The Palaces And Quaint Bukchon

Bride taking her wedding photos
became part of
many tourists' precious shots. 

Since the man has never taken the time to stroll through the palaces in Seoul, and they're on the way to Bukchon, we stopped at Gyeongbok-gung and Changdeok-gung. 

As clueless as we are, we know how the Korean wave has hit Singapore. Even both of us have heard of 'Jewel in the Palace', though we never bothered to catch a single episode. It promises to be as bad as the ancient period television serials from Hong Kong and Taiwan. 

But reading about the television series and history of Korea provided a summary of ancient court life in Korea, and I think films, always, bears a slight resemblance to the life during the period of Joseon Dynasty's Emperor Gojong and Queen Min (or Empress Myeongseong), and the worst tyrant in the dynasty- the tenth King Yeonsangun who persecuted the seonbi scholars (Confucian) between 1498-1506.

Okay I admit, some places bore the hell out of me, and palaces do, especially when they're just left as empty buildings without very much curation or information. (Think 'Forbidden City' and the 'Summer Palace' in Beijing) But I'll still view them, just to see if they're truly that boring. I remember visiting palaces of unknown names on a seriously tedious family trip to the city way back. So now, I seek to rectify that bad strain of memory. 

Luckily for me, there's a Palace Museum at the side on the grounds of Gyeongbok-gung. But yes, I admire the enormous effort taken by the Seoul Metropolitan Government to reconstruct and restore most of the palace buildings after the shelling and razing to the ground by the Japanese imperial soldiers twice over four centuries, first in 1592 and then in the 1900s. The Korean royal family left Gyeongbokgung in 1895 after the assassination of Queen Min by Japanese agents, and never returned. Now, the Palace has been returned to almost 40% of its heyday glory. Another 20 years of restoration is in the works.

Throne room.

A UNESCO heritage site, Changdeok-gung, literally a few hundred meters away from Gyeongbok-gung, is very much prettier than the sandy gravel of the latter. I like this Palace much better because the layout is less rigid and staid. It forms around the peaks of Mount Bugaksan. It has also faced the pain of being burnt, and now has about 30% of the buildings and grounds restored and reconstructed. Korea's last Emperor Sunjong (he's of the Joseon line of Kings from the House of Yi, but officially, the Joseon Dynasty ended in 1897) stayed in Changdeokgung till he passed away in 1926.

I was happiest when I finally got to walk the streets of quaint Bukchon. Seoul is home to many skyscrapers, but there're pockets of traditional houses still standing. The neighborhood Bukchon has the largest cluster of privately owned wooden homes (hanok) that have been carefully restored to their former glory, and of course, plumbing, heating and fire-proofing properly done. Once considered anachronistic, the hanok is now embraced by many residents and visitors to the city.

Art galleries, bakeries, cafes and restaurants line the gentle slopes Bukchon. People live here too. It's a maze of alleys, but you won't get lost there. We spent like 2 hours walking around and simply looking up at the roofs and eaves, and at the architecture of the neighborhood. Have a wander and stumble upon exciting stuff. In fact, we didn't even bother to search out eating places here, and simply walked around to find something that might tickle our fancy. That's the best part of a vacation. Random happy finds. Of course if you want something totally traditional, get out of Seoul and go southwest to the countryside. Go to Gwangju, head to South Jeolla. Gorgeous traditional hanok-homestays are available.

One of those charming hanok in Bukchon.