Seoul - April 2014

Well, a little shorter trip, only there three days this time. 
No time to go off driving around,
so I had to be content with some dawn and evening walks.

Photo by Mark W. Laughlin

This main street has the U.S. Embassy on one side,
and the Korean President's Residence on the other.

Photo by Mark W. Laughlin

Very early morning, I stopped at a small temple. 
Overhead were those little paper lanterns,
strung together, so many they touched each other, making a solid canopy.

Photo by Mark W. Laughlin

...more temple décor.

Photo by Mark W. Laughlin

 Insa-dong, or "Art Street" is a cool place to hang out...

Photo by Mark W. Laughlin

All the little side streets are full of small restaurants,
art shops, souvenirs, all sorts of things.

Photo by Mark W. Laughlin

But just after dawn, there isn't anyone there. 
It's a striking contrast to the bustle and crowd that
normally inhabits the place, especially on a spring evening...

Photo by Mark W. Laughlin

...but pretty eerie with no one around...

 

Photo by Mark W. Laughlin

This unusual building serves as a great landmark
as one walks from Insa-dong over to Namdeamun,
another, but very different, market area.

Photo by Mark W. Laughlin

 Nicely decorated urban river.

Photo by Mark W. Laughlin

Namdeamun is a cool place.  It's a multi-block, rabbit-warren of a place, made up of many, many small (tiny) stall-like shops.  I've been there twice and I'm sure I've only scratched the surface.  You have shops with pots...

Photo by Mark W. Laughlin

...and a lady serving up some pretty serious soup...but there are also shops with:
- Lady's Underwear
   - Wicker Baskets
      - Shoes
         - Bags/Suitcases
            - Ginseng products...
...and on and on and on.
 
 

Photo by Mark W. Laughlin

I love nighttime...

Photo by Mark W. Laughlin

Lots of traffic, on the evening President Obama was just a block away
having dinner with the Korean President.

Photo by Mark W. Laughlin

Statue of the leading developer of the Korean alphabet..
 

Photo by Mark W. Laughlin

Lighted monument just in front of the Korean President's Residence...

 

Photo by Mark W. Laughlin

...and the palace, just across the street.

 

 

Lovely evening for a walk, cool, breezy, and very secure.  I noticed that quite a few of the people out for a stroll, were in fact, not strolling, and were not standing with girlfriends...they were just "standing", at regular intervals along the street. 20-30 feet apart, for at least three long blocks, all with those little Secret Service earphone cables running down their necks.  All trying, impossibly, to look like they were not security for Obama's State Visit.

Cool place Korea.
I enjoy every time I visit.

Y'all take care,

              - Mark W. Laughlin