|
|
Day
13 (October 6, 2023) Seoul
Before
This is our last day in Seoul and we should use it to
complete
our list of pending visits after checking out at the hotel.
We
have a very late flight at night, so we will start heading to the
airport around 9 PM to finish our trip to Korea together with this day.
The spots marked at map are:
0- Thomas Hotel Myeongdong
1- Deoksugung Palace
2- Myeongdong Cathedral
3- Gwanghwamun Square
4- Gyeongbokgung Palace
5- Bukchon Hanok Village
6- Changgyeonggung Palace
7- Secret Garden
8- Jongmyo Sanctuary
9- Dongdaemun Market
10- Cheonggyecheon
|
After
We have breakfast trying to eat as much as we can of what we
have since we'll have to bring home any leftovers. Today we did not get
up early as our plan is to be at the Gyeongbokgung Palace for the Guard
Changing ceremony at 2 PM since the one at 10 AM one is too early. So
we check out and leave our laggage at the hotel shortly before 12 noon.
We walk to a bus stop near Sungnyemun Gate where a few number of buses
suits us for our destination. We board the first one of them that
arrives, which is number 11, which takes us near the Palace Gate.
We follow the path to the ticket box which we know from three days ago,
when we found it closed, and we pay 3,000 won for each ticket to access
the large and busy square area where the changing of the guard will
take place.
It is 12:30 PM, so there is still an hour and a half left until the
ceremony. We needed to arrive with some time because we would not have
another chance to see it.
We begin the visit by accessing the next area where the main building
of the palace is located. There is a line to take photos from the front
door since people cannot access inside.
As we explore more areas we realize how big this palace is and the beautiful corners appear one after the other.
When we find a gate in what we thought was the western boundary wall we
find a large open space with a park and large ponds with buildings over
the water.
In the end the hour and a half we had is short and we return to the
entrance area where people are gathering getting ready for the guard
changing ceremony. We see a line to take a photo with a guard and we
join it.
They immediately begin to limit where there can be people to leave free
the large area necessary for the ceremony, which begins before the
soldiers appear, with a bugle call and the sound of drums. The guard
changing ceremony lasts about 20 minutes.
When everything clears up it is time to eat and we leave the
palace and go down through Gwanghwamun Square ending up in the same
area where we ate the other time we took this route, but in another
restaurant. An Asian one where we order two delicious udons with shrimp
for about 20,000 won, about €7 per person.
A little before 4 PM we go to the nearby Gwanghwamun subway station
because we have decided to spend the rest of the day at the National
Museum of Korea. Which we arrive after a link at Dongdaqemun HCP
station.
We have the modern building of the National Museum in front of us,
which we access through a sort of park with a beautiful lake. It is
quite crowded and on the other side of the lake we see tents and a
stage where it seems that some event is being held. The other museum in
this complex is located in that area: the hangul museum, the peculiar
Korean alphabet.
Admission is free and, after getting a couple of maps of the museum, we
begin to explore it by the ground floor, dedicated to prehistoric and
medieval times, where the stone pagoda stands out and reaches the other
floors. At some points there are robots that come out of their charging
point to offer you information.
 
The second floor is dedicated to painting and calligraphy and the third
and last floor to sculpture and crafts from cultures around the world,
such as Greek, Roman, Mesopotamian, etc...
When we leave at 6:20 PM it is getting dark and public lights are on.
Although there are a few hours left we decide to go to the airport,
taking the subway back to the hotel to collect our luggage and using it
again for the single stop that separates us from Seoul Station.
Once at the station everything goes quickly, since I already saw the
way to follow for the express to the airport when I came to buy train
tickets the previous week. As soon as we arrive to the machines we
purchase the tickets for the next train, which leaves in ten minutes.
The cost is arounf 8€ each.
The ride takes 43 minutes, making it faster and much cheaper than a
taxi. Once at the airport we check in the luggage and spend time in the
terminal where we are surprised to find everything closed at 10 PM.
They let us enter a duty free store with the blinds half down to buy
something for dinner while we wait to board our flight home.
|
|
|
|
