Seoul

On July 31, we headed to Seoul.

On the road again...

Train ride from Busan to Seoul going as fast as 300km/hr (186miles/hr)

We made it! The bag is heavy.

Seoul Station - looking for the taxi stand

If you've been reading our blog, you'll know by now that the first day we arrive anywhere we don't really do much. We explored our neighborhood the next day.

Looking towards City Hall

The main thing we saw on this day was the Sungnyemun Gate, which is "National Treasure No.1." It is the south gate of Seoul. It was originally built in 1398 and has been repaired many times including after the Korean War when it was badly damaged. From 1961-1963, the gate was taken completely apart, repaired and fully reassembled. It was most recently damaged in 2008 by an arsonist and repairs were recently completed.

Looks pretty new

Lots of people visiting it

This is the art on the ceiling of the gate

Paul is excited to pose for a photo in the heat

Interesting juxtaposition (as pointed out by Sascha on the photo I posted on Instagram)

Walking through the crowds in the alley ways where scooters whizz by...do you see it? Or are you distracted by the couple wearing matching shirts? More on that later...

That was pretty much the extent of our first full day. We had to get up early the next morning for our tour of the DMZ (demilitarized zone). 

Gyeongju and Ulsan

On July 29 we took the KTX (Korean Train Express) towards Gyeongju. When we looked into the best way to get to Gyeongju to visit the Bulguksa Temple, most of our research said a direct bus. But, since we bought a 3-day KTX rail pass, I wanted to make sure we put it to use. Plus, the KTX is the fastest train in Korea. So even though it took 30 minutes by train, we also had to take a bus for about 40 minutes from the train station to the temple (for those who are wondering and possibly using this blog to plan your travels, it is bus #700 and it's the last stop).

We were welcomed to Gyeongju by these friendly animals

Upon arriving, there is also a tourist information booth but we got suckered into eating lunch at a local place.

You can't tell but it was unbelievably hot walking to the Bulguksa Temple

Bulguksa Temple was built in 528 during the Silla Dynasty.

Paul is excited to see another temple

Can you see the sweat running down my face and my fogged up glasses?

Paul really liked the shirt this guy was wearing...MEOW

Yes, more door shots!

Dabotap is the Many Treasure Pagoda

Interesting juxtaposition

Pretty colors and lots of detail

Taking pictures and not reading the signs = I don't know what this is

Paul was getting out of my shot of this corridor

Door knocker - GRRROWL!

Pretty

Waiting for the bus

On our way back to the train station - pretty rice fields

This was a field of flowers - they looked amazing against the backdrop of these mountains

On July 30 we took the KTX again to Ulsan where we were promised great beaches (Ilsan Beach) and a magical pine forest (Daewangam Park). This train took 20 minutes but we also had to take a bus - this time 1 hour - to the beach and park. And with our luck, it was overcast again (see, it is becoming a real trend here), and we really didn't see much of the beach but the fog did make the forest look more magical than I think it otherwise would have.

Ilsan Beach on a foggy and overcast day

Daewangam Park is just up those stairs - there are a lot more than you see there

Pretty steep

But we made it and it's magical! Come aboard!

The fog made it look really pretty

I really loved the ivy growing on these pine trees

Magical forest

We didn't walk all the way down

The rocks along the water are supposed to be really pretty on a clear day

Asian Paul

This lighthouse, Ulgi Light, was used for 80 years

Another shot of the rocks along the water

It just got foggier when we made our out of the park

We tried to go to another beach but got lost - Ulsan was not for us

So, we took the KTX back to Busan

Paul fell asleep on the ride back