Viewing the autumn foliage at the Changdeokgung and Biwon Secret Garden (Part 3)

9 November 2014

The Secret Garden of Changdeokgung or Biwon is one of the best places to view autumn foliage in Seoul. That was why I chose to visit Changdeokgung over the other palaces in Seoul. As mentioned in an earlier post, entry is only permitted if we have one of the limited tickets for an escorted tour of the garden. We were lucky to get our tickets at the entrance of the Palace in the morning, for the afternoon tour.

Tip: You can also book a Secret Garden & Bukchon Hanok Village Walking Tour that includes the following: Entrance fee for Changdeokgung Palace and Secret Garden 1.5-hour guided tour of Secret Garden in Changdeokgung Palace 2.5-hour walking tour with an English speaking tour guide

The English language tour of the Secret Garden commenced promptly at 1:30 PM. The guide was a lady, dressed in hanbok, and spoke excellent English with an slight American accent. We were asked to take a pamphlet at the entrance, highlighting the places we would be visiting in this 90 minutes tour. The tour began with a quick walk up a gently sloping tar road into the huge Secret Garden, located at the northern part or back of Changdeokgung. The garden is self-contained and occupies sixty percent of Changdeokgung.

Path leading into the Secret Garden,  giving us a preview of what was to come. Full of autumn colours!

First stopping point during the tour where the guide explained a little of the history of the garden.

“Created at same time as the Changdeokgung but was destroyed during the Japanese invasion of 1592. Restoration works started in 1623, continued through the reigns of various monarchs, leading to the present state. Preserving the original topography, minimising artificial landscaping, the natural quality of the Secret Garden is enhanced. It serves as a place for the Kings and royal family members to contemplate, compose poems, host banquets and various outdoor activities like archery”.

The beautiful sights were hidden in a series of valleys and entire layout could not be seen at once. 

After a brief introduction to the garden, we walked to the Buyongji Pond and the Juhamnu Pavilion. Buyong is the Korean word for Lotus. The guide explained that the pond is square (representing the earth) with the round island in the center (representing the heaven).

Juhamnu Pavilion, a two story pavilion that served as a library and reading room during the reign of King Jeongjo.


Buyongji Pond or Lotus Pond.

Eosumun Gate.

The Eosumun Gate is a small gate that leads to Juhamnu Pavilion. The name Eosumun (Fish Water Gate in Chinese Characters) refers to the fact that a fish cannot live outside of water. This was a reminder to King Jeongjo that he as a ruler must consider and respect the people he rules. Basic principle of leadership, I think.
The larger center gate is for the King. The two side gates are made smaller and low, forcing the King’s companion to bow when entering.

Sundial in front of the Yeonghwadang Pavilion - State exams were conducted in front of Yeonghwadang Pavilion on special occasions, in the presence of the king.

The guide allowed the visitors about 10 minutes at each location to take pictures and appreciate the beauty of the place before moving on to the next stop.

Next stop – Aeryeonji Pond and Uiduhap.

 
Going through the “gate of everlasting youth” to the Aeryeonji Pond.

To enter the pavilion, one must passed through a stone gate called the Bullomun.

Bullomon (In Chinese characters means “No Getting Old Gate”).

Aeryeonji Pond at Changdeokgung Secret Garden.

As we and the other tour members go wow at the scenery and snapped plenty of photos, our guide was rather amused and told us that the next stop (Jondeokjeong Pavilion) would be even better. She was absolutely correct.
Gwallanjeong Pavilion with the colourful autumn leaves in November.

Gwallanjeong Pavilion is fan shaped and has two legs in water to simulate being on a boat. This is nice place for the king to relax.

Jondeokjeong Pavilion in autumn.

The Jondeokjeong Pavilion is a hexagonal, two storey roof pavilion.
On the underside of the painted ceiling are two dragons playing with a wish fulfilling jewel.

Yellow leaves of the ginkgo, matching well with the red and orange leaves of the other species.



The colourful autumn leaves in November.

I was glad that the colourful autumn foliage were still on the trees, although a lot of leaves were already on the ground.
To get to our next stop, we need to hike up a relatively steep slope leading to the back and highest point within the garden. The guide walked very fast and by now, half the tour group was far behind me.

Hiking up to the Ongnyucheon Stream, our next stop.


Arriving at the Ongnyucheon Stream, with its 3 small pavilions - Soyojeong (Pavilion), Taegeukjeong (Pavilion), and Chunguijeong (Pavilion).


Soyojeong (Pavilion) with red leaves forming the backdrop.

Soyoam, which stands in the middle of Ongnyucheon, is formed from a rock with a rounded water channel carved into it and features a small waterfall (now almost dry). Kings and courtiers enjoyed playing a game of composing poem (like rap) and drinking wine here from floating cups. One who cannot compose the next line loses and has to drink the wine.
Ongnyucheon - King Injo's own handwriting inscribed on Soyoam.

After visiting the gardens and pavilions, the guide brought us to view the men and women living quarters. The gate leading to men’s quarters were taller than that of the women. Was it because the men were taller than the women?

No.

The reason was that in the old days, men were carried on sedan chairs and so needed the taller gate!

On the way out of the garden, we passed by a 750 year old Juniper tree. So old that it needs plenty of wire and metal supports.

In summary, we were glad to have the chance to visit the Secret Garden in late autumn and still managed to see most of the awesome fall foliage. If we had came a week earlier, it would have been even nicer when the leaves were at its peak. If we had came a week later, we may not even get to see any of the colours at all.

Continue Reading »

Revisit to the Bukchon Hanok Village and Samcheongdong

9 November 2014

 

The Bukchon Hanok Village is located in between the Changdeokgung and Gyeongbukgung. By the time we finished our visit to the Changdeokgung and its Secret Garden, it was nearly 3 PM. We walked to the restaurant where we had our lunch and started our exploration of the Bukchon Hanok Village from there. We had been to Bukchon Hanok VIllage before in our previous trip, where we visited several K-drama filming locations located within. But that was in spring and this place was worth a revisit in autumn as we may get to see something new and interesting.

 

This map, posted on the outside of the restaurant, shows our starting point. I also took a map from the restaurant earlier that shows the 8 recommended scenic photo spots within the village.
The first one was just round the corner and it was the one offering visitors a view of Changdeokgung. After spending almost the whole day at Changdeokgung, this view was not so exciting after all.

View of the Changdeokgung from Bukchon Photo Stop No 1.

Heading west down the street, we came to Dalsuda shop serving shaved ice desserts or patbingsu. It was just what we needed after spending almost 2 hours on our feet touring Changdeokgung’s Secret Garden.
The shop is located at the street corner and we chose to sit outside.  Perfect location for people watching while we enjoyed the shaved ice with nuts (almonds, crushed Oreo cookie, walnuts, vanilla favoured syrup).

Our dessert came with a small side dish of sweeten boiled red beans which we added to the shaved ice. This Dalsuda patbingsu is akin to the “ice kachang” commonly found in Singapore, but much, much tastier.

People watching at the outdoor seating area at the Dalsuda dessert cafe.  This street leads uphill to a school and is the same street where we came before to find the two hanoks used in the filming of the K-drama “Heartstrings” featuring Park Shin Hye and Jung Yong Hwa.

After our hot coffee and cold dessert, we continued up the street to browse at the shops. Compared to our previous visit, more shops were opened this time of day.

Interesting piece of artwork that blended well with the natural vegetation. The sloth is painted while the plants are real.

There are shops selling interesting curios along this street.

We bought a fashion accessory from this MIK shop. The owner is a young man who actually designs the accessories himself. He showed us a catalogue and also photos of a few Korean celebrities wearing his designs. The items were quite nice but pricey.
Continuing down the street, we saw many familiar sights that reminded me of my previous trip here.

-  Park Shin Hye’s hanok (house number 70-5) and Jung Yong Hwa’s hanok (house number 70-28) as featured in the drama Heartstrings.

- shop where I bought my mug featuring Yoon Eun Hye with her short hairstyle from the “1st Shop of the Coffee Prince” drama.

- school at the end of the road.

We retraced the same path we took in our previous visit. Indeed, autumn brings different sights and experiences.


Cafe in a traditional wooden hanok, next to the school at the bottom of this road.

Some of the hanoks were operating as guest houses. This one was offering customers a chance to dress up in traditional costume for a photo shoot, with or without the sunglasses
We then crossed the busy Bukchon-ro Road to explore the western side of the village, entering through the familiar Bukchon Ro 11 Gil.

Golden statue of Budhha peering over a roof of a hanok along Bukchon Ro 11 Gil.

There are a few recommended photo stops here but we skipped those (been there, done that) and went to the Sanggojae, the house featured in Korea drama “Personal Taste” starring Lee Min Ho.  The house is number 43 located at the higher part of Bukchon. Many tourists were taking turns to pose outside this house. 

Sanggojae, the house featured in Korea drama “Personal Taste” starring Lee Min Ho. This photo was meant to be send via Whatsapp to relatives who were fans of Lee Min Ho back home.

Tree with ripe persimmons in the garden of the house opposite House 43.

We continued heading west, passed the photo spots 6 and 7, and soon came to the edge of Bukchon. From here, we could see Samcheongdong below us and the autumn colours of the trees at Bukhansan in the distance.

Autumn colours of the trees at Samcheongdong below us and those at Bukhansan on the background, on the right.

We walked down a steep flight of stairs to get to Samcheong-ro below.
Steep and long flight of stairs leading from Bukchon to Samcheon-ro below. I believe this is Photo Spot No 8.


SamCheongdong at bottom of the stairs.

Samcheong-ro is lined with cafes, museums, antique shops and a number of famous art galleries.

Samcheong-ro was pretty busy at this time, i.e. dinner time. We could either have dinner here or trek to a reputably best samgyetang restaurant in Seoul called the Tosokchon, located near the Gyeongbukgung station. Getting to the Tosokchon means some walking but there were loads of things to see on the way.
Checking out an interesting ToCharacter  (Korean Cartoon characters) gift shop along a side street off Samcheong-ro.

Posing with Wingcle Bear (Korean Cartoon Charactor).


  Photos taken while resting on a road side bench.

Fallen leaves of the ginkgo trees.

We continued along the Samcheong-ro road, next to the stone walls of the Gyeongbukgung. By then, it was too dark to shoot good photos. This stretch of road was also lined with ginkgo trees and was quite good for a romantic stroll. 

We soon came to the busy road where the Gwanghwamun is located. Gwanghwamun is the main gate of Gyeongbokgung (Palace) and is located to the south of the palace. Gwanghwamun is comprised of three arched gates called Hongyemun, with the middle gate reserved for the king and the other two for his officials.
Gwanghwamun was beautifully lit at night. A fellow tourist helped to take this shot for us.

From the Gwanghwamun, it was not too far to walk to the Tosokchon restaurant for our samgyetang dinner. More about Tosokchon in my next post.

Continue Reading »