Seoul…the most populous city in South Korea, the nation’s capital, the host of the 1988 Summer Olympics, and finally, my introduction to South Korea.

Due to where I was staying (and the great weather), it was a convenient walk to Seoul’s most famous palace, Gyeongbokgung Palace. Referred to as the “Northern Palace” due to its location compared to the other palaces within the city, it is the biggest of all the palaces. The old capital of Korea (Kaesong, modern-day North Korea) was moved to Hanyang (modern-day Seoul) in 1394. Gyeongbokgung Palace was then constructed in 1395. It was once destroyed by fire during the Imjin War and was later restored sometime between 1852 and 1919 during the reign of King Gojong. Included at this site are the National Palace Museum of Korea and the National Folk Museum. A popular thing to do when visiting here (for both locals and foreigners) is to rent a “hanbok” (traditional style of Korean clothing) to wear while walking the grounds. I, however, decided not to.

There was also a showcase for the “18th Korea Cultural Properties Craftsman’s Exhibition.”

Upon leaving the museum and palace (even on the way to the palace), I noticed that the city seems to have a nice contrast of preserving the old among all of the new. I also enjoy how the city is nicely accented by the surrounding mountainous landscape.

Not having anything else planned for the day, I decided to meander back towards my hotel and just wander around, following my curiosities. This is a good way to discover parts of a city that you don’t know exist.

After stopping to get an iced mocha (just like breakfast, there is never a bad time for a mocha), I finally decided to head back. Unbeknownst to me, at some point during my walk back, I stepped into what must have been a substantial pile of animal feces! I didn’t notice anything odd until I got back to my room. I didn’t understand why the smell of animal feces was pervading my room, especially since I arrived back to my room after housekeeping had come by.

Later on, while putting on my shoes to find dinner, I then discovered, to my horror, the now compacted remnants of the animal feces stuck to the bottom of my shoe! I quickly tried to clean it off in the toilet using wet toilet paper (which quickly degraded while trying to scrub). I tried to get as much of the caked-on mess off my shoe before realizing I had no choice but to try to rinse off as much as I could in the sink (there was no way I was going to risk that in the bathtub). While I was out, I looked around for any possible patches of grass big enough to scrape my shoes on, but I didn’t find anything. I just had to deal with the fact that there was going to be a foul odor in the room until the leftover matter started to dry more. I refused to walk around my room wearing my shoes for the rest of my stay and wore the cheap hotel slippers provided. I also tried to open the window as much as I could, which wasn’t that much.

The next morning, I had breakfast and then waited until check-out time before heading toward the fast train station. While at the station, I had an interesting encounter with a much older local man who seemed curious about me.

More on that in the next chapter about my time in Busan.