For this day, we set out focusing to experience more of the traditional and cultural side of Korea. Luckily enough, the hotel we booked was located within the vicinity (Jongno-gu) of the most-visited traditional palace in Korea, i.e. the Gyeongbokgung Palace.
The Gyeongbokgung Palace has existed for over 600 years and also remains as the largest palace in the region. We were lucky enough to visit the palace during the last Wednesday of the month–it turns out that every last Wednesday of the month is free admission day!
While walking to the palace from our hotel. It was about a 5-minute walk from our place.
The police headquarters was located nearby.
The guards approaching for the Changing of the Guards ceremony.
This was the ten-minute ceremony where the guards change shifts every hour (correct me if I am wrong?).
Palace was packed with tourists, especially because it was free admission day!
There was also a cute field trip happening during the same day of our visit!
View of the throne
Another field trip happening here!
Note: (Sorry for the photo quality of the medium-sized photos. I had to use my mobile phone for those shots, since those are the moments when my d-SLR’s battery ran out!)
These were all taken within the palace grounds:
You can also find the National Folk Museum within the palace grounds. We had this planned in our itinerary since we knew it was going to be nearby, and we wanted to visit at least one museum during our trip.
Since there were several hectares of palace grounds to explore, it was already a bit tiring for us to even walk to the museum (that’s how big the palace grounds were!). Luckily, upon entering the museum, we found a cafe that sold soft-serve ice cream–a perfect treat after a long walk under the sun! We decided to sit on the nearby benches to take a breather while enjoying our delicious treat (didn’t get to take a photo!).
The zodiac statue display outside the National Folk Museum
After visiting the palace, we decided to head to our next stop: the traditional Bukchon Hanok Village, a famous preserved traditional Korean village. If you are from the Philippines, you can say that it is similar to our Intramuros, and Vigan.
We found the contemporary art museum on the way to Bukchon Hanok Village.
On the way there, we also passed by some quaint stores within the vicinity of Samcheong-dong, which is the area you will need to pass by before reaching the Bukchon Hanok Village if you are travelling by foot. It’s a good area if you want to stop by for a short break over some coffee or some ice cream, or even maybe for a late lunch.
Since we spent the whole morning till early afternoon basically just walking/brisk walking under the sun, it really did drain us and left us completely hungry. We noticed how way past noon it already was, and that we were already totally long overdue for our lunch break! So, we decided to stop by a restaurant in Samcheong-dong for lunch (the name of the restaurant escapes me). What I do recall about where we ate was that it’s one of those certified authentic Korean restaurants that tourists frequent–it had a plaque by its front door to recognize that it’s a popular legit Korean food restaurant or something of the sort (Sorry for my horrible memory! I was really hungry.).
It was a pretty quick lunch, since we were extremely drained! We mostly had some Korean pancakes and some sort of soup–forgot the name too, sorry!
After late lunch, we decided to pass by a convenience store for a quick ice cream break, since the heat was really starting to get to us. As expected during a summer visit, plus all the walking throughout the whole morning till mid-afternoon. @_@
After that quick break, we were already more than half-way to our destination, which was the Bukchon Hanok Village. The only challenge left for us to face was to get through a few more streets, then to get past the famous tall winding uphill steps to get to the top of the village!
Ta-da~ The famous ‘alley’ view at the Bukchon Hanok Village.
It was great experience being able to walk through a traditional village of a different culture from ours. It really felt like I was taken back in time to the Joseon Dynasty like those that they feature in Korean historical doramas!
After visiting the traditional Bukchon Hanok Village, we headed to Myeongdong to function as our rest stop, since it was the place closest to our next destination in our itinerary, which was the N Seoul Tower.
We took a break in a nice and cozy cafe in Myeongdong called Beans Bins Cafe. A really good respite after such a long walk under the heat of the sun! A pretty good cafe too if you’re craving for waffles and ice cream!
What I ordered from Beans Bins Cafe–waffles with green tea ice cream ♥
The long walk to the N Seoul Tower cable car elevator was also quite tiring, but not as tiring as the winding uphill walk to the Bukchon Hanok Village. Luckily enough, the weather was starting to get pretty cold, so the walk to the glass elevator wasn’t as dreadful as we had anticipated.
I have a strong fear of heights, so I can’t exactly say that I enjoyed the ride on the cable car, despite the gorgeous view. I was literally locked in place as my knees kept on shaking and I couldn’t seem to move even a step from where I was in the cable car! Thus, I don’t really have good photos of the view as we were riding upwards on the cable car. :S
After reaching the base, you will be welcomed by yet another flight of stairs that will lead you to the base of the N Seoul Tower. The walk going up isn’t as tiring, since there are several stop-over landings where you can take a breather and enjoy the view. On the landings, there are also railings where several love locks are already in place–a good introduction for the abundance of love locks you will see once you reach the base of the tower!
Upon reaching the base of the tower, you will be greeted by a multitude of photo-op spots, such as the terrace, the love-lock trees, the teddy bear museum, and much more!
Admission price list for the tower, for your reference! 🙂
They say this is the “heart” where you throw in the keys to your locks, since searching for the key will no longer be necessary for a lock that is “forever.”
This bench was designed for couples to “gravitate” towards each other at the dip in the center. Pretty cute, huh? ♥
It was my parents’ Wedding Anniversary that day, so it was really a special planned-out itinerary for them, especially on that very day. We wanted it to be unique and memorable experience for them to “lock” their love on one of the “love trees” in one of the most famous romantic spots of Seoul. ♥ We really wanted to make this moment a memorable one. This photo, to me, is priceless. 🙂
After being satisfied with the many photo-ops we’ve taken (lol), we decided to go for the main event and headed to the elevator of the tower that will lead us to the observation deck.
The ride on the elevator was an interesting one. With the lighting inside of the elevator dimmed down, the guide will ask you to look up to the ceiling as a funky video presentation gets projected for the audience to watch. The presentation includes a series of clips showing the sky and other kinds of effects that make it feel like you’re swooping into the sky (and it kind of did feel that way!). It’s amazing how fast it can take you up to more than 200 meters above the ground!
The view from the observation deck.
They were selling a TON of candy at the observation deck, and this one really caught my attention. (I wonder why.)
Woop!
So, that was pretty much it for Day 2. I’ll be posting about Day 3 in the near future. I hope this helped some of you out, if ever you are planning to travel to Seoul, Korea! Well, if not, I hope that you at least enjoyed being digitally taken on a trip to this lovely place! 🙂
I visited Seoul for a few days last year and accidentally missed the palace! I can't believe it. We also didn't go to the tower because the queue was so big 🙁 I think I will have to go back and see them sometime. Your photos bring back great memories!
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The palace is definitely something to see! ♥ It made me feel like I was partaking in a historical Korean dorama! haha
Yes, the queue is always crazy for N Seoul Tower. Hope you will be able to visit it the next time you go to Korea!