Saying goodbye to Jeju, our next stop is Seoul, the city that introduced the world to K-pop and K-drama. In fact, I was super excited to visit Seoul after watching so many romantic K-drama. There were simply too many places in my list that I wanted to visit. However, due to the lack of time, I had to focus on the core places and can only returned for the remaining ones in my next trip.
Changdeokgung Palace
This is one of the most notable palace in Seoul located within a large park in Jongno-gu. Of all the five grand palaces in Seoul, this has got to be the most well preserved, giving it the status of a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Personally, I find that Changdeokung Palace pales in comparison with Beijing's Forbidden City. However, I do acknowledge that both palaces has its own distinct charm.
Changdeokgung was the second royal villa that was built following the Gyeongbukgung Palace in 1405. For the next hundreds years after it was built, the palace was enjoyed by the royal family and was also a place of residence for them, till 1592. The main palace was however burned down during the Japanese occupation and was only restored in 1611. It is now one of the most popular attractions for tourists and the locals to come and learn more about the history.
There were many pavilions inside the palace and I thought it was clever of them to design the door such that one can push open, lift up and hang it under the ceiling to make the entire place spacious. I cautioned that you need to take off your shoes when entering these pavilions. Many locals and tourist were relaxing in the pavilion and chatting away, while others were napping or simply stoning.
The entire palace consists of three main sections: the secret garden, the public palace area and the royal family residence. To get through all of them, you must walk across the Geumcheongyo Bridge. It would be nice to sign up a tour because you will get to know more about the historic details of each place, which we did and find it extremely helpful to better appreciate the palace.
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| Assembly area for the courts official according to ranks |
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| Ancient Lock |
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| Locked! I wonder what's inside, who ever lived here, what's their story! |
Perhaps, the most memorable place is the secret garden, built by King Taejong. I've heard that they kept the entire garden as natural as possible and letting it grow freely and pruning it as little as possible. The garden was absolutely beautiful and hence highly recommended if you make a trip to Chandeokgung palace.
We toured the entire palace and the garden leisurely, taking us 3hrs+. The palace visit was definitely worth it. Before going off to our next destination, we bought a pancake that was so crispy from a stall outside the palace. Do also drop by the stall that sell the traditional fish cake. They were absolutely Yummy!
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