All Around Seoul

In the previous article, I shared about the places we went to on our first day as we took the Seoul City Bus Tour. 

In this article, I will be sharing about the other places we went to. One thing I do when I am on vacation and I am in a new place. I never sleep in. I wake up early and make the most of my vacation. I walk around and explore and discover nooks and crannies.

So, on the second day, right after breakfast, we walked one block from our hotel to the left and walked along Cheonggyecheon stream. During the time we were there, the Seoul Lantern Festival was happening and there were various lanterns on the stream.

We had no time to go back again at night to see the lanterns lighted, so we just walked the length of the stream which is actually almost 11 kilometers long. We didn't walk the whole length though, we just started from the block from our hotel and walked to the end of it near Gwanghamun Square.

Cheonggyecheon stream.

During the Joseon dynasty, housewives gathered at the stream to do laundry, while their children played together. Imagine that picture in your head, housewives gathered together, gossiping while doing their laundry, while their children splashed in the water, screaming when getting sprayed. :-)

Different jars of beauty products

The lanters have different themes and are made of different materials- to showcase the creativity of the people who made them. This one was made of different jars and brands of beauty products.

Pucca and Garu

Pucca is a media franchise from the South Korean company VOOZ character system. I remember my oldest niece being a fan of this character, and asking me to buy her any kind of merchandise I can find that has Pucca on it.

Pampanga lanterns from Philippines

Of course there's an entry from the Philippines as well, and they made the trademark Christmas lanterns. It would have been very nice to have seen it at night, but we usually go back to the hotel quite late and tired from walking around all day.

Mt Rushmore display

I am assuming this was the entry from the US Consulate office as it is Mt. Rushmore, with the faces of the first four presidents of the United States.

children with kites

Here are some kids playing with kites, which is actually a nice outdoor activity that Korean families enjoy. And I believe that is also true for all families all over the world. The kites we played with when we were young were either made by my Papa or my older brothers.

Various lanterns

Even without the lanterns, a leisurely walk along the length of the stream is quite relaxing, and it is fun to see families walking, laughing together, just enjoying the day, or night.

This entry is made of caps from beauty products, showing that everything can be re-used and recycled, if you know how to. Even the things that we deem useless can be made into something pretty like this.

After the Korean war, people from the provinces moved to Seoul and built their dwellings near the stream, making it a shanty town, and it became an eyesore, as garbage, human waste and everything else flowed into the stream.

The stream was covered up with concrete over 20 years starting in 1958. In July of 2003, however, the mayor of Seoul at that time started a restoration project for the stream. The elevated highway was removed, and the project was met with a lot of criticism, but after some time, people saw that incorporating nature with modernization was  actually a very good idea.

near the end of the stream

The stream was opened to the public in September 2005 and it was lauded as  a major success in urban renewal and beautification. I say it was worth the high cost of restoration- it cost approximately $280 million to finish the project, as now not only the locals but also tourists enjoy walking along it.

End of the stream near Gwanghamun Square

This part of the stream is already at the end, and if you climb the stairs, you walk a few meters and you are already in Gwanghamun Square. It has also been established that the stream lowers the temperature of the surrounding areas by 3 degrees.

We came up the bridge, and we came to this view. So the stream is right smack in the middle of modern buildings, so again, it was actually a very ambitious restoration project, and a successful one at that!

We walked a few more meters, and we came to the start of Gwanghamun Square.

King Sejong's statue

Gwanghamun Square is a public area located in the heart of Central Seoul. It features museums, statues, restaurants, and beautiful surrounding views. Here we see the statue of King Sejong and the Bugaksan mountain in the background.

King Sejong up close

Sejong the Great was the fourth ruler of the Joseon dynasty of Korea, and he is a beloved Korean folk hero. Highly educated and a gifted military strategist, his greatest accomplishment was the commissioning of the  creation of the Korean alphabet Hangul, which is still used by Koreans today. Underneath his statue is a museum that tells the story of King Sejong. It was closed when we were there, but I was able to go during my first trip.

Admiral Yi Sun Shin

Another statue that can be found there is the statue of Admiral Yi Sun Shin. He was a Korean naval commander, who prior to the war, did not have any training or know how,  but still managed to win every battle he faced. His greatest military achievement was during the Battle of Myeongnyang, wherein he was outnumbered by the Japanese, 133 ships to 13. He managed to leave 31 of the 133 Japanese ships destroyed or impaired, without losing one of his own. He went to his grave as one of the few admirals in world history who remained undefeated after commanding as many naval battles as he did. 

Sejong Center

Across the street is the Sejong Center, which is multicultural art center where various performances are held. This building has several theaters with different seating capacities.

Anniversary monument of Gojong's enthronement

Also on the Square is this small monument that honors the 40th anniversary of the crowning of Gojong as the 26th King of the Joseon dynasty.

Gwanghamun Gate

This is Gwanghamun Gate. It is behind the statue of King Sejong the Great. Founded in 1395 by the first king of the Joseon Dynasty, Gwanghamun is the main gate of the Gyeongbokgung palace. And we came to this gate in the morning to witness the changing of the palace guards, which they reenact twice daily, one at 10 in the morning and another at 2 in the afternoon. 

changing of the guards ceremony

Here people wear what the palace guards used to wear during that period of time to make it look authentic, including the commands, the flags and everything. There is always a crowd gathered to watch it every single day.

taken from another side

The whole performance takes 20 minutes so if you go, make sure you arrive a few minutes before it starts so that you can have a good vantage point where you can take your pictures.

Picture taking after the performance

After the changing of the guards, you can take pictures with the soldiers 'on duty' like we did. Of course they never smile, because they are not allowed to do so. It is the same anywhere else in the world.

This is the other side of  the gate. There are other facilities inside the palace, of course, and this is the biggest, since it was the main palace of the Joseon Dynasty. 

This small gate is found to the left hand side of the palace. We did not explore much inside the palace as my friend said they have the same structures, and if she's seen one, she's seen them all, ha ha. I was happy to oblige her as I have been to this place before on my first trip.

Gwanghamun seen from Gwanghamun gate

This is Gwanghamun Square as seen from the palace gate when you're on that side. Here there can also be events held, like kimchi making festival where tents can be set up in the middle of the square.

To go to Gwanghamun Square, there are three options: 

Option 1
Take Subway Line 5 to Gwanghwamun Station (Exit 2).

Option 2
Take Subway Line 1 to Jonggak Station (Exit 1).
Continue for 450 meters to reach the square on the right.

Option 3
Take Subway Line 3 to Gyeongbokgung Station (Exit 6).
Continue 260 meters towards Gyeongbokgung Palace to reach the square on the right.

After Gyeongbokgung, we went to see Bukchon Hanok Village. Here again we had fun taking pictures, going into nooks and crannies we see. Surrounded by Gyeongbokgung Palace, Changdeokgung Palace and Jongmyo Shrine, Bukchon Hanok village is home to hundreds of Korean traditional houses called 'hanok', that date back to the Joseon dynasty.

Rows of hanok

Some of the houses are indeed very old, some have been converted into guesthouses, others into restaurants, but a majority of them are still residential houses so visitors are asked to maintain proper decorum so as not to disturb the residents.

Some appear newer, as some of them have been repaired, but they maintain the traditional architecture, the roofs being identical in structure.

one end adjacent to Changdeokgung

See the autumn foliage in the background. We just went where our feet took us, following the rows and rows of houses.

It's just amazing that the government and the people were of one mind in trying to preserve their culture and history. It's actually a perfect balance, where you see the old and the new combined together in one place.

Hanok Guest house

This hanok has been converted into a guesthouse so were extra careful while we were taking pictures as a guest may suddenly open the door. :-)

Others have been converted into quaint shop houses that sell souvenirs.

And of course, wherever we go, the Philippines follows us as well. There are actually a lot of Korean nationals living in the Philippines, so if we here have Korean stores selling Korean goods, there is also Philippine store selling Philippine goods! Good trading practice, eh? :-)

Waiting for someone? 

We took pictures wherever we fancied, as long as we were not disturbing anyone.

And we had loads of fun! We just walked along one part, and it took us several hours just exploring. We exited along the side of Changdeokgung, taking pictures along the way, eating yummy food as well, buying souvenirs whenever we see any thing we fancied.

There will be a separate article about Korean street food and all the other foods that we sampled during our stay. Our motto was eat like the locals do, and whenever we were hungry, we looked for a place to eat.

We had dinner somewhere in the vicinity and after that went back to the hotel, to rest, and get ready for the next day. Stay tuned for the next one!

To go to Bukchon Hanok Village:
Take Subway Line 3 and get off at Anguk Station. Walk straight for about 300 meters. Enjoy!

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