lovin korea

todays full day adventure started out at Gwanghamn Gate, the palace grounds is very large, but almost barren in a sense. Only after you walk through the second or third palace gate is there soft vegetation. But beautiful non-the-less.

The palace grounds are stippled with gates and walls organizing the grounds in many distinct area.

Palace Soffit, extreamly colorful

This building is an open pavilion, absolutely massive, overlooking the water in front

Palace Pavillion

Good Morning Seoul

Our place is a bit shabby, but it will work for the few days were here.

So after our tour of Gwanghamn Gate and the Palace, we strolled into Buckchon Hanock village, which is considered as a historically preserved area of town. The homes are maintained as early Korean homes.

this part of the day was just incredible. All over Buckchon area are mixes of old commercial buildings and homes and young, youthful retail spaces, coffee shops and for lack of a better term, hipster things. But it felt more than than, it was cultural.

Buckchon is perched on the side of a hill making the area terrain very hilly and tricky to navigate.

This is how we managed to enter Buckchon hanok village

This dichotomy of young and old is everywhere in Seoul, following Buckchon, we made our way through Gyedong-Gil which plateaus the base of Buckchon into a wonderfully vibrant and cultural street.

Following we found ourselves in Hanok Village, no this place is composed of traditional Korean single storey courtyard buildings, and tight mesh of commercial and restaurant spaces. Well kept, this place fostered to a youthful money free lifestyle.

Youthful Hanok village

Alternatively, the area surrounding Hanok village was filled with cheap barber shops and street vendors where the senior population was the predominant demographic. This population didn't need fancy restaurants, bougie stools, fine clothes or clean table-ware. They were just as happy smoking and eating on the street covered with tarp structures. Now this took me by surprise and continues as I have seen it all over Seoul. The young occupy the main streets, the flashy places while the old occupy the side streets, happy to simply chat with the friend who runs the fried fish-paste booth.