SOUTH KOREA: Myeongdong and Yonggungsa Temple

Myeongdong Theater

We couldn't have went to Seoul at any better time than we did. 2011 was the peak of South Korea's push for tourism. Even in prime time US TV shows, a number ad spots for "Visit Korea Year" by Korea Tourism Organization were aired. During this year, a number of "free tours" are offered by Korean travel agencies for their customers. These free tours are government sponsored so the agency still gets paid for providing free tours to tourists. The only drawback is that you are required to give them information like Passport numbers and the likes and you have to complete a survey after the tour. Still, the little inconvenience is nothing compared to the free tour they offer.

One of the stores with a bright facade

The first free tour we took was a trip to Myeongdong. This one makes sense for the government since Myeongdong is kind of like a shopping capital of South Korea. More tourist in the area means more customers for the local businesses. It is evident when we got there too that a good amount of customers are tourists. The people behind this project really deserves a pat in the back. It's good for both the locals and tourists alike. It's a good thing that there are still some government tourism agencies out there that finds way to spend their budget wisely. This project obviously doesn't cost them too much but the impression it gives to tourists and local business owners means a lot.

As per the official site of Korea Tourism Organization, Myeongdong is "a flashy commercial district often compared to Tokyo’s Shinjuku". Well, we've been to Shinjuku and we'll say Shinjuku is much flashier and brighter than Myeongdong. We'd say close, but it's not quite there yet.

We're not big fans of shopping during travel except for souvenir shopping. Most stuff on sale here are international brand clothing and apparel. It is a little bit cheaper compared to other shops here in the US but it is not that cheap to be burdened of carrying it during travel and bulking up our luggage. What we came there for is the food. There were a lot of choices and most of the restaurants are packed. We just followed our noses and we ended up in Bulgogi Brothers as we have written here.

The next free tour, which we took on the day of our return flight, was a 2-hour tour of Yonggungsa Temple. It included the travel time from and to the airport so we spent really just about half an hour in the temple. It's free and there was nothing else for us to do waiting for our flight so we went for it.

When we got there, we were expecting to land in a market of some sort thinking that this is another free tour aiming to boost local business in the area. Instead, we were guided straight to the temple and the tour guide was great on explaining the history behind it. It's obvious that this tour targets the passengers on-transit; which is a great idea to kind of make tourists interested to Seoul after this free trip and the government hoping for them to consider South Korea as a next trip destination.

To summarize our tour guide as far as we can remember, Yonggungsa is basically a Buddhist temple where people go to to pray for a child, wealth, and luck. She said that the people who started the temple were fishermen and they still often go here to pray for good luck before they fish. There are a number of temples in the complex but visitors are not allowed to enter any of them. We were allowed to peek on every temple and take pictures of the interior except for the main temple with 4 Buddha statues in it.