South Korea by TGV
 |
| Naengmyeon, Hamhung style: a classic north Korean noodle dish of iced buckwheat noodles |
Having spent a few days in South Korea, mostly looking at historic architecture and eating a lot of food and particularly containing gochujang and all the sides of pickles traditional to Korean meals, I had several observations.
 |
| Heungnyemun Gate, Gyeoungbokgung Palace, Seoul |
Gyeoungbokgung Palace, the old Korean royal palace, is one of the main tourist attractions of South Korea. I visited on the 3rd October 2023, which happened to be National Foundation Day, marking the legendary formation of the first Korean state of Gojoseon in 2333 BC. Hence my disappointment when the internet claimed that the palace closes on national holidays. Well, even if the inside were closed, I could still have a look at the outside. But instead, closed turned out to mean free entry for the day. Fantastic.
The entire complex took a few hours to finish visiting, with its many pavilions and gardens and mini-museums. It was very much like a smaller version of Beijing's Forbidden City; not surprising given the country's 1000 years that it spent closely aligned with the Chinese dynasties. It was also nice to see so many people who had hired Hanbok traditional dress for their visit, particularly in a place as historic as this: on normal days when standard entry isn't free, wearing Hanbok grants you free entry.
 |
| Traditional changing of the guard at Gyeoungbokgung Palace |
It was quite interesting to note how the palace shows Korea's historic relations with other foreign powers: the design was very similar to Chinese imperial palaces, the Japanese came and burned the palace down at least three times, and the US Embassy is directly outside the main gate of the historic seat of the country's power.
 |
| Blue House, the erstwhile presidential palace |
 |
| The presidential desk |
I've visited plenty of castles, palaces and stately homes over the years, but the Blue House was particularly fascinating as a modern presidential palace - the kind of place where ordinary citizens can't usually visit and which they usually only ever see on the news.
The Bukchon Hanok Villiage was interesting with its traditional Korean houses too, together with the local culture streets and the nearby National Museum of Contemporary Art with its wonderfully weird Korean modern art.
 |
| KTX high-speed-train in Seoul rail station |
After a few days in Seoul, it was time to proceed to Busan. South Korea has an excellent high speed rail network, built as French TGV technology. Neighbouring Japan has its bullet trains, but of course South Korea of all countries can't go off and ask Japan for help. So, both the infrastructure and the trains are identical to TGVs in France - even down to the paint job.
 |
| The 1st and 2nd Class colours are exactly the same as on French TGVs. |
The 2h30 journey time through mountainous South Korea to the other side of the country was reasonably scenic too, though with much of the journey in tunnels. The 59800 KRW (~£35) ticket for the 417 km journey is similar to equivalent advance-booked tickets in western Europe.
 |
| Diamond Tower in Yongdusan Park, Busan |
Busan was a very different city to Seoul, with a much more relaxed seaside city vibe.
 |
| Busan Bridge, with the local fishing boats in the background |
The local markets were a very interesting view of local everyday life and I very much enjoyed my day in the city, though unfortunately the local museums were closed for some reason. All in all, a pleasant coastal city.
 |
| The city's seagull mascot and South Korea's mugunghwa national flower. |
Comments
Post a Comment