. The view of the path that we took was fantastic. From up here, we started to wonder how in the world did we climb up here. There are no paths but a bunch of rocks sitting on the slope perhaps for centuries. We stayed here for around 30 mins to relax and take in the view that is before us, a picnic would be wonderful, but we did not bring any food with us here. We headed back to the Cable car station for our ride down to Seorak-dong.  Before that, we stopped by the viewpoint to take more pictures.

Frozen water along the way to Gwongeumseong Fortress

Stone stackings sighted on the way to Gwongeumseong Fortress

Stop for a picture of the mountains in Seoraksan National Park

View of Seoraksan on our way to Gwongeumseong Fortress

Some frozen mountain stream in the background

Frozen stream spotted on our way to Gwongeumseong Fortress

Wefie time!

View of the mountain

More frozen streams

There she is… Gwongeumseong Fortress

View from Gwongeumseong Fortress

View of Inner Seorak from Gwongeumseong Fortress

My friend at Gwongeumseong Fortress

Crisp mountain breeze and a stunning view of the mountains at Gwongeumseong Fortress

Selfie at Gwongeumseong Fortress

Taking a rest before resuming climbing to the tip of the mountain

View of the mountain from Gwongeumseong Fortress

Posing for the camera at Gwongeumseong Fortress

The view here is simply amazing

View of Inner Seorak

Panoramic shot from Gwongeumseong Fortress

Panoramic shot from Gwongeumseong Fortress

Selfie at the top of Gwongeumseong Fortress

We still get signal here in the mountains

Walking up to Gwongeumseong Fortress

The view here is simply amazing

Posing for the camera at Gwongeumseong Fortress

View of the valley and the mountain ranges from Gwongeumseong Fortress

Me at Gwongeumseong Fortress

Stunting view here

View on Gwongeumseong Fortress

View of the mountains at the cable car station

View of the surroundings on top of Seoraksan

Wefie at Seoraksan

Beginning our descent towards Seorak-dong

We are nearer to Seorak-dong by the minute

Arriving at the base cable car station, we headed to the other landmark within Seorak-dong – Sinheungsa Temple. Passing a Korean-styled archway that reads Mt. Seorak Sinheungsa Temple (it is written in Mandarin rather than Korean), a large bronze statue of Buddha is located to the right. This is where most people would stop over and pray to Buddha before heading further towards the temple grounds. It takes 3 mins to walk from the Buddha statue to the front door of the temple. Along the way, on the side of the walkway, there are pebbles stacked on top of each other, made by those who visited here. Local folklore believed that by stacking stones on top of each other without toppling, one would get their wishes granted. My friend successfully stacked seven pebbles on top of each other.

Sinheungsa Temple seen from the cable car

Entrance to Sinheungsa Temple

Wefie at the entrance of Sinheungsa Temple

This wooden building that looks like part of the temple is actually a shop

The 10m Bronze Buddha Statue that everyone has to pass by to get to Sinheungsa Temple

My friend with the Bronze Buddha Statue

Such peacefulness and tranquility at Seoraksan National Park

Either of these routes leads to Sinheungsa Temple

On our way to Sinheungsa Temple

Park of the temple peeking from the walls of the temple

My friend stacking pebbles for luck

Success!

The pebbles that my friend successfully stacked at the side of the road towards Sinheungsa Temple

After pebble stacking, we headed to the entrance of the temple. The wooden entrance to the temple looks like it has withstood the test of time. Like the wrinkles on an elderly person, the faded entrance still looked grand nonetheless. The entrance is essentially a building by itself, with 4 large statues of deities (2 on each side) guarding the entrance, these statues are meant to ward off evil spirits. Passing through the main gate to the temple, a small raised pavilion attached to a building caught our eyes situated at the other end of the small courtyard. The pavilion looked elaborate and seem to have a similar architectural style as those we have seen in Biwon at Changdeokgung the previous day. There is another section with a larger courtyard to the left after passing through the main gates to Sinheungsa Temple, however, there seem to be some preservation works ongoing, this other area was closed off to the public. Skirting around the first building after passing through the gates of the temple, there is a second elevated courtyard. Right across the courtyard, facing the direction of the main gate to the temple is a building where a statue of the Buddha is housed in. This building is painted in green with decorated under roofings. I spotted a couple of lion-looking masks on the under roofing on each side of the door where one enters to offer their prayers to the Buddha. Next to this building is a smaller building, similarly decked out in green but less elaborately coloured. This building contains the tablets of the ancestors of the local people. There are several yellow coloured buildings built on the side of the courtyard. Perhaps due to the time we visited Sinheungsa Temple when the crowds are thin, the temple appears to be very tranquil and peaceful. One can sit by the courtyard, breathing in the crisp fresh mountain air and forget all troubles.

The entrance of Sinheungsa Temple grounds

Lucky we were here on a weekday where there are not many people around

Wefie inside Sinheungsa Temple grounds

My friend posing at the inner courtyard of Sinheungsa Temple

Sinheungsa Temple

Inner courtyard of Sinheungsa Temple

Around Sinheungsa Temple

We headed out the temple tracing back the way we came from. The whole Seorak-dong area screams of serenity. Passing through the bridge absorbing the wondrous view of the surrounding mountains, bathing in cold winter air is the reason why we visited Seroksan National Park. We reluctantly walked over to the main entrance of Seorak-dong. On the way, we spotted the bear statue and took some pictures with the statue before heading back to the bus stop to wait for the bus that would take us back to Sokcho.

Walking back to the entrance of Seoraksan National Park

The scenery is simply breathtaking

My friend with Sinheungsa Temple in the background

It is so peaceful here at Sinheungsa Temple

My friend on one of the bridges in Seorak-dong

Stream in Seorak-dong

Posing with the famous bear statue of Seoraksan National Park

Wefie with the bear statue

Last view of Seoraksan National Park before we leave

Dinner Hunting at Sokcho

It did not take long for us to return to Sokcho. At this time our stomachs were grueling, as we did not really have lunch. We wanted to have dinner at Sokcho before heading back to Seoul. As we were walking along the streets near to the Express Bus Terminal, this part of the town looks sleepy. There is hardly any human traffic around. There are several restaurants that we walked past, however, we are not too sure if they are open for business. We ended up near the port area where there are a huge shopping mall and a fish market of some sort opposite. We headed towards the fish market and realised that we could get fresh seafood here, where the restaurants would cook the live seafood from the tank in front of the shop that customers chose. As we were not too sure if we could communicate with these restaurant owners, we gave this a miss and walked back towards the bus terminal.

Fresh seafood at the market opposite the shopping mall. There is a restaurant behind these tanks where the owners will cook the seafood that is picked from these tanks

Dusk at Sokcho

Dusk at Sokcho

As we were walking back, we chanced upon a Korean BBQ restaurant and decided to have dinner there. There was only one other table that was occupied by a local couple in this small family-owned restaurant. As we do not speak Korean (neither did the owner spoke any English), we were shown a menu with pictures on it. The owner was kind enough to help us BBQ the meat and topped up any side dishes that were empty. Compared to the BBQ dinner we had on our first night in Seoul, the food here pales quite a fair bit. However, it is sufficient to last us till we get back to Seoul. A point to note to those who do not eat beef, be careful when you order any non-beef products on the menu. We ordered pork ribs, which turned out to be beef. The menu stated as pork, however reading the Japanese translation, it mentioned beef. Initially, I thought it was the translation in this particular restaurant, however, I also saw the same thing subsequently in some restaurants in Seoul. Best to stay clear of such options if in doubt. After dinner, we headed back to the bus terminal and got our tickets back to Seoul.

Korean BBQ for dinner

Korean BBQ for dinner

Side dishes that always comes with Korean BBQ

Vegetables to wrap the BBQ meat in

Side dishes

Side dishes

Biwon is the very reason why we visited Changdeokgung, covering about 2/3 of the entire palace grounds. There is a limited number of visitors allowed daily into this Secret Garden. When we arrived at Changdeokgung, we realised that the last English tour for Biwon is about to start. Hence we decided to do the Biwon first and allocate the rest of the time to roam around Changdeokgung. We quickly got the tickets to Biwon Tour and Changdeokgung. To access Biwon, one must join a guided tour, which has 3 runs daily for the English tours during Nov to Feb (and 4 English tour groups from Mar to Oct). Biwon was known by several names, Huwon and Geunwon, but the name Biwon was officially known after King Kojong, the 26th King of the Joseon Dynasty and the first emperor of Korea, bestowed the name to the garden. Biwon was constructed to serve as a leisure place for the Royal family and palace women for centuries.

A rectangular pond – Buyongji Pond, greets visitors to Biwon and this is the first sight after walking for around 3 mins from the entrance to the garden. The pond was covered with a thin sheet of ice at the time of the visit. Three buildings are surrounding the pond. Nearer to the entrance to the garden is the Buyongjeong Pavilion, the only building with a criss-cross roof in the entire Biwon area. There is a building nested on a small slope opposite the pavilion, known as the Juhamnu Pavilion, this is the place where the scholars hired by the King used to study. There is also a reading room for the King inside this 2-storey building. It is a shame that this building was out of bounds to visitors these days. On the side of the pond, between Buyongjeong and Juhamnu Pavilions is a single storey red structure. This structure used to be the examination hall for scholars taking the royal exam. There are a certain peace and tranquil lurking around this area, and visiting this place is certainly therapeutic.

Buyongji Pond greets visitors as they step into Biwon

Juhamnu Pavilion rests on top of a slope with an examination hall at the side (the red building)

Panoramic shot of Buyongji Pond

Buyeongjeon Pavilion rested at the edge of the pond

The pond is frozen at the time of our visit

Juhamnu Pavilion

Entrance to Juhamnu Pavilion

The roof of the red building beside Juhamnu Pavilion

Examination hall

Examination hall

Me at the examination hall

Another view of the examination hall

Examination hall

After given about 5 mins for us to roam around this small area, the tour guide proceeded to lead the group to Ulduhap and Aeryeonji Pond. The Aeryeonji pond small square-shaped pond lies beside a rather small building (Ulduhap) that looks rather common, which is different from the rest of the brightly painted palace buildings. It is here that the crown prince once studied. The tour made a brief stop here for us to take some pictures and we moved on to the next area.

Aeryeonji Pond

Entrance to Ulduhap

On top of this gate reads “Longevity door”

Me at Ulduhup

The third stop on this guided tour through the Secret Garden is the Jongdeokjeong Pavilion area. This area comprises of three pavilions and a small house overlooking an irregular-shaped two-segment pond. A pavilion (Gwallamjeon Pavilion) that is situated at the edge of the pond is built resembling a fan, while the other on higher ground is a slightly bigger octagon-shaped pavilion (Jongdeokjeong Pavilion), overlooks the two sections of the pond. There is a small building nestled on top of a small slope that overlooks the lower pond. Between this building and the octagon-shaped Jongdeokjong Pavilion is a small red building (which is nowhere near the ponds). This would be one of the most scenic spots in the garden, especially when it was covered with snow in the winter and red foliage in the autumn. Perhaps due to the controlled number of people, walking through this garden feels very peaceful and zen.

We re-entered Changdeokgung through Donhwamun. The 5-panel 2-storey bright red main gate of the palace looks like a pavilion on a larger scale. It does screams of the King’s authority over the Korean Empire. The entire gate is made of wood and is very well preserved despite being built in 1412. Unlike most palaces where the main gate is preceded by another gate leading to the throne hall, the layout of this palace has the throne hall to the right of the main gate. Immediately in front of the main gate are some buildings and a shrine enclosed in a short wall.

Palace grounds after Donhwamun

Crossing a small stone bridge, passing through another door on the left is the door to the throne hall. Passing through 3rd door (since Donhwamun) opens up to a massive square before the throne hall. There are tablets laid on the floor of this square marking the position various ranked officers would stand when the court session takes place. At the heart of this area is the throne hall – Injeongjeon. From the outside, Injeonjeon throne hall looks like a 2 storey building decked out in the iconic green and red colour schemes that are commonly found in Korean structures. Peeking into Injeonjeon (visitors are only allowed at the door of Injeonjeon), one can see the wooden interior is a single storey building with high ceilings. The ceiling of the throne hall is decked out with elaborate and well carved intersections of wooden pieces painted with mainly green and red colour murals. The throne the King sits during court proceedings is placed in the centre of the hall, with paintings of mountains and waterfalls forms the backdrop of the yellow throne. The throne hall itself can accommodate a substantial amount of people. I was rather impressed with the simple yet authoritative the throne hall presents itself.

This door leads to the throne hall

Me at the door before the throne hall

Passing through this door will lead to the throne hall

Me at the door before the throne hall

Injeonjeon – the throne hall. Officials used to stand according to their rank int the square outside the throne hall

Me and my friend at the square outside the throne hall

Underroofing of Injeonjeon

My friend with Injeonjeon at the background

Inside Injeonjeon is the King’s throne in the centre

Some buildings at the side of Injeonjeon

Elaborate ceiling decor inside Injeonjeon

My friend at the square outside Injeonjeon

Panoramic shot inside Injeonjeon

Heading right from Injeonjeon, passing through a corridor and a side door, we end up in front of Huijeongdang Hall. Compared to the throne hall, Huijeongdang Hall is a smaller building, but yet still decked out in the green and red colour scheme. This is the hall is where the King Chamber is located, which doubles up as his workplace. This hall is linked to the rear building with a series of sheltered corridors.

This side door at the throne hall leads to Huijeongdang hall

Huijeongdang hall

The corridor that leads further into Huijeongdang hall

Sleeping quarters for the King in Huijeongdang hall

View of Injeonjeon from Huijeongdang hall

Around Huijeongdang hall

A series of such covered corridors linked Huijeongdang hall to Daejojeon

Behind Huijeongdang, through a maze of covered corridors is where Daejojeon is located. Daejojeon served as the residence of the Queen. Compared to the King’s Chambers, Daejojeon has much simpler decor. There is a living room of some sort at the centre of Daejojeon, furnished with pearl and marble laid wooden furniture. Without a guide explaining the details of these palace grounds, roaming around on our own does not provide much significance to the areas that we have visited. After a while all the buildings looked the same to us.

This corridor leads to Daejojeon

Around Daejojeon

This is the Queen’s residence at Daejojeon

Some buildings at Daejojeon

Korean architecture at Daejojeon

My friend at Daejojeon

These corridors are one of the few that links Daejojeon to Huijeongdang Hall

Close up view of the corridors

Peeking inside part of Daejojeon

A living room that is attached to the Queen’s quarters in Daejojeon

My friend at Daejojeon

Heading out of Daejojeon through Huijeongdang, to the right of these buildings is where Seongjeonggak Hall is located. Seongjeonggak Hall is initially used as the residence of the Crown Prince, which has later become a library before taking its last task of being the royal hospital. This hall has a rather unique structure that one end of the building is laid on the flat ground, and another end on a raised platform, making it a split level building structure.

Part of Seongjeonggak hall

Me at  Seongjeonggak hall

Seongjeonggak hall

My friend at  Seongjeonggak hall

Building in  Seongjeonggak hall

One of the living quarters in  Seongjeonggak hall

My friend at  Seongjeonggak hall

Me in front of a building at  Seongjeonggak hall

As it is approaching closing time, we hurried to a separate, dull-looking stand-alone building complex, locating to the right of the road to the Secret Garden. The Nakseonjae complex was built as the King’s quarters, despite being the King’s quarter, the King then decreed that the building to be kept simple in its construction. This complex was later used as the quarters for the wife of the last Crown Prince. As we walked into this area, it looked pretty much the same as the other buildings we have seen within Changdeokgung, but simpler and smaller. We hurried out of the palace grounds as it was approaching its closing time.

We did not take too many pictures in the Nakseonjae complex partly due to the closing time is near and partly due to its simpleness does not seem fit for a king to living in.

Inside Nakseonjae complex

Dinner at Tosokchon Samgyetang

There are a few dishes that the Koreans are famous for other than the Kimchis and BBQs. Korean Ginseng Soup (Samgyetang) is one of the must-haves when coming to Korea. I Googled online after exiting Changdeokgung that Tosokchon Samgyetang serves the best Korean Ginseng Soup and the restaurant was always packed with queues of patrons during mealtime. We were lucky that at the time we were at the restaurant, it is way past mealtime and we did not have to queue for our dinner. The exterior of the restaurant looked traditional and small, but once inside, there seem to be plenty of dining areas for patrons. Customers would have to sit on the floor for a taste of their Samgyetang. We did not have to wait for long for our Samgyetang to arrive. The Samgyetang does not have too strong a herbal taste to it and the chicken is tender and not too dry. Inside the chicken, one can see the ginseng that is being used for the cooking and is stuffed with herbs and gluttonous rice. Tosokchon Samgyetang can be reached via Gyeongbukgung station exit 2 about 200m from the subway exit. After the dinner, we headed back to our hotel to rest for the night as we have to wake up early the next day for our trip to Seoraksan National Park.

Traditional shopfront

There are plenty of sitting areas inside the restaurant

Menu

Samgyetang that we ordered

Side dishes

Customers have to sit on the floor to enjoy their samgyetang

The whole ginseng is used for the soup

Shops opposite the restaurant

Shops opposite the restaurant

Getting to Suwon Fortress

Suwon is built by King Jeongjo, the 22nd ruler of the Joseon Dynasty, in a bid to make this place the 2nd capital city of Korea. The fortress is complete in 1796. The 5.74km Suwon Fortress was listed by UNESCO in the World Cultural Heritage List in 1996, making it a valued national treasure of Korea. Getting to Suwon, despite being located some 48km south of Seoul, is a breeze with the reliable subway system taking about 1 hour from Seoul Station and transfer to bus numbers 11, 13, 36 or 39 from the bus stop in front of Novotel Hotel. The fortress is 5 stops from Suwon subway station. Taking a bus in Suwon is a challenge, especially for non-Korean speaking visitors. There are announcements made on the bus PA system, however, there is nothing close to “Suwon Fortress” or “Hwaseong Palace” being announced. One would have to religiously count the number of the bus stops the bus whizzes by. I made the mistake of listening out for “Suwon Fortress” or anything with “Suwon” in it and did not pay attention to counting the bus stops. Without paying notice to the number of bus stops, the scenery outside the bus changed from city to outskirts of the city. My friend and I finally got to the fortress with help from a local shop keeper, who pointed out where to take a bus, and counting the number of buses stops that we had zipped by. The bus will stop at Paldamun, the Southern gate of Hwaseong Fortress. Paldamun is detached from the rest of the gates, located in the middle of the busy city. The gate is encircled by a present-shaped wall. The purpose of this design is to prevent the enemy from attacking the fortress.

From Paldamun, we took this street to reach the tourist information booth

Tourist information booth and part of the Suwon Hwaseong Fortress on the left

Some Korean Street from the Tourist information booth

Suwon Hwaseong Haenggung

The ride to Seoul station whiz past fairly quickly. We headed for the exit that leads us to our hotel. It is around 9.30 am and the hotel would not be able to check us in for another hour. Rather than sitting around and wait for time to pass by, my friend and I opted to check out the nearby Lotte Mart. The supermarket opens at 10 am. We waited for another 10 mins, queuing up to enter the supermarket with the rest of the customers, locals, and tourists alike. When the door opened, customers entered the supermarket orderly. We were given a Korean traditional new year cake as we entered the supermarket. The supermarket is no different from any hypermarkets with loads of groceries organised into the various alleys. My friend and I walked around a little and decided to head back to the hotel to check-in and wash up, getting ready to explore Seoul.

Arrival at Seoul Station

Taking a wefie before heading to the hotel

Seoul Station

It is a short walk to the hotel from Seoul Station. There are some homeless people sleeping inside the station, however, they cleared out during the day and were not distributing anyone using the subway system.

Arrival at the hotel

Hotel is dressed up for Christmas

Took this picture from the hotel lobby while waiting to be served

Our plan today was to head to Namsan and N Seoul Tower in the morning, followed by heading out to Suwon in the afternoon and spending our night in the Gangnam area. Sound like a plan, however, the plan did not go as we wanted. As with most travels, one should plan and get ready to adjust the plan as one go along. We left the hotel at around noon and headed to Namsan via the subway. Getting to Namsan by subway requires us to stop at the subway at Myeongdong area. We exited the subway station, spent some time navigating towards the cable car station that will bring us up to Namsan. When we arrived at the cable station, we saw a queue snaking from the station. We joined the queue, which was moving very slowly. After around 10 mins, we reach a sign that says “70 mins wait from this point”.  At this point, I turned to my friend and say ” I feel stupid waiting 70 mins for a cable car ride, why not we come back some other day”. My friend agreed. Later did we realise it is New Year’s Day. Most of the locals took this opportunity to get out and visit some of Seoul‘s major attractions as well. Hence it hit us that it is a bad day to visit any attractions. My friend turned to me and asked: “so what now?”. I proposed that we head to the nearby Myeongdong shopping area as a change of plan, and we did.

On our way towards Namsan Cable Car Station

Some eateries along the way

Eateries along the way to Namsan Cable Car Station

More eateries along the way

View of N Seoul Tower from the cable car station

Namsan Cable Car Station

Myeongdong

Myeongdong is one of the major shopping districts in Seoul. There are shops for practically everyone, but most of the shops seem to be catering to female visitors. One should cater some time to get one’s bearings when visiting Myeongdong for the first time. I was overwhelmed when I first arrive at Myeongdong, due to the number of shops in the area as well as the massive number of people visiting. As we walked around Myeongdong, we noticed there are tons of shops selling Korean brands of facial care products such as FaceShop, Innisfree, Nature Republic to name a few. These Korean brand facial products are cheaper here in Korea than anywhere else in the world, attracting tourists. Most of the shops here do VAT refunds for foreigners. Essentially they will print out a receipt for foreigners, which is required to be produced at the airport when departing. There are some other international brand facial care shops in Myeongdong as well. Frat not for those who have missed their favourite skincare shops, there is always another one down the street in Myeongdong or round the corner. Other than facial care product shops, there are numerous boutiques selling clothes ranging from the familiar Uniqlo to Adidas to H&M and Forever 21. As it is a public holiday, it seems most of Seoul have congregated here in Myeongdong. Other than having to squeeze past hordes of shoppers to Myeongdong, the main street is also filled with make-shift pushcart stores selling clothing, socks, beanies to name a few. There is also street food on sale along the streets from some of these pushcarts. As we walked around, we seem to have lost track of time as we were overwhelmed with the shopping scene in Myeongdong. By the time we thought we were done with the shopping, it is already near the evening time. We realise we did not even have the time to head over to Suwon (which is around 1 hour by subway) and decided to head towards Garosu-gil at the Gangnam area.

Garosu-gil, Gangnam

It did not take us long to reach Garosu-gil in Gangnam via the subway. Garosu-gil laterally means tree-lined street in Korean. Garosu-gil is around 5 mins walk from Sinsa Station. True to its name, the street is lined with trees and is another shopping district in Seoul. However, the shops here in Garosu-gil is different from that in Myeongdong. Compared to Myeongdong, Garosu-gil feels more upmarket with pictures of artist studios, galleries, designer clothing shops, and cafes along the ginkgo tree-lined street. There are some shops selling local designer brands here in Garosu-gil. Garosu-gil is not as large as Myeongdong, stretching about 1km. There are also fewer shoppers at Garosu-gil compared to Myeongdong. For those who prefer a shopping district with fewer people, do visit Garosu-gil. There are also shops selling popular Korean facial care products shops here. We spent around an hour walking along Garosu-gil and decided to head for dinner.

Start of Garosu-gil

Me at Garosu-gil

Garosu-gil shopping scene. Compared to Myeongdong, there are fewer shoppers here.

Garosu-gil is a nice place to stroll

Shopping in Garosu-gil

Along Garosu-gil

Garosu-gil

Me at Garosu-gil

Perhaps the only shop with a long line in Garosu-gil. These people are queue to take a picture with a gigantic line bear plush toy

Garosu-gil

Shopping in Garosu-gil

Garosu-gil

Mapo Sutbul Galbi

Prior to our trip to Seoul, I did some research on youtube. One of the restaurants that I came across is Mapo Sutbul Galbi. This restaurant mainly serves Korean BBQ and is famous for its pork short ribs. As the restaurant is in the Gangnam area, we decide to head over for dinner. As I did not get the address, mainly relying on Google Maps, it took us around 45 mins to locate the restaurant from Garosu-gil. By the time we reached Mapo Sutbul Galbi, we were famished. As we walked into the restaurant, we realised we were the only foreigner in the restaurant. Although the staff spoke very little English, upon realising we were not local, she immediately brought a menu with pictures and English wordings. We ordered pork ribs and pork belly. As with most Korean restaurants, other than the meat, side dishes were also brought to the table. The thoughtful staff stayed with us throughout, helping us grill our meat, occasionally peeling away to top up our side dishes such as Kimchi as soon as they are emptied. The staff even changed our grill three times during our stay in the restaurant. The pork is well marinated and the side dishes are very tasty.

After walking for 45 mins we finally found the restaurant

Side dishes

Traditional charcoal grill and more side dishes

This red looking side dish is crab. It is very tasty

Side dishes

Pork belly on the grill

Pork short ribs

Kimchi Soup

Vegetables and mint leaves to warp up the meat

After dinner, we headed to Dongdaemun Shopping district. Emerging from the underground subway station, the Dongdaemun or the East gate that once surround Seoul stood timelessly by the exit of the subway station. The ancient monument was closed off at the time of our visit, not too sure if it is ever open to visitors to scale. Not too far from the East Gate is the Dongdaemun Shopping district. Dongdaemun opens till late at night, providing shoppers after-hour shopping. There are a few shopping malls that make up the Dongdaemun shopping district. We headed for the Doota! shopping mall, which is again, crowded with people picking up clothing and facials stuffs late at night. The 7-storey shopping mall (with two additional basement storeys) is a shopping haven. Doota! mainly sells clothing offering both local designer clothing and some international brands as well. There is a food court on the top level of the mall and some cafes scattered on different levels of the mall. We did not spend too much time here and wanted to hope to the next shopping mall beside Doota!, however, our fatigue has set in and returned to the hotel to rest for the night, hoping to recuperate some energy to explore Seoul the next day.

Dongdamun or the East Gate

View of the East gate from the exit of the subway station

Me at the East Gate

East Gate

East Gate

Side of the East Gate

We walked past Cheonggyecheon Stream on our way to the shopping district

Dongdaemun shopping district

Dongdaemun shopping district

Dongdaemun shopping district

Dongdaemun shopping district