So having returned to feeling just a little bit human again with the help of some drugs especially purchased from a Korean Pharmacy, I’m retrospectively writing yesterday’s blog. In the spirit of full disclosure I have borrowed a lot of the content from Debbie’s update of yesterday.
Our day started with a visit to Gyeongbokgung Palace which was the original palace of the ruling King in 1398! I suspect they didn’t have selfie sticks in those days – but they’re making up for it now! It was quite surreal seeing so many women in the traditional Korean dress – hanbok. We traded a couple of photos so you could see what they looked like.
The palace was amazing and while the buildings were bigger than yesterday, the gardens weren’t quite as good. The number of people in traditional dress (and the cute Korean kids) made up for it! The autumn colours certainly didn’t disappoint.
We were able to move from the palace to The National Folk Museum of Korea without any issues. We did need a coffee/tea to perk us up at that stage – I think I’d just hit 10,000 steps. The Museum had some great exhibits and was well worth seeing.
From there we stopped off at a fairly authentic but modern Korean restaurant for lunch and had beef bulgolgi – how cool is that for stir fry?!?
Then we headed to the cable car to get up to the Namsan Cable car. From there it was a few (hundred) stairs to the Namsan Tower. This is the third tower we’ve been on since our holiday began, but was definitely the best in Seoul. The autumn colours are amazing and were worth braving the crowds for. At the bottom of the tower they have heaps of padlocks reminiscent of Paris.
The lift up to the top of the tower wasn’t quite as amazing as Lotte Tower yesterday, but the views were stunning. If you only have time to do one of the obsevatories… I would choose the Seoul Tower.
Unfortunately man cold had set in by this stage so we caught a cab back to the hotel and put our (very) weary feet up.
After a couple of glasses of bubbly to celebrate my birthday while watching the moon rise, we headed off to the Japanese restaurant at the hotel called Kauri as they have a large bench made of Kiwi kauri. The chef was amazing and had lived in Auckland for a couple of years, so took a special interest in us (although at that stage we were also the only patrons to the restaurant!!). They also brought Rob some restorative ginger and lemon tea as they could see he was struggling.
After getting to 20,000 steps today, we’re very much looking forward to a day in the bus tomorrow. Fingers and toes crossed that you’ll have the real blog writer back then!
So, in closing thanks to Debbie for stepping in!
Thanks and until tomorrow!
Rob's "Beats Working" Blog 