Seoul Travel Diary - Part II

Trish and I fell in love with Seoul, we opted to stay at a simple guesthouse with comfortable bed, own bathroom, mini-ref, televison, free breakfast and fast wi-fi connection, it was just everything we needed since we would be spending our day meandering through the city.

When I travel I prefer to bypass a travel tour with a concrete itinerary and instead roam around by myself being in control of where to go. So when Trish and I found out that there is a shuttle bus that circulates around Seoul city, where you can get on and off wherever you want for a one day pass, we got giddy and decided to tried that.

Inside the Seoul City Tour Bus

For each stop, the bus driver would announce the name of the place, we will just have to push a button if we wish to hop off. Also the bus follows a strict schedule of arrival, so we would know when the next bus is coming. We skipped some stops that were not for sight seeing, and targeted those that should be visited according to our trusty lonely planet book.

First hop off is at the National Museum of Korea, I think we got a bit early there but it's cool since we don't really intend on going inside, but instead found ourselves spending a good half an hour reveling on the beauty of the architecture and views, and taking selfies since we have a matching outfit for the day. We even got a private joke of spot the transparent umbrella on the pictures since we were carrying it the whole day. Clingy umbrella.

Next stop is The Korean War Memorial Hall where the architectural designs, monuments and statues stunned us.

My favorite part for this city tour, is getting into Namsan Seoul Tower. It is probably the highest observation deck in Seoul, but what made this place special is the famous "love locks". There are like tens of thousands of love locks hanging around the terrace. Attaching two padlocks to the fence is a symbol of the couple's undying love, which makes me kind of felt out of place since I'm not with someone special who would have made the experience romantic. There's just so many promises of love in there, but well according to Trish "Love need not be locked", and I agree.

Another reason why our stop at Namsan Tower is my favorite is because we ate at this restaurant called 'The best burger in Seoul', and indeed one of the best burgers I've tasted, and the strawberry milkshake is really good too.

No visit to Korea will be complete without seeing their palace. So for the rest of the afternoon, we went palace hopping. First palace is called Changgyeonggung. There were only a few people in there thus eliminating the photo bombers. The architecture and decor of the palace will stun you. Made me remember Koreanovelas I've seen, I can hardly believe I am there.

Then we got to the next palace, Gyeongbokgung, which I guess is the more popular one since there are a lot of locals and tourists in there. We've witnessed the changing of guards, which adds up to that Joseon era feels. And when we got inside, it is somewhat similar to first palace but a way better version with bigger land area.

For those who've seen the Rooftop Prince, this is the place where they shoot the drama. Every corner is a sight to behold, it is really amazing that despite the modernization they have preserved this palace, I can really get used to this era, probably in my past life I belong here.

For the late afternoon, we went back to Myeong-dong, tried this waffle ice cream, went back to our favorite stores, got back to the guesthouse, bid good bye to the handsome and kind receptionist, went to Seoul terminal and waited for our train to Busan.

It is such a joy to sort through the photos I've taken, stopping to ponder each one and discovering the details I missed while I was there. It really makes me incredibly grateful that we are blessed with such opportunities to travel and see such amazing sights.

Our trip to Busan, up next...

♥ Ade 

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