Brielle, Barbara & David at the start of our tour around the Changgeokgung royal palace in Seoul, originally constructed between 1405-1412, but reconstructed several times since.
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The Changgeokgung royal palace - entrance to one of the main courtyards. Most palaces were destroyed by the Japanese in the late 16th century. This one was the first to be rebuilt and became Korea's center of power between 1618 to 1896.
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This part of the Changgeokgung royal palace served as the Queen's quarters. We enjoyed Seoul in good weather. Click to see a larger image.
This royal palace has the distinction of having been the first to be quickly rebuilt after the Japanese destroyed it during their 1592 invasion. Click to see a large image.
We had a good visit to Seoul. Brielle & David are enjoying their time in Korea and were good guides for us on the trip. Click for a large image.
 David & Brielle in The Secret Garden of the royal palace. In the center of Seoul, a magnificent garden, surrounded by a forest, all with fresh air and ponds, and, of course, high rise office buildings nearby. Click to see a larger image.  |
Here we are enjoying a stroll around the "Secret Garden" of the Korean royal palace. Korea has palaces, but also skyscrapers and huge developments of apartment buildings and modern cityscapes, but we took pictures in the Secret Garden instead. Click to see a large image.
In Korea, Barbara thought the flag reminded her of something ...
... the Pepsi logo!
The other royal palace, Gwanghwamun, was also destroyed in 1592, but lay in ruins for 300 years before being rebuilt. It was again used by the last Korean royal family in the 19th century. Click to see a large image.
The other royal palace, Gwanghwamun, holds a changing of the royal guards at lunchtime and several other times a day, very spectacular... and you do get very close to the guards. Click for a large image.
Click here to see photos from from Daegu and Gyeongju, South Korea, Beijing, The Great Wall, X'ian, Chongqing, Fengdu "City of Ghosts", Yangtze River and the "Lesser Three Gorges", the Three Gorges Dam, Wuhan, Shanghai, Suzhou, or go back to Barbara's narrative of the trip.