My flight home does not leave until 6:15PM and I need to check out of the hotel by noon. Not wanting to spend six hours sitting at the airport even though I will be eligible to be in the business class lounge as I am flying in business class for my return trip so I can get some sleep on my overnight flight, I was looking for something to do for a few hours in Seoul.  So I got out the Korea guide book I had purchased before coming and looked up some local attractions that we had not visited as part of our tour. What caught my eye was another palace (one of the five in Seoul)- the Changdeokgung Palace and its “secret garden”, located near the Gyeongbokgung Palace we visited early in the tour. The Changdeokgung Palace and garden were first built in 1405 to serve as a secondary palace to Gyeongbokgung until Japanese invasions destroyed most of the palaces in the 1500s. Since Changdeokgung was the first one rebuilt, it served as the primary royal residence throughout the 1600-1800s. Unlike other palaces, its layout is designed to harmonize with nature rather than sticking to a set structure.

I also remembered some of our fellow travelers saying that they had visited this palace during some free time and felt it was even prettier than the Gyeongbokgung Palace,  and that a tour of the secret garden was well worth it. My decision was made; I would spend the rest of my free time in Seoul visiting the Changdeokgung Palace and its secret garden.

I checked out of the hotel at 11AM, left my luggage at the hotel, grabbed a cab and arrived at the palace ticket office about 11:20 where I found out that because I was a “senior” I could visit the palace at no charge but would have to pay 5000won ($3.79) for the guided tour of the secret garden, and the next tour leaves at 11:30! Just like life, timing is often everything. The direction signs said the garden entrance was an 8-10 minute walk; I could do that; and I was able to join the assembled group of about 30 people just as they were being addressed by the local tour guide. We proceeded to embark on a one hour guided tour of various locations in the secret garden (called Huwon). Needless to say it is a magical place full of ponds, trees and pagodas built for the exclusive use of the king & queen. The guide told us stories about what the various buildings were used for, what life was like back in those days, along with old pictures and drawings, etc. It was pretty fascinating and yet another reason why taking a guided tour is more rewarding then simply walking through a location by oneself.

A fascinating story conveyed to us was the story of the development of the Korean written language. Until 1446 Koreans relied on the use of Hanja, the Chinese alphabet, for their written language. The Koreans had their own spoken language but not a written one. Sejong, a king in the Choson Dynasty, created the Korean alphabet, called Hangul, but surprisingly the elite class continued to use the Hanja alphabet for 500 more years before formally transferring to the Hangul system. There was good employment for people who would translate the Hanja writings to the spoken Korean language and later to the Hangul alphabet.

After the tour I left the palace and finally found a location where I could catch a cab (they did not simply stop anywhere because of traffic flow) and return to the hotel to retrieve my luggage and find my way to the airport using the airport limousine bus service that fellow travelers raved about. It turns out that the Hotel Prince, where we stayed, is in a superb location to catch these buses which run every 15-20 minutes. The bus stop was literally right across the street. And the buses were new, clean and outfitted with only 3 seats per row, with spacious reclining chairs. They were indeed “limousine” buses! I wish I had known this when I first arrived in Seoul; I would not have hired a private car to take me to the hotel.

The trip to the airport was fast and flawless. I was flying with a new (for me) airline on my return to Seattle: Asiana, a Korean based company. The other local carrier  is Korean Airline but I liked the Asiana schedule more. Check-in was swift and flawless, as was getting through immigration and security, and within 20 minutes  of arriving at the big, modern airport I was sitting in the business class lounge in a cubicle on a comfortable chair with ottoman, eating some snacks.

The Asiana flight was marvelous! By the way I had mispronounced its name; it is “aah..z.ana”, not “a…z. ana” as I had surmised. The food is some of the best I have had on a flight and service was superb. I would fly with them again. We left on time and pretty much arrived in Seattle on time, 10+ hours later.

Epilogue:

– Country # 103 is in the books.

-The trip and tour exceeded my expectations. I was impressed with both.

-Korea is a marvelous country. It is sad they cannot achieve peace with their northern neighbors and families can be reunited.

-Korean food, for the most part, was great. No wonder Korean restaurants are popping in the the US.

-Monastery living is not for me! Glad I experienced it but I am not cut out for their lifestyle.

Parting Comment: “The purpose of life is to live it, to taste it, to experience to the utmost, to reach out eagerly and without fear for newer and richer experiences.” – Eleanor Roosevelt