The Ramblings of Loren Christopher

I woke up earlier than usual this morning and decided to head over to the Gyeongbok Palace and take some pictures.  I hadn’t been there since Aubrey’s visit in March when all the trees were still dead, so it was nice to go back and see what little greenery is still left this time of year.  It’s about a 45-minute subway ride for me, but I only have to make one transfer and it’s pretty much a straight shot, so not too bad.

Now for your little history lesson of the day.  This is the biggest palace in South Korea (I believe), or at least it’s the biggest one in Seoul.  You can get lost just wondering around this place as it goes back quite a ways and there are dividers everywhere that lead to other sections of the palace grounds.  It was built in 1395, but unfortunately, like so many of the palaces here in Korea, it was destroyed by the Japanese during their occupation of Korea.

Fortunately enough, the city of Seoul renovated it in the 1990’s and brought this monument back to its original splendor.  This is fantastic of course, but almost all of the palaces in this country were renovated in the late 1900’s….which means they all look very very similar.  Impressive, but similar.  Anyway, this was the largest palace of the Joseon Dynasty, which ran all the way up until the early 1900’s.  It included the Great King Sejong who is on most of the Korean currency.  King Sejong was an amazing literary, mathematician, and scientist who invented the Korean writing system used today called Hangul.  I’m grateful for his contribution because it makes learning the language so much easier compared to other Asian scripts.

While wandering around this place it’s fun to imagine what it must have been like hundreds of years ago.  People walking around in their hanboks, scribes and scholars studying Confucianism hoping to pass the state tests (not a far cry from the test-run system still in place today actually, haha).  

Like I said, I was there bright and early this morning so it was nice to walk around and take pictures without having to worry about catching other people in them.  Soon though, it got a bit more crowded with kids and high schoolers visiting for class field trips.  The kids are always so cute when they see a foreigner and they’re in groups.  Eighty percent of the time they will shout “hello” or something.  I did get bombarded by a group of high school girls also, telling me “You are so handsome!”  I’ve heard that many times here, although I try not to let it go to my head because I’ve heard it’s a very common remark toward Westerners.  It’s still nice though, haha.  And I love the look on their faces when I say “kamsa-hamnida” (thank you).

I was leaving the front gate just before the changing of the guards ceremony took place, so I got to take some photos of that as well.  Their outfits are fairly unusual….heck, perhaps even comical.  The giant swords they stand with on the other hand, are no laughing matter.  There is one guard who bangs on a giant drum to signal movements for the guards, and also a smaller group of men playing instruments.  You might call them the “royal band”?  Not sure.

It’s a pretty neat show to watch.  After they’re finished everybody runs up to get a picture standing beside one of these guys as they stare blankly forward.  Koreans are typically very camera-shy, but the guards here just have to get over it I guess because people are snapping away (myself included).  I’ll have to go back in the winter when it snows.  I’d love to get some pictures with snow on the palace rooftops!

Admission into Gyeongbokgung is only 3,000 won (about $2.50), and they do offer audio tours or live tours which I haven’t done here yet.  I did at another palace in the city and I’m guessing it’s more of the same.  All in all, this is a nice place to visit for sure.  It’s the biggest palace in Seoul (possibly in Korea) so if you go to one, then this is the one to check out.  It’s nice because there are mountains in the background also, which unfortunately I could barely see today because of the fog, but they are there!