I often hear about Goryeo and Joseon dynasty whenever I watch Korean period dramas. These kingdoms exist before the modern-day Korea and were ruled by a King. Most of the Korean drama stories revolve on these dynasties especially King Taejo, the founder of Goryeo. Of course, kings and queens wore the most colorful hanboks and live on their grandiose palaces and I can't help but be curious on how and where the series were filmed with the old setting.

Now I understand why it's like easy for them to create bunch of period dramas because there's a lot of palaces in Korea that are well-preserved and huge. And not just as filming location, these palaces are now tourist attractions too. During our second day in Korea, we explored the two huge palaces in the middle of the modern-day Seoul, the Gyeongbokgung and Changdeokgung palaces.

Before we enter Gyeongbokgung, we witnessed the Royal Guard Changing Ceremony at the entrance. The guards wore their costumes in bright blue and red. After the parade, we were allowed to roam inside the palace. The place was huge, too much walking caused painful muscles on my legs. We enjoyed taking pictures of the walls, roofs, arches, doors and all the corners. There was even a view of the mountain on the horizon.

The palace's back garden is the most amazing thing I've ever seen, with a large pond and a pavilion in the middle that reflects through the water. It was so beautiful and perfect that I've even made it my computer's wallpaper. On one of the exits near the pavilion, we went out to see the Presidential Blue House. It was well-guarded so we took the picture from afar.

We were already tired when we went to Changdeokgung that we were no longer that amazed with the palace because Gyeongbokgung is much more bigger. However, in Changdeokgung we were able to rest under the maple trees. The abundance of pink azaleas and few remaining cherry blossoms in its garden made the place even more beautiful.


Gyeongbokgung Palace









Changdeokgung Palace