Highlights of Korea Trip May 2015 (Part 1 of 3)

Went for a family trip to Korea in May 2015, consisting of 6 people in total - me, my mum, my aunt, my boyfriend and his parents. With 4 old folks in the group, we went for a packaged tour instead of free and easy trip (glad we did!). My mum wanted an itinerary that has more sight-seeing, rather than museum / theme-park hoppings. After some comparisons, we chose the 9D Spring Love package from Hong Thai Travel Agency. Not the cheapest but was the best fit to what we were looking for, here's the itinerary if you are interested.

I shall do a summary of the highlights of the trip. Due to the length, I shall split it into 3 posts. The shopping related stuff are on a separate post.

Part 1: Nami Island, Gyeongbokgong, Deoksugung
Part 2: N Seoul Tower, Painters Performance
Part 3: Jeju
Shopping in Korea

Nami Island

Nami Coin

Made famous by the Korean drama "Winter Sonata", it is totally a tourist destination. Nami Island is a micro nation, calling itself Naminara Republic. You go through an "immigration" when you enter the ticketing counter. I later realized that there is a Nami currency you can use only on Nami Island too, but I did not know it because I did not buy anything there.

It was unfortunate that the day we visited Nami Island coincide with Korea's family weekend. It was flooded with people, locals and tourists. Look at the crowds at the ferry terminal - *I. can't. breathe.*.


This is the ferry that brings you to Nami Island. Very limited seats, but you get a nicer view standing  by the side, and it's just about 5 minutes. See some cable lines on the top? If ferry does not appeal to you, you can fly to Nami Island by Flying fox! We did not have a choice because we were on a packaged tour, but if I were to visit Nami Island again, I'll fly over. (To think of it, I may prefer to visit Korea again on another season, not sure if it's still suitable for flying over).

Ferry to and fro Nami Island

There are a few scenic points in Nami Island.

The iconic tall and neatly arranged trees

Feeling like a Korean star

I found out that I took very little photos at Nami Island. It was not easy to take a good photo when it's so crowded everywhere.

Gyeongbokgong / Deoksugung

Visiting the Royal Palaces in Seoul, Korea is like visiting the 故宫 in Bejing, China - it is one of the historically significant places in the country. There are 5 Royal Palaces in Seoul - Gyeongbokgong, Deoksugung, Changgyeonggung, Unhyeongung, Changdeokgung, Gyeongbokgung Palace was the first royal palace built in 1394, during the Joseon Dynasty.

This scenic place is where the Emperor enjoys entertainment from performers. There are 48 pillars in the structure, all carved with dragon. However, the real pillars are now in the museum, and only the concrete pillars are here.

A place of entertainment

 At certain times of the day, you can catch a "Emperor arrival" show too.

The Emperor is arriving

Close up of the Emperor and his guards

On the day we visited Gyeongbokgung, it was also very crowded, mainly by Chinese tourists and the locals. Even the tour guide said he has never seen this place so crowded before. So it was not so pleasant to tour this place, especially when the some visitors are not very graceful and can be quite pushy.

On our free day, we visited Deoksugung because it was near our hotel and we passed by the place. We caught the shift change ceremony too.

Shift Handover Ceremony

We caught some Royal Music Performance there. To be frank, it was very long and boring, but that was the culture of that period. Imagine playing Kpop to the royal court people, haha.

A performer. Not sure what instrument is this, look like the Chinese Guzheng.

Read on:
Highlights of Korea Trip May 2015 (Part 2 of 3)
Highlights of Korea Trip May 2015 (Part 3 of 3)
Shopping in Korea