Friday, January 11, 2019

Korea 2018 | Bugak Skyway Palgakjeong {북악스카이 팔각정} in Winter - First Snow This Year!

Just 2 days after Lil Pumpkin and I arrived, Seoul had its first day of snow this year {Sat 24 Nov 2018}!!

Lucky us!! My Korean friends said that it usually snows later in the year so we were really blessed to experience it during our visit...

Lil Pumpkin was asking about it on our plane ride there and I'm so happy that she could play and experience a snowy winter's day again... It has been many years since she had the chance to!

Early that morning, I woke up to excited messages from friends telling me that it was snowing and quickly jumped out of bed to pull the blinds from our window...

Oh it was such a beautiful sight to see the snow falling and covering everything in a wondrous layer of white! J.B Priestley said it best,

"The first fall of snow is not only an event, it is a magical event. You go to bed in one kind of a world and wake up in another quite different, and if this is not enchantment then where is it to be found?"
No matter how old I get, I reckon I'd never outgrow the thrill of looking out of my window and seeing falling snow.

White, fluffy snow!! *yay*

Good thing we woke up earlier to catch the falling snow as by late morning, most of the first snow in Seoul city had melted or was cleared away from the streets by the efficient Koreans haha.

Can you tell I’m very happy to see and play with snow again too??!

Later that night we went up to Bugak Skyway after yakiniku dinner with Jaye and his family.

We had a lovely surprise to see that there was still plenty of white, fluffy snow on the ground!!

The Bugak Skyway offers lovely views of Seoul and its surrounding hills from the high mountain road connecting the Buam-dong and Seongbuk-dong districts in northern Seoul.

The highlight is Palgakjeong {i.e. Octagonal Pavilion} at the top of the mountain, allowing visitors a panoramic view of Mt. Bukhansan National Park’s Bohyeonbong Peak and downtown Seoul. Jaye drove us up but even if you don’t own a car, it’s a moderately priced taxi ride {about 6,000 won} from downtown, and there are walking paths {about 1hr from the bottom}, too.

You can enter the Palgakjeong during the day {Summer: 9am - 4pm, Winter: 10am - 3pm} to eat at the restaurant upstairs or coffee shop downstairs, but since we arrived about 8.30pm, it was closed.

However, we could still climb the exterior of the Palgakjeong to its observation deck to appreciate not only the beauty of mother nature, but a panoramic view of the entire city.

Unfortunately, there was a layer of fog that night so we couldn't see very far but nonetheless, we were very happy to play with the snow!!

There was more than enough to make cute snowmans or throw snowballs at each other hahaha..

This is the "slow mailbox". I wish I prepared a postcard before going up... apparently if you put a letter into the slow mailbox, the letter will be delivered a year later.

By that time, you might have already forgotten about that letter you posted so what a pleasant surprise it is to receive a letter from your past self and see how much has changed in that year, no?

It costs 3,000 won for domestic mail and 5,000 won for air mail.

Doesn't the sound of unadulterated laughter by sweet, innocent children fill your heart with joy? ❤


Bugak Skyway Palgakjeong Pavilion {북악스카이 팔각정}
267 Bugaksan-ro, Jongno-gu, Seoul {서울특별시 종로구 북악산로 267 (평창동)}
Admission: Free
Exterior & Park open daily 24 hrs / Interior open daily 9am - 4pm {summer}, 10am - 3pm {winter}
Website: http://bukak-palgakjeong.tistory.com/

*****
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3 comments:

Theresa Mahoney said...

How exciting for you and Little Pumpkin to play in the snow! I am glad you both enjoyed it. I would, however, cry if it snowed on my visit there. We get so much snow here in the winter, Jason and I are already looking for houses in the south of the U.S. to relocate to so we can get away from the snow and cold lol.

January 14, 2019 at 11:56 AM
Anonymous said...

Hey very nice blog!

January 14, 2019 at 4:28 PM
An Apel a Day said...

I have a student that I used to have that lives in Seoul. I get to see pictures at times. It looks like a cool place to live.

We keep getting snow here. Ha! I'm longing for sunshine.

January 22, 2019 at 11:13 AM

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