When it comes to beautiful palaces with unpronounceable names, Gyeongbokgung Palace in Seoul (or Gyeongbok Palace 경복궁) is got to be one of the finest. It’s my second visit to the palace, the first time being with a Taiwanese tour group, and it’s different wondering around by yourself.
For one, the palace seemed much bigger than I remembered and I was actually able to discover huge areas that we just didn’t venture into with the group and guide. But more importantly, it feels different when you’re not on a "be on the bus in 10 minutes" schedule, you have time to appreciate just how lovely the place is beyond the endless historical details of where the emperors did what to whom and when.
It’s a great tourist attraction. Though the place suffered through some massive wars, it looks amazing and the Koreans do a fine job of making everything tourist perfect.
Care for a video? have a look…
Aren’t they great? 😛
The weather made everything look absolutely grand, and you don’t really need a good camera to be able to capture terrific photos of those palace buildings.
Loving this city.
Would be glad to come back a third time, I bet there’s still even more to explore.
Beautiful!!!
Just to mention a fun historical fact: Koreans never called their kings “emperors” (including the kings themselves). When they said ‘Emperor’, they meant the Chinese Emperor in the middle kingdom. Before the colonialism/imperialism messed up the whole thing, there was the clear, understandable hierarchy promoted by the notions of harmony and peace…. Korean kings never crossed the line 🙂
Thanks. That’s good to know. I still have a big gap in terms of Korean history and the relationship to China. 😛
Beautiful pictures.
If it wasn’t for the food (never had a good meal in Seoul…) I would almost go back after seeing this… 🙂
Anabela – strange, i had nothing but amazing food in Korea. but maybe my standards are different.
No. Not really. I was there for a 6 day conference and the sponsors provided the food (lunch and dinner) on a daily basis. And lunch was the same as dinner… it was winter and most of the food was cold which didn’t really gave me any comfort during freezing temperatures. I’m positive they have great food, I was just unlucky and hate kimchi….
Anabela – I see, that would explain it.
Generally, though i can’t eat spicy food, i found most of the Korean food delicious. i love kimchi :$