When I visited South Korea for the first time, back in 2017, I did something I don’t typically do – I didn’t research it AT ALL. I literally just showed up and winged it. It honestly made for a pretty cool experience, because frankly sometimes I will research a place so much I almost feel as though I’ve been there already after having seen so many pictures of it. Well, this time I was there for a much shorter time, so I did some prior planning, just to make sure I got to see a few things I’d missed last time. Interestingly though, when I got home I found that I had taken pictures of a lot of the same things, specifically when it came to the various palaces. Both last time and this time I found myself drawn to details of the doors. I originally thought I’d just share the very first image, simply because it’s my favorite and I try not to dilute down my favorite by posting a bunch of others. However, in the spirit of “travel with me”, I decided to share more, and not just the doors, but the doorways, to give you a little more context. Hopefully they jump out at you visually in the same way that they caught my eye.
All of the pictures in this series were taken inside the Changdeokgung (sometimes just Changdeok) Palace complex, which was originally completed in 1412 (80 years before Christopher Columbus left on his voyage!). Over the centuries since, the palace has burned and been rebuilt a number of times (the most recent iteration was completed in the 1600s). Interestingly, Korea’s last Emperor lived in this palace until his death in 1926!
More next week!
–Dan Thompson
