We were just about to conquer the other part of our second day adventure – Seoul City! We left Petite France at 01:30 PM for our next destinations: the Unhyeongung Royal Residence, Bukchon Hanok Village, and Namsan Tower.

Here’s our travel route from Petite France to Unhyeongung Royal Residence:

Unhyeongung Royal Residence (URR)

 

Historical Background:

This is the place where the late Emperor of the Joseon Dynasty: King Gojong stayed before he ascended to the throne. This was built in 1864.

When you are in Seoul, it is very convenient to go here because this is just a few steps away from the train station. If you are interested to try the Korean traditional costume (Hanbok), they offer rentals here where you can take your photo inside the residence while wearing it.

Important Information:

Welcome to your royal abode your highness: Queen Berlin!

Inside the royal residence are rows of small rooms divided according to rank

Royal Grounds

 

 

Inside the Gallery

 

Writing tools

Traditional wedding garments

We spent forty-five minutes in the Unhyeongung Royal Residence and allotted another twenty minutes for our walk to Bukchon Hanok Village.

 

Bukchon Hanok Village

 

We were excited when we reached the village: we saw lines of traditional Korean houses called “hanok”. The architectural design of this village is quite impressive: from the roof of the house, to the walls, down to the door. This is a residential area so tourists are still expected to observe silence. Word of caution: the village is beautiful and it’s elevated, so you have to really prepare your legs for the arduous walk!

Going up the village

A gentle reminder to observe silence

A peek of what is inside a traditional hanok. I should have taken a selfie here

My beautiful girls en route to our Sanggojae search

Look at how peaceful the night in this village

 

 

Amidst this village lies a very famous place called Sanggojae. Its popularity grows when it was featured as the shooting location of “Personal Taste” where two of Korea’s “A” rated stars played the role: Lee Min Ho and Son Ye Jin.

 

Finding Sanggojae

 

Finally, we found it! This is Sanggojae!

 

Irma (my sister) not letting go of this opportunity

We spent one hour and ten minutes in this village before we headed up to our final destination for the day – Namsan Tower!

 

Namsan Tower

 

Namsan Tower is popularly known for its love locks and the magnificent tower standing very tall in the city of Seoul. Couples often include Namsan in their itinerary to ensure that they will have their “love promises” locked and sealed in this beautiful place.

Direction from Bukchon to Namsan:

 

Important Information about Namsan Tower:

 

For our trip, what we did was to ride a taxi from Bukchon to Myeongdong and catched the Sunwhan Shuttle Bus going up to the Namsan Tower.

 

Look at that magnificent tower – isn’t it beautiful? Photo credit to my best friend Weng

I was not prepared for the temperature – it was extremely cold going up to the tower

Closer view of the tower

My best friend as always was prepared for the cold

Love is in the air

 

 

Look at these love locks – I wonder how many pairs have been here already?

In case you want to surprise your love with a big hug-gable bear – you know the drill

Finally, here’s the expense breakdown of our Day 2 trip: