Insadong and Gyeongbokgung

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In the last few weeks I have endeavoured to see some sights and take in some more culture and history - and Korea has plenty of both. Sightseeing is made a lot easier by the fact that I live less than an hour of Seoul, where there’s so much to see and do. I thought I’d share a few pictures of the places I’ve seen.

Insadong is one of the best known attractions in Korea, both for foreigners and natives. You can wander around and see traditional Korean crafts, snacks, pottery, galleries, clothes, and street performances. The historical main street is like no other in Korea so you see a real contrast when you reach the end and rejoin modern day Korea - neon lights, shopping centres and high rise buildings.

About 5 minutes from Insadong is Gyeongbokgung Palace. It served as the main royal palace of the Joseon Dynasty, which lasted for the best part of 5 centuries so it’s an integral part of Korean history. Originally consisting of 800 buildings and over 200 gates, Gyeongbokgung was built in 1395, destroyed by fire during the Japanese invasion in 1592, and reconstructed in 1868. It’s one of the most significant sights in Korea so I’m glad I went but, given that everything is outside, I wondered if I should have picked a day when it wasn’t -8 degrees.

You can see in the pictures that it’s made up of numerous buildings. The ‘nucleus’ of the palace (the throne hall, reception hall, and King’s residence) is surrounded by many administrative buildings which gave the whole thing a rather labyrinth-like feel. I even got to see the building where the Korean alphabet was invented in the 15th century. I may now know where it was invented, but I still can’t get my head round it.

On the same site as the palace is the National Folk Museum. I can’t deny that I found it really interesting but at the time I was glad to go inside just to regain feeling in my nose!

More sights coming soon.

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Photos

The classic tourist photo with a palace guard who's fed up of having his picture taken

Just inside the main entrance to Gyeongbokgung

Assembly room for the King and all his people. Note the typically Korean lack of chairs!

This is where Korean language, or Hangul was devised

Samsung tower close to Insadong. I think it's a head office of some kind.

Went to see some temples on the way to Insadong.

The streets of Insadong

Fancied gettin some photos of tall buildings while I waited for the bus. In the background of this one you can just make out the Hilton hotel where I had my Christmas dinner.

Comments

[Konglord]

Nice update, Barriot, but did you really have to make up such absurd place names? I don't believe you. And I now don't believe you're even in Korea.