Seoul, the city

Seoul Guest House
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We arrived in Seoul on a rainy, cold January day.  Since we arrived at 6:30 AM we "hung out" at the airport for a few hours before trying to catch the bus to our Guest House.  The Incheon Airport is very beautiful with many comfortable places to wait -- even with couches!  So we took advantage of the coffee and tea shops with pastries and read a little as we waited.  Around 10:30 we followed the excellent directions supplied by the Guest House, caught a "luxury" airport limousine bus, and arrived at a bus stop on a major street downtown, Chong-no.  Unfortunately though we had a map, we did not know which way to walk.  It was pretty laughable except for the rain!  MANY people tried to help us, but there is little English spoken here.  People seem to be quite taken with my white head -- either the Koreans are not susceptible to graying or there is a lot of dye sold!  Finally a security guard led Denny to a travel agency and the fellow within was familiar with our Guest House and set us out in the right direction.  Half way along a four block walk, the hostess greeted us and led us up a very quaint alleyway to our place.  I don't think we would have found it otherwise!  There are more alleyways here than what we would recognise as streets!

Huge, indoor-outdoor markets -- it is a good thing that we are restricted by luggage!

Chang-doek Palace
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We are staying in a traditional neighborhood, Bukchorn, which has many of the original Korean structures with pagoda like roofing, slide panel walls etc.  Look up the Seoul Guest House, www.seoul110.com, to see what I mean.  The trouble is that they had a really great photographer and the pictures must have been taken the day that things were first renovated.  It is a tad different today!  We do love the "ondol" (floor heating) as it makes the bed mats on which we sleep all comfy warm.  However we do miss having a chair or two -- maybe a table and chairs and dressers...we are indeed spoiled American travelers!  Walking the neighborhood, however, has been sensational!  The people here have enchanting features, especially the young and the elderly!

Spectacular carving and painting
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Eating at restaurants has been a challenge, again there is not much English.  However, the food has been very good!  So far we have lucked out well with excellent rice and porridge dishes.  We found a French Pastry place and purchase our breakfasts there each day to eat in bed (ok, on the floor) each morning.

Somehow, crossing the dateline, we lost a day (Thursday), so that we arrived on Friday.  We pretty much ate and slept that day.  Yesterday though was a banner day!  We took a designated walk trough this part of the city and visited two of the most beautiful old city palaces.  We caught the English tour right on time at Chang-deok and had a terrific guide with excellent English.  The palaces here are very much like those in China...very ornate...separate male and female quarters...male advantages everywhere with females and children as the "lesser" beings.  Did you know that the Korean language has high, middle and low vocabulary for speaking to children and lower social classes, middle class, and nobility?  Pretty amazing!  We saw the original "ondol" heating system of fireplaces beneath cement flooring.  The "Secret Garden" area was to die for -- so secluded and peaceful, 78 acres hidden away in the center of the megopolis of Seoul!  The pond and pagoda were serene enough but there was also a royal library!  My type of vacation spot!

The wall between male and female living areas.
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Continuing our walk after the palace, we went into the heart of town to one of the huge indoor/outdoor market places.  WOW!  Booth after booth, aisle after aisle -- sections of food, fish, vegetables, etc.; sections of clothing, material, and suit and dress making; elaborate and ornate traditional styles to the latest Western trends; anything and everything one could want.  The electronic aisles and stores really had us starstruck.  It is a good thing that we are restricted by luggage!

On the way to the market, I almost forgot, we passed through a huge park.  There were tons of men, very few women and children.  There was music and dancing but mostly the men gathered to either gamble in groups with some sort of card game or to speak publicly through microphones.  It was very interesting!

At 4 we were met and guided for the rest of the day by a local missionary, a friend of our Jackson Hole friends, Jack and Margaret (recently deceased) Huyler.  More on that in the next entry.