An Indian Wedding @ Hyderabad

Following my trip to Seoul - i came back and flew out within 12 hours to Hyderabad for my friend's wedding. It was such a rush that i only have my photos for the memories.

Sitting on a tut-tut

Dress shopping for the wedding


The Indian streets

The wedding



A little bit of sight seeing

Seoul - Day 3

We woke up bright and bush eyed to go to Gyeongbokgung Palace - just in time for the Chinese language tours. This palace was originally built in 1395, burnt and rebuilt in 1867. During the Japanese invasion, it was dismantled or burnt. Currently, it is estimated that only 40% of the palace has been re-constructed since then. Talk about bad feng shui?

 

We managed to also make it in time to see the changing of the guards at the palace.





Since it was Summer, hot and sweaty, by the time the changing of the guards completed. We were relieved and trying to make a getaway to the sheltered entrance.




In terms of meeting expectations, one of my colleagues correctly summed it up, "Back in the past, Korea was also a part of China. In a way to be expected, you should never have a province whose palace is even more lavish than Beijing" Architecturally, a lot of elements and buildings were very similar - except for the small innovations that was built in with the Korean ingenuity.


The mini statues on the roof tops here - depict the characters from Journey to the West.



The family troop was hungry again after the palace tour. Off we went to a local Korea market that i had researched - Gwangjang market.


If anything, i felt that my elders really enjoyed visiting this local slice of life better than any cultural village. The market showcased local produce, street food, clothing at reasonable prices & this was definitely off the beaten road - since we didn't spot any tourist for miles in the afternoon.

Blood sausage with glutinous rice.

Cold Noodles on a hot summer day

Makolli (Rice wine) to keep us company.



Hot crispy pancakes made from scratch. Yes, that is fresh soy beans to be made into flour for the pancakes.






And after a short rest, we finished the night at Myeodong for shopping.

Seoul - Day 2

On Day 2, we were productive - very productive. In the morning, we were taken for a half day tour of the DMZ zone between North & South Korea.

Photos weren't really allowed except for some common areas. One of the highlights of the tour was to visit this tunnel that North Korea tried to tunnel through to the South as an invasion technique. The South military smartly drilled little holes of water to track the progress of the North Korea tunneling works. When the holes were emptied of water, that was when they knew. 

One of the other highlights was a train station that was built in South Korea as a hope that the North and South will be reunified again. 

Once the tour completed, we visited Insadong - popularly known as an antique, art, trinkets street of ancient Korean culture. It was a good place a chill and relax for shopping & eating. In the past, it was known as a painter enclave. Nowadays, from what my eyes can see, it is a pedestrian walkway with plenty of shops selling artwork. 'Shrugs'

Off the beaten track, we went into a temple that i spotted on our way to Insadong :) and found that it was actually the Jogyesa Temple - the chief temple of Korean Buddhism. We found it peaceful and calm within the temple. It was very tastefully done - without going all out ostentatious. Well worth a visit if you are in the area. 

For a quick detour, we headed for the customary Korean Ginseng Chicken Soup. 

And ended the night with a stroll down Cheonggyecheon Stream 

& shopping. Talk about a truly fruitful day.