Korea Trip Day 7 SEOUL : Namsan Tower, Gyeongbokgung Palace, Bukchon Hanok Village & Insadong

Ayeonghaseyo!

Thanks for being so patience with me though HAHA lets continue the Korea travelogue, day 7. you may check on my previous post BUSAN DAY 1 , JEJU DAY 1 or SEOUL DAY 1 Again, in total we spent 12 days in Korea, Busan (2D1N) then Jeju Island (4D3N) and our final stop was Seoul (6D5N)

Honestly, at this moment i already lost count on the exact day of us being in Korea. HAHA my bad for postponing this travelog for almost 2 years! well, based on my notes and the photos, this whole visit was happening on the 3rd last day where we aimed to cover some of the popular tourist attractions in this city as much as we could!

the famous locks, a compulsory photo spot LOL

with Malaysian fellow, siapa ckp rakyat Malaysian sombong kat oversea? well, i guess you should change yourself instead, its no harm to say "Hi" first kan? :)

Namsan Tower (남산서울타워)

The landmark of Seoul which located up on the Namsan Mountain (236m). this tower is basically a communication and observation tower and marked as the second highest point in Seoul. visiting this place is like a highlight of your Seoul trip because it won't be completed if you doesn't put this place in the list.

We actually stayed in Chungmuro which is a neighborhood of Myeong-dong. so, we just literally walked for almost 25 minutes from our home straight away to Namsan mountain.  It was quite a tiring walk as you need to climb up towards the slope as to finally reach that Namsan Cable Car.

How To Go?

Opt 1 : Stop at Myeong-dong Station (Seoul Subway Line 4) and Exit 3, 15 minutes walk on the right side of the Pacific Hotel.

Duration? 2 hours (we didn't go inside the tower or going up the observation deck. we also just rode the cable car instead of manually climbing!) 

Operating hour? 10am to 11pm (and 12am on Saturday)

Fare (cable car)? KRW 8,500 for round trip and KRW6,000 for one-way

don't miss your chance to take photo with those pretty girls in hanbok. it feels so Korea! lol

Gyeongbokgung Palace (경복궁)

Another compulsory place to visit in Seoul, one of the five grand palaces built by the Joseon Dynasty and this is the largest palace among all. clearly explaining its high popularity. again, we skipped the exploring part, we didn't go inside the palace as we have already enthralled over the exterior plus we were lucky enough got to see that changing of the Royal guards ceremony. honestly, we were chasing our itinerary to cover as many places as we could on this last few days in Seoul,

How To Go?

Opt 1 : Stop at Gyeongbokgung Station (Subway Line 3), exit 5 

Operating hour? 9am to 6pm (closed on Tuesday)

Admission Fees? International adult | KRW 3,000 

thanks ajumma whos out of sudden offering her hand to snap this perfect photo!

Bukchon Hanok Village  (북촌한옥마을)

"Artistic" would be my first impression when strolling around Bukchon. Apart for being one of the famous and compulsory place to visit, Bukchon also known as one of the luxurious area in Seoul. Traditionally, this area is a residential quarter of high ranking government officials and nobility during the Joseon Dynasty that now become a traditional culture center.

We both love this place as it is calm (although always pack with tourist!) but you can just wondering around the whole area on your own favor or following the maps "Bukchon Hanok Village Photo Spots" and trace all the highlight views in Bukchon. HAHA again, we skipped that part and just trusting our own instinct and getting lost in each alleys till finally bumped onto a SUPER CHIC coffee cafe with a SUPER PRETTY rooftop. Mutually agree to eventually resting our feet and fulfilling our caffeine urge. more on the cafe later on separate post, please anticipated for it yar!

How To Go?

Opt 1 : Angguk Station (Exit 2) Walk straight from the exit about 300m?

Opt 2 : Just a walking distance from Gyeongbokgung Palace. so, it is highly recommended to make this place after visiting the palace!

Duration? Lets say 2 or 3 hours for strolling and photos?

Operating hour? OPEN all year around

Fare? absolutely FREE that is why its compulsory to visit! haha

Insadong (인사동) 

Claimed to be a culture and crafts aplenty, Insadong is a organised and clean area. we found this place is just a walking distance from Bukchon, so why not? based on our reading, this is also a suggested place to find souvenir HAHA but not really agree to the fact as the price is quite pricey. so, i'd absolutely agree to Tripadvisor's recommendation of  Namdaemun market to find "Cheap and Best Souvenir" instead of this Insadong.

How To Go?

Opt 1 : We just following the Google maps and walked from Bukchon hanok village. 

Duration? 1 hour or just skip this place :)

OMG finally, i successfully published this 2nd last part of Seoul travelog which took me about 1 month and plus plus! HAHA despite the busy schedule i had, my lappy is sick, so it kills the blogging mood. please pray that i manage to finally wrap up this Korea travelog so that i could jump to another story. HAHA more in the draft though -> Europe 2nd tour with mom, Jogjakarta, Cambodia road trip and Hong Kong VOLUME 2.0. GOSHHHHH, #PrayForSuzai Thanks for reading peeps, hopefully it helps in planning your Korea itinerary, Happy travel!

To be CONTINUED with....

Korea Trip Day 8 : Gangnam (A Tribute for KPOP Madness)

Photographed by SizzlingSuzai and TiaJamaludin

xoxo