Two weeks ago, I had my first crutch-free post-surgery adventure in Seoul: Changgyeonggung Palace. Changgyeonggung has a secret garden that I had been wanting to explore.
If you want to see the secret garden, be warned you have sign up for a tour and the entrance price is extra at 8,000 KRW (about $7.50). Unfortunately, you can't explore the garden on your own and you're stuck in a large group of people, but I just hung out towards the back of the group to grab photos without people in them. The secret garden tour is about 1.5 km and takes a good 90 minutes to get through. It's also up and down some steep, un-paved, bumpy roads (which was interesting on my leg...I got my first
real workout in a good 6 months, but I survived :) It's well worth the going through (I'm not a group tour type of person); the garden is really beautiful and shouldn't be missed...I can imagine it's probably really beautiful in the spring with flowers in bloom, or in autumn with the changing trees.
So, without further adieu, here is my photo blog of Changgyeonggung Palace. I highly recommend a visit if you're in Seoul!
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| Crossing the bridge to the entrance of Changgyeonggung Palace |
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| Going through the first gate, it opens up into a large courtyard. |
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| I have a thing for interesting doors. |
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...and rooftops. The creatures on the top of the roofs are all Korean mythological creatures, like guardians.
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A mini door.
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| Entrance into the secret garden |
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| Walking through the first part of the secret garden |
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| The secret garden |
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| The old library of the secret garden |
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| The heat was turning us into zombies... |
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Aww, my friend pointed out that the trees needed crutches, too.
We all need a little help now and again :) |
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| One of the courtyards in the secret garden |
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| So beautiful and green! |
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| A beautiful day, with beautiful people! |
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| A few flowers in bloom, but not many. These lilies are quite frequent around Seoul. |
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| I had to take a break after climbing a big hill...these designs are all over the ceilings of the temples, beautiful! |
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| Heading down...it's a LOT steeper than it looks! |
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| The worker's quarters |
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| Some kind of rock statues...not sure of their importance. I wasn't really paying attention to the tour. |
About this time, my camera battery decided to peter out on me...so the rest of these photos are from my iPhone...
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| Beautiful buildings walking down from the exit of the garden |
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| After we the garden tour, we went back to the main building of the palace, perfect timing as the crowds had died down |
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| These are names of political leaders in Korea |
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| Changgyeonggung and Namsan Seoul Tower |
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| I love the colors and designs of the rooftops |
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| Sunset after a lovely, tiring, crutch-less adventure :) |
You can take a moonlight tour of the palace between April-November during the full moon. The cost is 30,000 KRW (roughly $28). You have to sign up early, and if there are signs of rain, the tour will be cancelled.
To get to Changgyeonggung Palace, you can take the subway Line 3 (orange line), exit 3 of Anguk Station. Walk about 5 minutes and you're there!
Happy Trails!
