A couple of days in Namdaemun and surroundings, Seoul, South-Korea

When we arrived to Korea, we already spent a couple of days in Seoul before starting our road trip. I will combine the things we did on those days in Namdaemun and surroundings to this post.

We first stayed in the area of Namdaemun. From there it was easy to walk to Bukchon Hanok Village (북촌한옥마을), Ikseondong Hanok Village (익선동한옥거리), The Insadong Culture Street (인사동거리) and the two palaces of Gyeonbok Palace (경복궁) and Changdeok Palace (창덕궁). Though in the end, we did visit some of the places on our first days and some on the last ones.

On the first day of arrival we just chilled and went to eat. Hidden (not really, just hidden from our eyes that weren't accustomed to the idea that you have to look higher for restaurants and shops as well) on a third floor office building was a nice Japanese Izakaya that was a great choice for first dinner.

On the second day we walked the narrow streets of Ikseondong and stopped by a popular cafe called Onion. It is a beautiful cafe in an old hanok style building with many delicious treats to offer. Ikseondongs streets hide many other popular and beautiful cafes, so on our last day together we went there again and enjoyed a famous dessert dish with coffee from Cheong Su Dang (청수당).

We continued our walk to the calm Bukchon Hanok Village and enjoyed the views of old and new Seoul from the hill.

Insadong Culture Street was filled with stores for all the shopping a tourist could need. If you wanted to take home a magnet, fan, mirror, kimchi or chopsticks, or maybr something a local artist had painted or crafted, you can find it here. Post cards are extremely hard to find in Korea, but you can find many differend types from Insadong.

On the last day we also wanted to see the Gyeongbok Palace together but because of an mistake we made in scheduling, it was closed that day. So I went alone on the next day.

The palace was originally built in 1395 and it is the largest of the Grand Palaces that were built during Joseon Dynasty (1392-1910). It was the home of the Kings and their households of the time period.

A very popular thing to do among the locals and tourists is to rent a traditional Hanbok outfit from outside the Palace and get beautiful pictures taken at the Palace grounds. You also get free admission if you are wearing a hanbok.

I learned from a tourist guide, that the whole Palace was burned down in 1592 when the Japanese army invaded Korea, and the whole place was mere ruins for almost 300 years. In 1867 a restoration project begun and about 500 buildings were restored as a result.

Again during 1910-1945 the palace suffered significant damages by the Japanese colonial authorities during the Japanese occupation. Again, in 1990 another restoration project was started.

Gyeonghoeru Pavilion was used as a venue for various events such as royal banquets and receptions of foreign envoys.

The Hyangwonjeong Pavilion in the middle of the Hyangwonji Pond was beautiful. Gyeongbokgung Palace is huge and could easily take half of your day to explore and learn.

Unfortunately, because of spending a lot of time in Gyeongbok Palace, I never did have time to go to Changdeok Palace, but now I have something to do next time as well.

More about Seoul and our stay in Hongdae area coming up later!