In my last post I wanted to explain my second favourite thing in Seoul after the saunas here. Parks! Honestly, I think Seoul has some of the best kept parks I’ve ever visited.
Today, I went to this area called Gwanghwamun or if you’re Chinese 光化门. I guess a translation would be “Door of the Light.” Once you exit out of the metro station here you’ll be in front of the the door that shares this name. It’s the entrance to an old palace here in Seoul. At Gwanghwamun Palace, every couple of hours during the afternoon, they change guardsmen at the entrance. It’s pretty cool to watch. It costs 3000₩ or about $3 to get into the palace. But, honestly it’s well worth it. The place is really nice. There’s tons of benches to sit on. Inside the area there’s a few places to buy drinks. Might want to pick up a few bottles of water or soda before you head off any deeper into the palace grounds because you can walk for quite long. It’s definitely a place you can come and hang out with some friends. The scenery is beautiful. Take a look at the photos below for an idea of what I’m talking about. Because it isn’t your typical palace you’d expect. It’s nothing like the castles you see in Europe.
At the end of the walk, you can stop by a museum nearby; the National Folk Museum of Korea. It’s a museum about Korea’s history and how the country came to be. Mixed in the museum is also some modern art as well. Actually, Seoul is pretty big on art museums or galleries. So, if you like art, I think Seoul might be somewhere you’d really like going. Just outside the palace walls is a strip where there’s literally dozens of art galleries; each one unique. Beside the museum actually there’s these statues of the Chinese Zodiacs. One statue for each animal year. Take a look at the photos at the bottom of this post.
This isn’t the only place in Seoul with a nice view, however. Seoul is littered with tons of these fabulous parks. Seoul is HUGE, so they definitely have the space for this kind of stuff. And it’s amazing how well kept they are. You’ll always see little trucks in the area of the parks. Usually they’re garden workers who are there to clean up the place or tend to the plants in the park. So far I’ve only been to a few, like the one in the palace near Gwanghwamun, there’s a really nice one while on your way up to Seoul Tower, and probably my favourite one is Olympic Park here in the Jamsil area of Seoul. In Olympic Park you can rent bikes and trek around the park. It’s pretty hilly so, there are some areas you can walk up to and get a decent view.
I’m probably gonna head out there tomorrow for my last night. I want to relax a bit before I leave for Hong Kong again. I really don’t like planes still. I get a headache every time I’m on them. Anyway, like always enjoy the photos!
Random Note: I thought this was really funny and ridiculous. Did you know in Korea, they believe in something called Fan Death? Wiki it. It’s so unbelievable. Doesn’t even make sense.
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