Day 5 in Seoul: Jongmyo Shrine --> Lotte World Aquarium --> Lotte World Tower
Day 5 was another leisurely one because we were going to transfer to another hotel, the Lotte Hotel World. We decided to use the morning to visit a UNESCO World Heritage Site before returning to Ibis for the last time to check out and transfer hotels.
Jongmyo Shrine is like the king of all shrines in Korea. It is where the spirit tablets of deceased kings and queens are enshrined. To date, rites are still being performed for the deceased royals. According to the brochure I picked up, that is the main reason why Jongmyo Shrine was designated a UNESCO World Heritage.
Unfortunately, it was only after we arrived that we were told that entry was only allowed with guided tours and we had to wait for the next English tour! They were very strict about it and turned away many tourists. I've included the visitors information from the brochure as well in the picture below for your reference to plan the time you should arrive for the tour.
I was kind of annoyed because this totally escaped me despite me doing some homework prior the trip.
Since we had a lot of time on our hand, mom decided to haul us back to Kwang Jang Market for a second round of shopping and eating before we came back for Jongmyo Shrine. That cheered me up too as I had really loved Kwang Jang.
Having said that, I was glad for the guided tour. It was very informative and the guide brought to life with her descriptions, what we were viewing. I'd admit that it would otherwise have been a very dull visit as the place was very solemn.
The guided tour itself was only about an hour long but it was more than sufficient to cover the grounds, with the guide's explanations focusing mainly about the rituals, Jeongjeon which was the main hall of the shrine and Yeongnyeongjeon, a sub-hall built to enshrine a king's ancestors.
Guided tours are held in 4 languages: Korean, English, Japanese and Mandarin.
Tourist Information
Jongmyo Shrine
Website: http://english.cha.go.kr/html/HtmlPage.do?pg=/royal/jongmyoShrine.jsp&mn=EN_02_05
Address: 157 Jong-ro, Jongno-gu, Seoul 03135
Please refer to pictures above for information on operating hours, timings of guided tours, admission prices and regulations pertaining to visits.
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