Gyeongbok Palace

Saturday afternoon I took a trip from Bundang to Gyeoungbokgung. It was a 1.5 hour subway ride to the northern part of Seoul. The main reason for the excursion was to see the Gyeoungbok Palace. Gyeoungbok was originally built in 1394 and was the largest palace built by the Joseon Dynasty. In the early 20th century it was heavily destroyed by the Japanese. As of today it has been restored to about 40 percent of its original outfit.



The palace itself is a located on a huge plot of land with a ton of different buildings through out the complex. When I arrived, I exited the subway and found myself standing in front of the main gate of the palace. There were a few guards directing foot traffic because the changing of the guard ceremony was about to take place. It began with a drum solo followed by a processional of guards.







After watching the ceremony I made my way to the ticket office. Admission was ₩5,000 ($4.00) and included a English audio tour of the complex. The tour took me through a huge courtyard and stopped at one of the many buildings the king worked in.



Inside the building was a throne and a great deal of art work. The structure was mainly built of wood with a large amount of detailed art carved right into the structure.



The next area of the palace was my favorite. Gyeonghoeru was the royal banquet hall of the Joseon Dynasty. Moving out from the hall was a man made lake that surrounded the hall. There are lotus plants scattered throughout the lake. Outside of the lake was a great deal of greenery. There were a variety of Willow trees that were really cool to see.







The last stop on the tour was an area filled with different sculptures. This was my favorite one of the group. I wasn't able to figure out he significance of this guy but he looked like a cartoon character of some sort.



As I made my way back to the main gate I was approached by two goofy looking men. They had a pretty fancy video camera in tow and explained to me they worked on a variety show in Seoul. The segment was about the host who spoke very broken English was was looking for help from foreigners in the country. We chatted on camera for a bit, and the were very appreciative of my time. It was pretty silly and for all I know it could be an entire segment mocking me. I guess I'll never know.



Going to an FC Seoul soccer game later tonight, so I'll have an update on that in a few days.

Missing some of the finer things from home like Diet Coke and a normal pizza (without corn).

Listening to Matt and Kim Don't Slow Down.

Gyeongbok Palace