Museums

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In keeping with the idea this was a cultural visit rather than a holiday, wet days offered an opportunity to go and see some museums whilst also exploring other neighbourhoods. This post briefly covers museums visited. I don't try and provided huge detail because that's all available on line for those interested. Rather I touch on some small or other notable points that caught my attention for whatever reason. Palaces Museum Having ventured out in spite of what turned out to be 3 days of pretty constant rain, The Palaces Museum, adjacent to Gyeongbokgung, was my first museum stop.  Sadly an entire floor of permanent exhibits was closed. However, amongst other things, I came across an excellent digital immersive rendition of a very famous exploratory narrative from the 16th Century, captured in a folding screen landscape painting of the 19th Century.  Follow the link to look at the picture more closely. Of interest, although I may be making a connection that doesn't exist, ...
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Road Trip Highlights 1

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Our road trip ran from Monday 29 April to Friday May 3. This post goes up to Wednesday evening.

Monday morning started with an early run around Lotte Park and use of the outside gym just beside our apartment block. 















Then there was renting a bike again to go and collect a hire car, about 6km of enjoyable integrated pedestrians / cycles / scooters and then some riverside underpasses. Arriving at my destination I then had to overcome the fact that the high-rise world means offices and garages are squirreled away on floors and in basements, with very little being a visible shopfront as we might consider it. This is still an aspect that presents many challenges. The hire car place took some searching out. Then negotiating my first taste of Seoul traffic, including its initially very scary fast bus priority lanes on the outside lane, and complex traffic light arrangements, including turning right on a red being permitted, but watch out for pedestrians, who are very disciplined. Many of the crossings even have pavements which are lit red or green, so you never need to take your eyes off your phone. Anyway, I got back to the apartment, picked up Manu and our luggage, and off we set

Nami Island

This is a self contained park set amongst manicured acres of trees and ponds, with areas for resting, eating, watching entertainment. There are a few lodges for people who would wish to overnight. Touted as something of a romantic getaway for Seoul couples, and featuring in a number of dramas with that in mind (a quiet walk under lamp lit woodland paths etc), we elected to arrive by zipwire. It was a pleasant place to stroll around; but it all felt a bit contrived and we were happy to move on. And something not quite resembling ice cream in a toasted marshmallow coating was good enough to experience once.















Seoraksan

Described as South Korea's most beautiful national park, and with South Korea's 3rd highest peak, Daecheongbong, 1708m, I had planned Tuesday as a big hike day. A couple of hours driving on the Monday afternoon and we arrived at the Osaek Greenyard Hotel (link goes to booking.com website for a quick visual overview). This was a great value find but also a further introduction to Korean norms. The restaurant was closed and the bar / cafe also was shut. We expected the same even if we walked into the small town area down the valley. So we were forced to use the on site convenience store. These typically have diy fast food with boiling water and microwaves and a sitting area. I'd seen this kind of convenience store use a lot, so I was able to indulge myself in a ramen (fancy pot noodle) and Manu managed to find something to her taste also.

Next morning the forecast wasn't good, but we had our plan and were just about to set off when the concierge, in response to stating our intentions, said the mountain was closed for a month! Given the weather, that this forced our hand wasn't actually a bad thing. So we drove round to the other side of the park, about 60 minutes away, and tackled a smaller hike. The initial path took in temples and some late blooming cherry blossom, before steep woodland and wildlife. The view from the top was as you can see, so at slightly less than half the altitude we'd had in mind, we were less tired but nevertheless had a good day out. 















From Seoraksan it was only a small drive to our overnight stop, given a much longer hike had been expected, but that gave us more of a chance to relax.

Gyeongju

Wednesday morning we set off directly for Gyeongju. I had planned an inland route to visit two additional locations but the speed limit on the main interstate routes was 100kph so would have taken too long, particularly with a long distance drive planned for Thursday. We stopped at a straightforward roadside eatery for lunch on our way. This inaugural video in one of my posts describes what we had; and I could describe it as typically 'authentic' Korean. I've touched on several of our meals but don't feel I've scratched the surface of the culinary experience overall. Perhaps a dedicated post in due course.



Gyeongju is the historical centre of the the Silla Kingdom which established itself in the South and East of the peninsular in the first millennium. Gyeongju is therefore awash with ancient history, including multiple royal family burial mounds as well as later historical buildings and cultures representative of later periods in the peninsula's history. Spring flowers and history in abundance.


























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