---
title: 'Gyeongbokgung and Beyond'
date: '2026-04-02 11:00'
template: entry
published: true
hero_image: 'palace-gate.jpg'
lat: '37.5796'
lng: '126.9770'
location_city: 'Seoul'
location_country: 'South Korea'
weather_temp_c: 12
weather_desc: 'Sunny'
---

Sunday in Seoul and the whole city seemed to have the same idea: Gyeongbokgung Palace, the largest of the five grand palaces built during the Joseon dynasty, restored after the Japanese colonial period and now open and enormous and full of people doing what people do when confronted with a large photogenic space — walking through it slowly with their phones held in front of them.

I did the same thing. The main gate, Gwanghwamun, is so large that the guards performing the changing ceremony looked like toys underneath it. The throne hall beyond has curved roofs that sweep upward at the corners in a way that seems to defy the weight of the tiles. Behind everything, Bugaksan mountain rises up, still snow-capped, framing the whole compound like a backdrop.

I stayed for two hours then walked north to Bukchon Hanok Village: a hillside neighbourhood of traditional Korean houses, narrow lanes, and — given it was a Sunday — approximately four hundred other tourists also walking those narrow lanes. Worth it regardless. The geometry of the rooftops against the Seoul skyline is exactly as good as every photograph suggests.

Afternoon: the National Folk Museum inside the palace grounds, a covered market near Insadong for dinner supplies, then back to Mapo on the subway reading a novel and failing to remember which stop was mine.

Three days left in Korea. I am already sad about the food.
