Day trip around Seoul

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Well rested and clean , we set off for Seoul. A free shuttle ride was good to get back to the city buses which leave from ICN arrival terminal. The fare was 7000KRW into the heart of town and if your ticket before boarding at the kiosk you get a 2000KRW credit on any phone calls (which is about a ten minute international call , cool eh?) Traffic was slow but such is the city life , we jumped out at Namdaemun Market , which is where the very helpful Airport info lady told us to go (excitedly and among other places of interest which she kindly circled on a map for us ) for a Seoul shopping experience. We dodged , weaved and shuffled thru the mass of people trying to stay close to each other while looking for somewhere to eat. Eventually we sat at a busy lunch stop where you could order the dish you wanted by pointing at the plastic replica out the front (very convenient). A waitress sat us down with another man who had only just finished as i beleive this is a ploy to make customers leave quicker. Some bowls of appertizers (later worked out to be Gimchi which is marinated cabbage and some other chilli-hot veges) came out and I was like - I didn't order those im not eating them! , Sarah said to relax as they are complimentry and it looked like everyone else was enjoying them :-) Our meal came out sizzling it was rice with beef , sea weed and vegetables - nice. The lady who brought it out gestured for me to stir it up a bit to get the flavour going thru the lot. It was satisfying for both of us and cost 5000KRW , we were sure they used MSG thou as our tongues tingled for ages after. As I paid and we left the lady who took our order gestured (jokingly) only one meal between two? I rubbed my belly and said thankyou that was heaps and it was.
After lunch the organised mayhem seemed to be on tranquility mode , as everyone was moving slowly it was lalot easier to get around the market (must have all been as hungry as us). We got a Victorianox pocketknife ("Climber" for 26000KRW) and were pretty happy with the deal (I lost my $8 multi-tool from Wal-Mart Canada at SYD Airport check in when i forgot take it out of carry on .......Doh!).
Next we meandered east and north to the royal palace:Changdeokgung built in 1405 as a secondary palace of the Joseon Dynasty. It was really beautifully maintained and recently (1997) registered by UNESCO as a World Cultural Heritage site. The 3000KRW tour (in English and only way to see the palace and grounds) was about two hours informative , fascinating and well worth it. We got plenty of photo's and commentary on each building and its significance as well as tid-bits of other info , like Taoist beleifs on the ghosts of fire (cause of fires) and how to protect your home (or palace) from it. Saw the massive stone entrance to longevity , a solid carved stone with no joins at all - pretty impressive. Also a lot of old trees especially the pines which mean eternal life and a beautiful 400 year old Peach tree which was a gift from the Japanese.
We headed back west in search of the Joygesa Buddhist Temple and got side tracked with some puffed wheat snacks -yummy and cheap (1000KRW). The Joygesa Temple is open to all and worth a visit , its the festival of the lanterns soon (early May) and Buddha's birthday also soon. The Temple holds twice daily prayer meetings and the call to all seeking enlightenment is made with four percussion intruments. They represent all creatures : The drum is for all creatures on land ; The fish is for creatures living in the water ;

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