7D Korea Golden Rama Tour: Gyeongbokgung Palace, Seoul
After we are done with our lesson in history on how the Korean people lived their daily life in the old times at National Folk Museum of Korea, we are ready to explore Gyeongbokgung Palace, which is also referred to as the Northern Palace as it is located in the northest part of Seoul. One thing to be aware before stepping out of whatever shaded place you are in at the moment, exploring Gyeongbokgung Palace in summertime is really really HOT. So prepare your amunition, ladies. Your sunblock, sunglass, and umbrellas must be in place or otherwise, be prepared to get some tan.
Gyeongbokgung Palace was built on 1395 and it is the largest palace amongst the 5 palaces in Seoul. It was destroyed by fire during the Japanese invasion but later on restored to its original beauty. A lot of visitors to Gyeongbokgung Palace are wearing the traditional Korean costume, hanbok. The hanbok is available for rental at the entrance of the palace and they have both men and women's hanbok.
Jenny, our local tour guide, informed us that if you are willing to wear hanbok while exploring Gyeongbokgung Palace, the admission fee to the palace will be waived. The hanbok seriously looks so pretty but too bad if you are joining a tour group, most likely you will not have the time to rent the hanbok and explore the palace at your own leisure. Oh right, I have not talked about the house behind these people who were taking picture wearing hanbok at all yet, right? Apologise for my easily distracted trait. Hahaha.
Gyeongbokgung Palace has so many courthouses like the house behind these two lovely ladies. These courthouses are basically used as office and meeting hall back in those days. If you look closely at the corner of the rooftop of every courthouses, there is a row of monkey statues. The statues are influenced from the story "Journey to the West" (remember the Monkey King?) and it shows the influence of Buddhism teaching back in those day.
Even though the weather is burning us to the ground, we have to embrace the sun and make our way to admire Geunjeongjeon Hall of Gyeongbokgung Palace. Geunjeongjeon Hall is the main hall of the palace and this is where the throne is located. You can see the inside of the main hall from near distance however visitors are not allowed to enter the hall. If you would like to explore all these places in detail with guided explanation, you may want to join the free guided tour (which is available in various languages like English, Japanese and Chinese) which starts from the entrance of Gyeongbokgung Palace. The tour guide will explain to you all the main halls of the Gyeongbokgung Palace while wearing hanbok. And the best part is, the guided tour is free.
Despite the hot weather, Gyeongbokgung Palace is swarmed by so many visitors. Oh right, if I recalled correctly (from my previous visit to Gyeongbokgung Palace), this courtyard is where all the officials and generals are usually standing up in line according to their ranks for important sessions/ ceremonies/ rituals. Do you see the stone statue lining up one after another? Those stones statues are where the generals are standing with the highest rank standing nearer to the King (which I suppose stand in front of Geunjeongjeon Hall) while the lowest, well, standing the furthert from the King of course. I think it is already a great honor for those people who can stand in the presence of the King back in those days.
After getting our picture taken together as a group, we are done with our exploration (albeit short) of Gyeongbokgung Palace and ready to make our way to a restaurant for lunch. Woohoo. Jenny said we are going to have something different today and it is definitely not another seafood jjigae like what we kept eating in Jeju. Okay, let's start with the side dish juseyoo.
The bulgogi stew looks like this after cooked. Do you know what makes the bulgogi broth so yummy? It's because of the layer of fats which are initially attached to the meat melts while cooked in a hot pan and seep through the broth. Hahaha yeahh I know it's probably not the healthiest meal in the world but it tastes so good and you can feel both the savoury and a tinge of sweetness of the beef in your mouth. It taste even better when eaten together with white rice and kimchi. Massiseoyo jjinja!
Gyeongbokgung Palace's admission fee:
Individual: Adult (19-64 y.o.) 3,000 KRW/ Children (7-18 y.o.) 1,500 KRW
Group (10 pax or more): Adult 2,400 KRW/ Children 1,200 KRW
Integrated palace ticket* is available for 10,000 KRW and valid for 3 months
*Allow visitors access to Changdeokgung Palace (including Huwon, Secret Garden), Changgyeonggung Palace, Deoksugung Palace, Gyeongbokgung Palace and Jongmyo Shrine
Opening hours:
November to February: 9AM - 5PM
March to May: 9AM - 6PM
June to August: 9AM - 6.30PM
September to October: 9AM - 6PM
Closed on Tuesdays
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