UADarthmaul's Travels: South Korea 2: Temples, Palaces, an old friend, a Japanese prison, and a sheep cafe

It has been three days since I have written on the blog, so this will be a catch up session. The next morning we began our journey by walking to a temple named Jogyesa. It was colorfully decorated, with chanting come from the main temple. As pictures were not allowed, we continued onward toward the palace of Gyonghuigung. Aside from a school group, this palace was nearly empty, which was nice. We walked around a bit and then left for the palace grounds of Deoksugung.

A building we saw with interesting architecture.

Up until this point, there had been no entry fees. Deoksugung was a little over a dollar total for both of us. On the premises were two buildings constructed in the western style. A short walk away was the Namdaemun Market, narrowish streets going off in different directions selling all sorts of goods. It had a tourist feel to it. From here we took the train to the War Memorial of Korea.

I did not take any pictures inside the War Memorial. There were two floors of exhibits. The underground floor dealt with war throughout history in Korea, going back thousands of years. The main level dealt exclusively with the Korean War. As I am not very knowledgeable about this subject, I ended up learning that Korea was divided by the Soviet Union and the United States following World War 2 and how North Korea got permission from the USSR along with China to invade South Korea.

We sat down to wait for a presentation and a woman turned around and asked me if I would be interviewed. I said sure, so another woman turned around with a large video camera. They only asked about four questions including what I learned from the museum. In the main hallway, a large orchestra was set up and playing music, but I never figured out what for.

Our last event for the day was to meet a fellow that I met last summer in Austria while waiting in line to see the ice cave. We got there a bit early so we could sit down and relax for a bit. Had had us meet him next to Gangnam Station. First he took us to a restaurant which served Dakgalbi chicken and cabbage in a sauce, served in a very large fan that cooked on the table in front of you. Following Korean tradition, we all ate from this.

Miles was shy at first, but quickly warmed up to him. I peppered him with lots of questions about living in South Korea! It was really nice to be able to connect with someone that I met randomly on a trip on the other side of the world. Miles complained that there was not enough chicken, so next we brought him to a Korean pseudo ice cream place. Korean ice cream takes the form of ice flakes with flavorings on the top. I learned, however, that the shavings are more milk than ice. We all shared this from a bowl as well. It was quite good! Miles especially liked the powder topping.

Afterwards, he led us on a tour around the town. We went into a book store and he pointed out the loads of American reading textbooks, used to teach English in Korea, which has become very important knowledge needed to get a job in Korea, even if that job wouldn't have you actually using the English. Afterwards we stopped in a store that had a wide variety of wacky items for sale. Miles discovered that they sold Pokemon cards and picked up two boxes. We spent over three hours in Gangnam before heading back to our room and going to bed.

The next day we were woken up at 6 AM by the noises in the kitchen, as our door was a foot away from the "common room" table, which was adjacent to the kitchen, which also had laundry machines built into it. By 8:00, 4 people were being fed breakfast and were so loud that I couldn't even hear the other person in my phone conversation. I spoke with the owner, booked another hotel, and got out of there. Sleep is very important to me on vacations, especially with my health problems.

We walked downhill mostly to our new hotel and set up our new base. Shortly after, we left for the day. We took a bus to the Seodaemun Prison History Hall, a former Japanese prison used to torture and imprison Korean freedom fighters. The prison was used to speak about the attempts at rebellion and as a way to remember their fallen heroes.

Prisoner's exercise yard, which kept them separate so there wouldn't be socializing.

A short bus ride from the prison, we were dropped off and had to walk up a hill for quite a bit while Miles complained incessantly. At the top was the Bongwonsa Buddhist Temple. Inside, monks were dancing, chanting, and blowing horns. People sat to the side on pillows and then walked in a line following what I assume was a head monk in circles around the temple.

Back down the hill, we took a bus to the first surprise of three planned for Miles this day. There was a trick eye illusion museum in the style of the one that we saw in Edinburgh, here on the outskirts of Seoul. This one had a phone app that they had you download. When held up to pictures on the wall, it would transform the picture with animations and then allow people to interact with the animations while you take a picture of them. Afterwards, Miles rode on two rides that had you put on a virtual reality headset. The third and final part of the museum was a bolted door that opened to reveal a large area filled with ice carvings, including a slide and a bedroom set. It was all very cute.

Just down the road was the first of a few themed cafes that we would be visiting in Seoul. This one was a sheep cafe. Just outside the cafe were two sheep in a fenced area. If you ate or drank at the cafe, you would be allowed time sitting near the sheep. I allowed myself a chocolate and banana waffle that was very good.