Koreans like Teddy Bear Museums. There are two on Jeju Island and one in Seoul at the Namsan Tower. I found out there was one in Gyeongju and waited for spring weather to visit. Later we found out we went to the wrong one and there are actually TWO Teddy Bear Museums in Gyeongju too so we'll have to go back to see the other one!I found out about the Gyeongju Teddy Bear Museum while reading the inflight magazine when I recently flew on Air Busan to Taipei. Their b...

Another attraction about a ten minute walk west of the Coex mall is the Seonjeongneung Royal Tombs. This was my last stop of the day and I thought it would be just a park with a couple of round burial mounds but turned out to be quite interesting. Entrance fee is 1000w ($1) and best to follow their map as the park is quite big so you dont want to wander aimlessly on the paths. Just by the entrance is a small building housing an history centre. Its all in korean b...

About a ten minute walk west of the Bongeunsa Temple by the Coex mall you will come to the Seoul Training Centre for Important Intangible Cultural Properties. Bit of a mouthful and the entrance signs are not in english but look for an office building that looks like a museum or a gallery on the ground floor. Admission is free and access is allowed to the first two floors. There are displays of many traditional pieces of craft and artwork, along with musical instr...

Seoul is known for being an urban metropolis, not for having grand elaborate temple complexes. I was surprised to find a large temple complex across the road on the north side from the Coex mall, on par with the grand temples of Haeinsa or Bulgoksa in the south of the country. I was really impressed by this temple and didnt know they had places like this in Seoul. To begin you come thru a giant gate with giant doors. The outsides of the doors are painted with gia...

My next stop was the Namsangol Hanok village which was easy to get to at the intersection of two subway lines. Just outside the metro is Korea House another traditional style building. Inside was some large wedding ceremony taking place in the interior courtyard. I asked if this was a performance and was told it was real so they did not want photography. I had already taken a couple of pics thru the window as it was chilly to go outside. They also do scheduled pe...