Adventures in South Korea

Day 7:
Today we had a very adventurous day~ We went took the subway to Seoul with our co-worker Patrick and his Korean friend. We came along some interesting characters in the market on our way to watch a traditional Korean ceremony called The Royal Ancestral Rite of Joseon which only happens once a year.
The ceremony took place in a shrine dedicated to the kings from the Joseon Dynasty which lasted for over 500 years. They played ancient Korean classical music and the women in purple danced as the king's precession entered the shrine. It was an interesting look into the culture of Korea, it's too bad the whole ceremony was done with their backs facing us.
After the ceremony, we went to Itaewon district in Seoul, which is a famous shopping market for foreigners. There were lots of cool shops, and a group of random local girls wanted us to take a picture with them, so of course- we got one for ourselves :)
The street were jammed packed, which made for some awesome people watching! This man was playing his flute on the side of the road...
and this little girl caught our attention in the crowd...isn't she cute?!
Before heading home, we stopped off at a Buddhist temple that had three massive gold Buddha statues in it. Apparently, it's the main centre for Buddhism in all of Korea! There were really cool colorful laterns hanging everywhere becuase it was Buddha's birthday this Saturday. Here's a shot of one of the Buddhas...

We couldn't have asked for a nicer day to have our first adventure into Seoul. After spending the entire day in the sunshine, we are exhausted! We're off to bed xo

With love from South Korea,
Brandon and Shayna