Day 2: Deoksugung and Namdaemun

We made it! After close to 30 hours of travel, we finally ended up at the Coatel Hotel in Gangnam, Seoul. And yes, it's the Gangnam in the song. We got in around midnight, local time, and slept a normal amount. Neither of us are feeling too much jet-lag at this point.

Around 9AM we went for a walk around the city. We wandered around trying to read as much as we could of the Korean words on the signs. We discovered a nice little park where we were sharply scolded by an elderly woman for stepping off the path. Oops.

After a coffee stop at a cafe called Holly's, we decided to hop on the subway and go to Namdaemun, a huge open air market that has its origins in the 1400s! The subway system was incredibly simple to navigate. When we arrived at our destination and exited the station, we could tell that there was something going on in the main city plaza. There were hundreds of women in pink vests and hats, a dance squad, loud music, and a very angry/passionate sounding speaker. We had no idea what was going on.

Before going to the market, we decided to make a stop at Deoksugung Palace, one of the four main palaces of Seoul. It is right in the middle of the city, with Seoul Plaza and the city hall directly across the street. Deoksugung was the home of kings of the Joseon dynasty two different times, first in the 1590s and 1600s, and then again in the 1890s and 1900s. Most of the buildings were from the second time Deoksugung was the royal residence. The woodwork and painting of the buildings were amazingly intricate and the architecture was beautiful. Here are some pictures:

The throne

The ceiling in the throne room

This bell was forged in the 1400s!

After Deoksugong, as we made our way down the street toward Namdaemun, we saw another gathering of people, more loud music, and an incredibly passionate sounding speaker. This group, unlike the one closer to the station, seemed to be comprised of more men than women. Our best guess was that they were some sort of political campaign.

Namdaemun was basically an entire neighborhood's worth of area devoted to outdoor (and some indoor) shops selling anything and everything that you might need or want and then some. There were street food vendors and performers. It was loud, crowded, smelly, and so much fun. We bought some nice, healthy deep-fried food from street vendors and ate it as we walked around looking at all the shops. After Namdaemun, we headed back to our hotel. Considering we woke up this morning with absolutely no plans for the day, it ended up being a pretty awesome first day in Korea!

In addition to the alleys on the ground, there were walkways connecting the buildings, all of which were full to the brim with goods as well. This is the view from one of the walkways. You can see one of the historic gates of Seoul in the gap between two of the walkways at the top of the picture.