Korea Travelogue Day 4 Pt. 1: Jongmyo Shrine, Insadong & Gyeongbokgung Palace

5:05 PM

It took me a while to do the next installments of my Korea Travelogue since I've been holed up in some things including grad school, work & launching my vlog channel! I finally took the courage to do so because I've been thinking about doing it since 2014 lol. If you want to check it out, here's the link to my channel. Anyway, on to the Day 4 of my Korea Travelogue! 😊

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JONGMYO SHRINE


The first place we visited on our Day 4 in Seoul was the Jongmyo Shrine located in Jong-ro, Jongno-gu. The picture above shows the Oedaemun Gate which is the main entrance of this tourist place.


We waited a bit for the ticket booth to open since we arrived early. Then, we were able to get slots for one of the morning schedules of the guided-tour. 


Took some OOTD shots while waiting for the place to open. I was clearly in sync with the garden's color palette! 😂

Coat: Terranova | Top: Terranova | Boots: Call it Spring |

This is our group for the guided-tour. I'm not sure if we just arrived early & got a morning tour but the place wasn't as crowded so we were really able to take our time & enjoy it. 

The second picture shows me standing in front of Jeongjeon Hall or main hall which is the world's longest single wooden structure measuring 109 meters in length (VisitSeoul.net).


Jongmyo Shrine is actually a UNESCO World Cultural Site & according to VisitSeoul.net is, "a royal shrine dedicated to the performance of ancestral rites for the deceased kings and queens of the Joseon Dynasty." The official site for the shrine also states that it was constructed on December 1394 and was finished on September 1395.


These next ones are some of the photos I took while inside the Jongmyo Shrine. The place was really serene and peaceful. I wasn't able to take more photos because my camera acted up & we just focused on enjoying the place.


The entrance ticket for the Jongmyo Shrine is 1,000 won and you can visit their official site HERE to know more about it including their schedule! 😊


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INSADONG

After our visit to the Jongmyo Shrine, we decided to do a quick trip to Insadong! It was a short visit which is why I wasn't able to take a lot of photos. 

Insadong is not only one of the places you can visit for food & shopping in Seoul but it is also one that arts & crafts lovers would surely enjoy! 


Not only can you find a lot of souvenirs here but there are also a lot of handmade goods like figurines or ceramics. Bukchon Hanok Village, which is also a popular tourist place is near this area as well. We were supposed to visit it too but, sadly, it was closed during that day.


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GYEONGBOKGUNG PALACE

The next place we visited was the Gyeongbokgung Palace. It is considered as the, "first and largest of the royal palaces during the Joseon Dynasty (VisitSeoul.net)." If you know the Kdrama, Goong, then I'm sure you're very much familiar with this place since this is one of their filming sites. A lot of other Kdramas had this palace or one of its halls as a filming site too like the, Legend of the Blue Sea and Kingdom. 

As soon as we arrived, we were able to witness the Sumunjang or Royal Guard Changing Ceremony at the Gwanghwamun Gate. This is a must-see if ever you'll visit this place in the future!

The Heungnyemun Gate, located after the main gate, is one that you'll pass by before you get to the other halls in this palace. This place is really huge but we definitely enjoyed exploring it and getting tired from all that walk was definitely worth it! 😊

Before exploring the different halls of the Gyeongbokgung Palace, we decided to head first to the National Palace Museum of Korea located just to the left of the main gate.

The next pictures after it are some of the photos I took while exploring the palace and its halls. The picture on the bottom left is that of the National Folk Museum of Korea.

Here are more pictures of the halls inside the palace including Geungjeong-jeon, which is the main throne hall and the largest one at that. 


This next picture is one I took of the Bugaksan Mountain which you can definitely see as you move further along the palace grounds. It is located north of the palace and is such a beautiful sight to see too!


These are more snaps I took of the grounds inside the palace. It was so serene and peaceful especially on some areas where it wasn't as crowded. There were a lot of tourists when we visited, which is kind of expected because it's a famous tourist spot, but we were still able to enjoy exploring the grounds and the halls despite that. 

If you're planning on visiting the Gyeongbokgung Palace in the future, the entrance ticket is priced at 3000 won for adults. You can also visit their official site HERE for the opening schedule and other info about this place. 😁


I've separated my Korea Travelogue Day 4 into two parts because there are a lot of photos that I wanted to share! Will be posting our trip to Namsan Tower and Myeongdong (again haha) for the Part 2 of this travelogue! 😊

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