After spending WAY too long traveling including sitting in a 15+ hour flight, we landed in Incheon Airport at 4 am this morning! After landing we had time to freshen up in the bathroom before boarding a bus to our hotel. We dropped our luggage off at the hotel and found a place to eat “breakfast” which really felt more like a dinner due to the time change. I got the bibimbap which was so good, I will 100% get it again in the next 2 weeks. After eating we got our T-money cards and took the subway for the first time. The subways in Korea are CLEAN compared to New York City. There is no trash anywhere and it was a very nice experience. We took the subway to our first stop of the day, the Gyeongbuk Palace.
The Palace was very interesting to see and learn about its culture. We got the opportunity to watch the changing of the guards ceremony before continuing our walk through the rest of the grounds. The Palace was very large and colorful, which our guide explained the significance behind. We got the opportunity to see the main hall, the king’s pavilion, his 3 different halls for work depending on which season they were in, both the king’s and queen’s living quarters, and much more. After the Gyeongbuk Palace we walked to the blue house, located behind. The blue house is the Korean president’s house and office and is currently open for visitors. It was so cool to get to be so close to the place where the Korean president works.
After the Palace and the Blue House we made our last stop at the Tongin Market, a street market where I was able to get some really good chicken. When our time was up at the Market, Professor Yun told us we were going to be given a challenge: to figure our way back to the hotel on our own. All four groups ended up on the same subway at the same time, but split up from there. My group ended up getting off the subway and finding our way onto a bus and managed to make it back to the hotel first! It was a great way to figure out how Korea’s public transportation works and see differences compared to transportation in America. Though the first day was exhausting, it was a great way to start our 2 weeks in Korea and I am so excited for what the coming days will bring!
