First day in Seoul

I could barely sleep, so anxious to explore Seoul. But it was worth it, Seoul has so much to offer.

It started with a, in my opinion scanty, breakfast. Apparently, Koreans don’t do extensive breakfasts. Nonetheless, it was good quality and easy to eat.

For today I decided to visit the palaces throughout Seoul. The first one was Deoksugung, near the city hall. On my arrival, it was to my surprise for free today. Later on, it appeared to be free for all palaces today, lucky me. However, there were barely any visitors. I still wonder why. Nonetheless, it means less disturbance for me and a better chance to shoot pictures.

Next on my list was the Gyeongbokgung palace. The most famous of them all. And oh boy, didn’t I arrive exactly on time. When I arrived they were doing the change of the palace guards. Luckily I was able to pick a short piece of the ceremony. Their clothing is amazing, such pretty bright colours. It was also quite crowded at the entrance, with several hundred visitors. However, as soon as you leave the main place, you were almost the only one around with on some occasions a few other visitors. I am still wondering how that could be, with that many visitors.

After Gyeongbokgung I went to Changdeokgung palace. But most of the time there I spent at the secret garden, only accessible through the use of a guided tour. It gave a nice insight of how the palace rose up. Apparently, especially the 22nd king played a big role.

Afterwards, I headed down south to the Kwang Jang market. It was a market mostly to have a quick bite. After walking through the market a bit I thought, it’s time to eat some traditional Korean food. And so I did. It took a while before I could eat, they serve it still boiling. However, it tasted fairly nice.

But I was getting tired, I walked a lot today. Time to head back home. To get home I used the Cheonggyecheon river. It is below the main road which gives you a lot more rest while walking down the stream.

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