Today we would be leaving Seoul temporarily and heading to Busan for the start of a week long loop of a few other interesting cities around the country, before returning to Seoul for the last week of the holiday.
Gyeongbokgung Palace
Our train to Busan wasn’t until the afternoon, so after checking out of the hotel, we walked to the nearby Gyeongbokgung Palace, the most popular of the former palaces that are in Seoul. It dates from 1395 but the majority of the buildings are reconstructions – in 1592 the original palace burnt down during a war, in the 1800s it was reconstructed but was then demolished during the Japanese colonization in 1910. Reconstruction began again in the 1980s and continues today.
We arrived just in time for the changing of the guard ceremony. I was too short to really see, but Mike was able to see above the crowd and take some photos for me!
Once the ceremony was over we headed into the palace. As lots of people had gone to see the changing of the guards, it was initially very busy, but as we made our way further into the large grounds, it got a lot quieter.
Lots of visitors were dressed in Hanboks, traditional Korean outfits. You get free entry to all of Seoul’s palaces if you are wearing one, so it’s quite popular!
After spending the morning exploring the palace, we made our way to Seoul station. We picked up some food from a nice bakery to have for lunch and then got on the high-speed KTX train that would get us to Busan in 2.5 hours.
Samgwangsa Lotus Lantern Festival
Once in Busan, we left our cases in a locker and headed straight to Samgwangsa Temple, where the largest lotus lantern festival in Korea was taking place. It took a little longer than expected to get there as the direct bus was too full of people so they weren’t able to let any others on at our stop. We found an alternative that involved a bit of extra walking and got there just as it was getting dark and the lanterns were being turned on.
40000-50000 colourful lanterns cover the courtyards, walkways and temple buildings.
Haeundae Apartment
Once we had finished exploring the temple, we headed back to central Busan to pick up our cases. From there it was a 45 minute subway ride to Haeundae, the area we would be staying for the next three nights.
Our accommodation was an apartment on the 28th floor and had a great view over both the city and the sea.
It was 11 by the time we were ready to sort out some dinner and the only nearby place open long enough was another chicken restaurant, so we just had to have Korean fried chicken again, such a shame!
More super crispy peppery chicken and a random selection of potato things as the side!
