A Tourist in Seoul

My first day on my own and I'm going to play tourist. After lining up for a scrumptious breakfast at Isaac Toast, it was off to Gyeongbokgung, Seoul's main palace. I'd chosen to come on a week day hoping for a smaller crowd, but it was still a decent size. (When I left, it was even crazier, so go early).

Numerous folks were dressed in hanboks and traditional costumes. A few guys even wore hanboks, but hey, it's 2023. A part of me was tempted to rent one, but alas, they look beautiful in photos and when you're on your own, most of the photos you'll take are selfies, unless you use a timer.

The palace was fairly large but easy to roam around and check out the various buildings for a glimpse of my first Korean palace. A walk around and then catching the tail end of the changing of the guard, before hitting up my second spot of the day: Bukchon Hanok Village.

Bukchon Hanok Village is a cute area where people still live in traditional houses. Some of the streets are picturesque and you've seen these on Instagram. It's important to keep your voices low though to respect the residents. There's a couple of shops near the entrance to the village, but the beauty is exploring a piece of architectural history.

From there a quick jaunt to Cafe Onion where a line up awaited me. Seems I will have to get used to lines in Seoul as this was my 2nd of the day already with breakfast being the 1st. This particular location of Cafe Onion is set in a hanok, not far from hanok village. It has a beautiful selection of baked goods both savory and sweet and I would've loved to try more than 1 item, but alas, one of the downsides to solo travel, you are unfortunately limited to the size of 1 stomach when it comes to ordering variety.

Despite the rest at the cafe, my feet have still yet to get into vacation mode. I love walking but it was getting tiring. Hopping on my 1st bus, I made my way to Ihwa Mural Village. (Thank you Naver for giving me the confidence to take a local bus with limited English signage). The number of murals in Ihwa are dwindling as local residents have been unhappy with it given the number of visitors they draw. It's another area to be respectful and keep voices down.

One of the reasons for the murals was to brighten up the neighbourhood and bring back life to it, but alas it sounds like the government is still planning to tear it down and rebuild. It's disappointing but most of the residents have either moved away or are elderly. None of the young people want to live there as it's also quick a trek from public transportation instead.

Nearby, I head to Dongdaemun to meet up with my night walking tour that I found on AirB&B. They take you walking along the fortress walls, have a drink overlooking the city and then to Korean BBQ, which really is great for the solo traveller since you can't really BBQ on your own. The walk was split into 2 before and after the cafe drink. It was a dream come true as we sat down in a cafe I'd noticed earlier while in Ihwa. Why? The view looked amazing but I'm sure I wouldn't have come on my own after dark.

The BBQ was great fun as well, though it turns out they cook the meat for you. Definitely a group experience and I'm glad I joined in as it rounded out a pretty full day.Read more