Korea Diary 5 : Hwaseong Fortress, Seoul Zoo and Palaces

My legs are aching from a lot of walking over the past few days. I feel so lazy because I've become so tired from daily activities! I should not be this sleepy. I've also been eating atrociously for the past two weeks (expect a healthy eating fad once I'm home :P ) so that may account for some of the sluggish feelings.

Three days ago we headed over to Hwaseong Fortress to have a look and a walk. It's very large and has a VERY steep hill (which we only climbed half of :P). There were so many different parts and sections to it, we got lost a few times :P Also it was where the drama Daejanggum was filmed, I haven't seen it, but it's a pretty cool fact I think :P

View of the Fortress and city from the hill

Yesterday we went to the ZOO! I feel bad about getting more excited about a zoo than about cultural things...but zoos are full of fluffy animals! I also saw my first ever hippo, and my goodness those things are big! They terrified me, despite being behind a large iron fence and a ditch :P My favourite was the Fennec foxes though, I wanted to steal one!!!

Today was a long day. A really long day. We went to see two palaces, Changdeokgung in the morning and Gyeonghokgung in the afternoon. And these palaces are big. Big and spread out. But they are incredibly beautiful, I think I preferred the gardens and outdoor areas of Changdeokgung, and the buildings of Gyeonghokgung (although we didn't go into the Secret Garden as it was expensive and we didn't want to spend the money when the blossoms weren't out yet). Both of these palaces were so much fun to explore (despite lots of no entry signs meaning we had to go back).

Changdeokgung (and me :P)

Changdeokgung

Gyeonghokgung

Gyeonghokgung

Tomorrow is a full day of shopping (more money wasted > . <) and then on Monday I fly back to England! I can't believe my holiday is nearly up! It feels like just a couple of days since I arrived and now I have to leave again :(

(P.s. Spring is here!)

Sunny xxxxx