The temple is very large with 3 large statues on the inside.\u00a0 There are many people leaving gifts in memory of family (water bottles, money, flowers).\u00a0 There are also many people in prayer, combined with bowing.\u00a0 The grounds are full of visitors, some in traditional Korean attire, celebrating the holiday.\u00a0 As you see some of our pictures, you\u2019ll see what I\u2019m talking about with the clothes.\u00a0 The small children are really cute.<\/p>\n
![\"Temple\"](\"http:\/\/gordonandjudy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/09\/Temple.jpg\")
<\/a>Jogyesa Buddhist Temple<\/p><\/div>\n
Baby Buddha with gifts<\/p><\/div>\n We travel next to Gyeongbokgung Palace, one of the homes of the Joseon Dynasty, the rulers of Korea from 1392 to 1910.\u00a0 There is a very elaborate \u201cChanging of the Royal Guard\u201d ceremony in traditional uniforms, complete with a small group of musicians with drums and horns.\u00a0 The grounds are huge with very ornate and detailed buildings.\u00a0 We lose two of the people from our tour while walking through the grounds.\u00a0 It\u2019s very crowded.\u00a0 Our guide knows her information pretty well, but the handling of the group is not so good.\u00a0 She tends to stop in gate entrances to begin her explanations, blocking entry for everyone else, and creating a lot of jostling as people try to squeeze by.\u00a0 After traveling with large groups for so many years, I seem to pay more attention to the tour logistics than to the actual sites we\u2019re supposed to be observing.<\/p>\n Gyeongbokgung Palace Entrance<\/p><\/div>\n Changing of the Royal Guard<\/p><\/div>\n The “Blue House” – the home of the Korean President, similar to the US White House. During the 1980’s, 35 North Korean special forces attacked this building trying to assassinate the Korean President.<\/p><\/div>\n Our next stop is the Ginseng Center.\u00a0 Similar to the Jade Factory in Beijing, this is a \u201crequired\u201d stop for tour groups.\u00a0 There is an explanation of the benefits of Ginseng to the body (it seems to cure everything), and then how it is grown (it takes 6 years).\u00a0 After the explanation, we\u2019re walked into a \u201csales\u201d area. \u00a0The door is closed behind us as we enter, and the sales staff has a captive audience.\u00a0 We get to try some Ginseng tea, and all the sales package possibilities are discussed, and then we get to leave.\u00a0 There are not many sales in our group, but we saw other groups exiting with large boxes.<\/p>\n We have lunch at a traditional Korean restaurant.\u00a0 Judy has a rice\/vegetable dish she loves.\u00a0 I have a Korean BBQ dish that is equally good.\u00a0 The chopsticks are metal, and tougher to handle than what we\u2019ve become accustomed to.<\/p>\n Bulgogi – Korean BBQ<\/p><\/div>\n Bibimpap – Rice and vegetables<\/p><\/div>\n After lunch, it\u2019s off to Changdeokgung Palace, considered the best preserved of the Joseon Dynasty palaces.\u00a0 The architecture seems similar and the grounds are huge.\u00a0 These palaces had to be rebuilt after WWII because the Japanese burned them to the ground during the Japanese Colonial Period, 1910 to 1937.\u00a0 As our tour guide said early in the tour, \u201cthe relationship between Korea and Japan is complicated\u201d.\u00a0 I think that was PC tour guide talk for \u201cintense dislike\u201d.<\/p>\n Changdeokgung Palace<\/p><\/div>\n Judy thought there was a resemblance?<\/p><\/div>\n We finished off the day with trips to two of Seoul\u2019s most popular markets.\u00a0 Both had street food available and you could bargain for items if you wished.\u00a0 They were not nearly as aggressive as the markets we\u2019ve visited in Beijing.<\/p>\n Insadong Market<\/p><\/div>\n I’m always checking out the street food in the markets. Look close for the octopus. Yum!<\/p><\/div>\n We napped some on our return to the hotel, and finished off the day with a great meal in the hotel restaurant.\u00a0 We enjoyed getting back to some \u201cwestern\u201d food like mashed potatoes and gravy (speaking for myself).\u00a0 We\u2019ll be refreshed and ready for the DMZ tour tomorrow.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" It\u2019s hard to get out of bed after the long day of school and travel yesterday, but tours await us.\u00a0 We get rolling, aided by our respective caffeine kick (diet coke for Judy, coffee for me) and some fresh pastries … Continue reading <\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/a><\/a><\/p>\n<\/a> <\/a><\/p>\n<\/a> <\/a> <\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/p>\n<\/a> <\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/a><\/p>\n<\/a>