Day One in Seoul

We started our adventure in Seoul with a little trip to the Gyeongbokgung, the Palace of Shining Happiness. It was originally built by King Taejo, who was the founder of the Joseon dynasty. The palace was in use until 1592 when it was burned down by the Japanese. 300 of the 330 buildings were either destroyed or moved to other parts of Seoul. If this palace had not been destroyed it would be one of Asia's greatest tourist attractions and on the same level as the Forbidden City in Beijing. It lay in ruins until 1865 when King Gojong began to rebuild it. The palace is still undergoing rebuilding and restoration. This project is likely to continue for many years to come.

Me in the train station near the palace. Seoul's subway stations were quite large and nicely decorated. They believe that if you pass through this gate you will have a long life. We'll see.

Me with one of the palace guards. Gini said to stand by him, because she thought he was cute. He was less scary than the other guards; most of them had huge, scary sword-like things.

The entrance to Gyeongbokgung. There is a bridge to the entrance. Everyone who passes over the bridge is supposed to symbolically throw all of their impurities into the water. Nothing unclean is supposed to enter the palace. On the other side of the gate there is a statue of a mythical creature that is believed to devour you if you haven't cleansed yourself. Fortunately, everyone in my group made it through unscathed.

Another mythical creature that is on the bridge. I forgot the significance of this one.
The steps for the king. The king would be carried into the palace on a palanquin, these are the steps that he would pass over. That is the creature that will devour you if you are unclean.

Gini and me in front of the pavilion that was used by the king for entertaining and such. This building was originally surrounded by a wall, so the lower officials who were not invited to the festivities never knew quite what was going on. But when rebuilding they left the walls down, so the tourists could see.
The beautiful pond around the pavilion.

Inside the king's living quarters. There isn't a bathroom, because they would bring the toilet to the king, then his waste was examined by the doctors, EVERY TIME he went to the bathrom, sometimes the doctor even tasted the waste, ewwwwwww grooooooooss. I guess that is one way to make sure the king stays healthy.

Me with a rooster, because that was the year that I was born.

Our delicious lunch. This is actually a picture of a picture, because I forgot to take a picture of the actual food. It was so good. We had two kinds of bibinba and a Korean pancake. There was so much food, and it was sooooooo good.

Myondong at night. This was a crazy busy shopping district. I think it was as big and busy as Tokyo, only much cheaper.

So-ru towah (that is how you would say Seoul Tower in Japanese). It was quite a trek to get to this famous landmark. We could see it really far away, but had an interesting time trying to figure out how to get there. We finally did find the ropeway to the top, it was a very nice ride.

Cool pavilion at the base of the tower.

The view of the city from the top of the tower.

We had a great first day in Seoul. After our adventure at the tower, it was time to head back to the hostel and get some sleep, because we were starting bright and early the next moring to get a look at NORTH KOREA!!!!! Yahhhhhhhh!!!!!!!