Day 16- The final few hours in Seoul, starting long trek back!

Day 16:

서울, 내 영혼

With a late afternoon flight back to Japan, we had a few hours to spend traversing Seoul one last time. All 3 days had been in the high 60s to low 70s, slight breeze, and no clouds in sight. I was speaking with some fellow travelers on the bus to the DMZ who happened to be from Roseville and the Bay, they told us about the 5 palaces of of Seoul.

Gyeongbokgung Palace is the largest of the five and served as the main royal palace during the Joseon Dynasty. There were people dressed in costume as far as the eye could see.

I soon found out why. If you dressed up in Hanbok, you received free admission. For women, traditional hanbok consists of the jeogori (top) and the chima (skirt). The ensemble is often known as 'chima jeogori'. For men, hanbok consist of jeogori and loose-fitting baji (trousers). There are also a variety of vests, jackets and coats on top of this ensemble.

The palace complex is massive, and covers quite a large area in the heart of the city. It’s located off its main thoroughfare, Sejong-daero.

City hall is nearby, as are many museums and statues.

We exited in the east side walking down towards the Gwanghawmun Square, and its statues of Admiral Yi Sun Sin and King Sejong The Great.

And that was a wrap. Seoul was a quick 3 days full of history, shopping, food, traffic, and urban sprawl.

We luckily selected a hotel in a district that was alive 24 hours a day, and had 5 7/11s in a 2 block radius. We both look forward to coming back one day.

Now off to Narita airport for an overnight stay, the mid-morning flight to Taipei for the last leg of the trip.

Side note - i had a seaweed infused vodka with espresso and blackberry at the hotel. Different….

Final step count was 10,746 and 4.71 miles.

#GwanghwamunSquare#hanbok#GyeongbokgungPalace#seoul#southkorea‍ ‍#Asia2025