Changdeokgung
Changdeokgung, or Changdeok Palace, is the first UNESCO World Heritage site that I visited in South Korea, and my ninth overall. The palace, located in Jongno-gu, Seoul, is constructed in 1405 by the Joseon dynasty, which ruled Korea for five centuries, starting in the 14th century. It was initially built to function as a secondary one, but its role eventually got more important to the royalty. The palace grounds It was late in the afternoon when I arrived at the 45-hectare complex; I had difficulty navigating and decoding the subway map at first. It was also starting to get cold, according to Google Now the temp when I was there was 1°C but felt like -1°C due to wind chill factor. I find it hard to take pictures; either I fumble with the gloves on, or my fingers feel like freezing whenever I take them off to click the shutter. Winter in the palace There weren't a lot of visitors when I was there, maybe on the account that it was in the middle of winter. Th