Sunday, December 01, 2013

Seoul and Busan Trip 2013 - Day 6 - Deoksugung Palace

Deoksugung Palace originally belonged to Wolsandaegun (1454~1488), the older brother of King Seongjong (1469~1494) of the Joseon Dynasty. It became a proper palace when Gwanghaegun (1575~1641) ascended the throne and gave the palace the name Gyeongungung in 1611. Afterwards, the name was then changed back to its orginal title of Deoksugung. Source: Visit Korea.

We did not enter the palace but waited for the 11 am changing of guards ceremony. Something happen while we were waiting. A homeless drunkard man was talking to hubby and me in korean and not sure what he was talking about. He seems so drunk and cant even stand properly, later a policeman came and dragged him away.

Korea is generally very safe but at night especially ladies alone have to be careful when using the underpass or subway stations. Many homeless man will sleep in there to escape from the cold weather. They normally will not disturb anyone but some seems so drunk and they can be aggressive. One night, on our way back to hotel from Myeongdong, we came across an underpass and even before we could enter the underpass I could smell the reek of urine, and true enough there were 3 homeless men in there trying to sleep.

In cityhall station we could see more homeless people sleeping there at night.

Was a splendid performance by the actors and the costumes were very colourful.

After the ceremony, tourists were allowed to take photo together with the guards.

Directions City Hall Station (Seoul Subway Line 1, 2), Exit 2.

Managed to video the whole ceremony about 11 minutes.

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