Even though people’s feet are sore today was a day to explore a bit more of Seoul. We have a few injured people so we tried to take today a bit easier. We headed to Chaekangong Palace where I had prebooked a tour of the Huwan Secret Garden. The actual palace is a UNESCO World heritage site and was built after the palace we visited the other day. It is also the palace where the last princess of Korea died. So it is very important to the culture of South Korea.
We walked through the palace grounds and made our way to the tour. There are limited spots for the Huwon Secret Garden Tour so I had prebooked in advance. The guided tour through the King’s private Gardens. When we got in it was seriously like a forest. It was hard to believe we were still in the CBD. We went through random mini gardens, saw some pools and ponds and lots of squirrels. I spent half my time being distracted by birds and squirrels and keeping a good eye out for Raccoon Dogs. It was quite a hike through the gardens and we very quickly got our 10000 steps up. If you are ever in Korea pre-book a tour around here it is worth it.
We then headed back into the CBD for some lunch. I got to choose today and I picked this restaurant which has traditional Korean food. We got so much food and it was delicious. We did a quick break back at the hotel and made our plans to head down to the Han River to do a cruise.
The cruise was a 40 minute River Cruise along the river that also could involve Seagull feeding. Seagull feeding I hear you saying but seagulls are very annoying in Australia. Turns out Seagulls in Seoul are actually Black gulls and they are huge so it was actually really cool watching them fly all around the boat. The cruise itself was not too exciting we saw a bit of the Han River, but Anthony loves boats so it is always a good way to spend some time.
I have decided that Seoul is the perfect blend of Japan and Hong Kong. There are certain parts of the country that remind me of both. I really like walking around in the city here.
Tired after a few days of hard walking we headed back to the hotel to rest before dinner. At 6:30 we headed out to the BBQ Chicken restaurant. Tim wanted to eat here because apparently they sponsor a League of legends team and their logo is one angry arse chicken. After lots of chicken and lots of laughs we headed back to the hotel for an early night as tomorrow is a very early get up.