Exploring Seoul

Our first full day of travelling started early with a visit to Gyeongbokgung Palace, including the changing of the guards ceremony, accompanied by the first realization of the Korean heat and humidity, even with a cloudy sky!

After an extended convenience store visit to stock back up on the 1.5L of liquids we lost, we were ready for a stroll around Bukchon Hanok Village, where we stumbled upon a cute teahouse in a side street. A true peaceful oasis that we were so glad we didn’t miss out on.

Next up: lunch at Tongin Market, where you get a tray and a little bundle of traditional gold coins to try food from the different stalls. Fun idea, as it’s exactly what you want out of a market visit: take a little taste of everything. But it felt a bit gimmicky, tbh.

After a well-deserved nap, we were off to Myeongdong for the evening to see the neon lights, food stalls, and all the crazy stores where we could’ve bought everything our hearts desired, but had to hold back knowing that everything purchased would have to be carried on our backs for the rest of our adventure.

“Teamwork makes the dream work” when it came to our first attempt at long exposure pictures without a tripod. You can be the judge of the results.

After a nice hot pot dinner, where apparently you put some hot water in your rice bowl at the end to make a second soup that, compared to the hot pot, just tastes like nothing 🤷🏻‍♂️, we enjoyed some more chaos during our first Korean arcade run. Steve’s years of gaming experience gave him a clear advantage in the two-player games, but maybe Jess will be able to win a game one day…

Also, note to self: plan in some time for blog post creation to avoid late-night editing! On the bright side: jetlag is gone! 🎉

Country

South Korea

Region

Myeongdong

Date

02 September 2026

Camera

Sony a6700

GPS

37.561641, 126.985901