We are in South Korea today. Well technically, we are docked in Incheon, which is about an hour and a half west of Seoul. So, we’re taking the herd bus to Seoul this am. It’s a drop and do your own thing bus, though. No tour. Huzzah. Because my main focus for today is shopping. 

Sidebar complaint: I do not understand why the cruise line only gives you a few hours in Seoul. The boat doesn’t leave until tomorrow. But we only had 5 hours. We could have left earlier and come back much later so we had some real time to do things in Seoul. As it was, we were super rushed all day. And I don’t like being rushed.

Incheon is only about 40 miles from the North Korean border, and on the drive into Seoul, I kept seeing these camouflage pillbox structures. They are part of the country’s layered homeland defense system against potential North Korean incursions. A slightly unnerving reminder of the constant tension here. 

We arrived in Seoul right in front of the Gyeongbokgung Palace. Built in 1395, it was the primary royal palace of the Joseon Dynasty (1392–1910). Literally translated, the name means, “Palace Greatly Blessed by Heaven.”

I don’t have time for palaces today, though. Today is for shopping.

But wait. There’s something going on outside of the palace. Something super colorful and dramatic.

Changing of the Palace Guards

We accidentally caught the changing of the royal palace guards. It’s not something I had planned to do today, but we arrived in front of the palace at exactly the right time, and it felt wrong to skip it.

The ceremony reenacts the ritual of the Sumungun – the gatekeepers of the Joseon Dynasty, who were responsible for opening and closing the palace gates. It starts with a super loud drum, the eomgo, the purpose of which is to drive away evil spirits and establish the authority of the royal court. And also to get the attention of anyone within earshot.

The ceremony was super colorful – everyone was wearing some combination of yellow, blue, red, white, and black. Turns out, this scheme is traditional Korean color theory, or obangsaek . These colors represent the natural elements in the environment: fire, water, trees, precious metals, and the earth. They map onto the five cardinal directions – north, south, east, west, and center – and the five cosmic elements. Every color in every robe at the ceremony is doing a job.

I couldn’t figure out what the guy with the quiver and arrows. But it turns out he was just for show. Kinda disappointed feats of archery weren’t part of the ceremony. 

Shopping in Insa Dong

After we’d had our fill of the ceremony, we tried to get an Uber to the shopping district called Insa Dong, but there was some kind of protest situation in the area, and getting an uber or a taxi was impossible. Gave up and started walking. 

Insa-dong is one of Seoul’s most famous shopping and cultural districts. There is one main road, with alleys on each side. And within those alleys are galleries, restaurants, teahouses, and cafes. 

I was after the galleries. There are about 100 of them, offering all sorts of traditional Korean fine art. There was the usual glut of souvenir shops, but also some interesting artisan things. I bought this beautiful handmade vase, some tiny tea bowls, and some various teas. 

Stopped to admire the beautiful packaging of whatever these are. I thought they might be soaps. Then I was offered a sample. It was not soap. It was jellied green tea. Honestly, it tasted a little like soap.  

Couldn’t resist sneaking a picture of these adorable little girls. They looked like they had been told, “wait here and do not move”. They did not move.

Ken found a guy who carved little creatures out of cow horns. Note the owls. There were owls all over the place in Seoul. Turns out, owls are traditional Korean symbols of wisdom and wealth. We bought two. 

We didn’t really have time to stop for a proper lunch, so we ducked into a convenience store for sustenance.

Shinsegae Department Store

I wanted to visit the perfume section of Shinsegae Department Store, the famous multi-level department store in Seoul. Think Korean Harrod’s. It took us a while to figure out where we were going, and then which of the many, many elevators would take us to perfume world. I thought Americans could pack an elevator. Nope. We’ve got nothing on the Koreans. Whatever the capacity of that elevator was, they got one more in. There was a kid in the elevator with us wearing this sweatshirt. Snapped a stealth pic. Because this English is priceless. 

I was interested in the South Korean perfume brand, Born to Stand Out. And I was all ready to make a purchase when I learned t hat we were in the duty free part of Shinsegae. You have to present your passport and a copy of your ticket showing your departure from Seoul.

Well, we are traveling, so we qualitfy right? After about 20 minutes of passing our phones back to each other to translate, I could not get Google translate to make the point that we were cruise passengers visiting for the day.

I was disappointed, but we can get Born to Stand Out in the US. I just wanted to say I bought Korean perfume in Korea.

When we got back to the bus, the protest situation was still going on. The lady in purple was absolutely screaming at the police about something. Damn, I really wish I spoke some Korean.

I don’t have it in me to do another 1-1/2 hour (there and back) herd bus ride back to Seoul tomorrow, so we’re going to see what kind of trouble we can get into in Incheon.

Geonbae!