I just came around the corner,
and there's a bunch of people
mounting...what the?
It's ..they're..It's a human centipede, Bro
But dude. They're sucking on wangs
and pants out.
Ok, I guess this is where we take a
family photo. Weird.
What's up, Vagabuddies?
Welcome back to the channel.
Right now we are in Seoul, South Korea,
and we have a pretty fun day planned.
What are we going to get into here?
It's our first full day of exploring Seoul,
and we started off by walking along
the city walls, which have protected
the city for 600 years.
It's over two thousand years old,
and there's tons of culture.
We're going to start off by going to
the traditional part of town and
diving in to Korean traditional culture.
Let's go.
It's a beautiful, crisp, cold morning here
in Seoul, but honestly, it's so cool that
there are these old city walls.
Seoul is actually one of the most wired
cities in the world.
It's one of the most connected.
It's the ninth largest tourist destination
in the world.
We're going to do our best to dig
deep and find out more about
Seoul's roots.
As you saw earlier,
Seoul is surrounded by this massive
stone, circular wall
that was originally built to keep out
animals, thieves, and all that.
It's interesting to find out that
until the 19th Century,
it was opened and closed every single day,
and this was essentially an isolated city,
isolated from foreigners.
After the 19th Century,
the city was opened to foreigners;
It modernized and
now is a hub of the global economy,
the most wired city in the world
and home to over half
of South Korea's fifty million
person population.
We've just arrived to the traditional
village of Bukchon,
Honok Village, right?
We just need a disclaimer:
all pronunciations for all our Korean
vlogs, we're probably going to butcher
pronunciation on every single word.
We'll do our best.
This is a pretty cool spot.
It's definitely popular with tourists.
It's got nine hundred of these Honoks,
which are traditional houses.
It gives you a really good flavor of what
Seoul would have been like hundreds
of years ago.
Let's go explore some more.
Right now we are just wandering
back alleys of the Bukchon neighborhood.
One of the first things that I've noticed
about Korea.....
it's very quiet.
People are not loud in public.
This is a residential area, so it is
just pure silence.
Honestly, coming here, starting the trip
in this little traditional village......
so cool because it really is
just like taking a stroll through time.
I'm really stoked that we're in Asia.
We've never made a vlog series in East
Asia, Korea. We've never been to Korea
We're not really experts in this culture.
We're learning a lot in the process.
and I hope over the next couple video,
we really get to experience some
real, traditional culture: modern
and historical, not to mention food.
Yes, lots of food. I want to eat.
On the note, maybe we should go
to get some tea or something.
I want noodles. Let's go.
I just came around the corner,
and there is a bunch of people
mounting....what the?
It's like...they're..it's a human centipede.
But, Dude, they're sucking on wangs
and pants out.
What is going on? Okay, I guess this
is where we take a family photo.
It's a human centipede.
Dude, there's a face in an asshole.
Look, their heads are disappeared
in buttholes and then this little kid....
There are no heads in there.
Continuing on to the palace.
That is the strangest sculpture I have
ever seen in my life.
Just to put it into context.
There it is.
Inside the palace right now and
we're in the middle of the changing
of the guards ceremony.
Everybody's got crazy weapons,
super colorful outfits. Awesome.
That had to be one of the coolest
experiences I've had in a long time.
Honestly, with the musical instruments
that I've never seen before......
the costumes, the weapons,
and the discipline, not to mention
the location in this beautiful palace.
What a great way to start off our trip
here in Seoul.
It's kind of like the ceremony at
Buckingham Palace, but on
the opposite side of the world.
And I think that one of the big
take-aways from today has been
the impact of globalization....
how only two centuries ago, this would
have been a city that was walled off
and very much isolated from the west.
Now there's thirty thousand American
troops have been stationed here
since the Korean War.
It's very much opened up to western
and global influences.
However, it's also managed to keep its
feet firmly rooted in culture
through ceremonies like this and
beautifully preserved palaces, such as
this one, which is one of only five
in the city. And it's the oldest one,
I'm pretty sure. Yeah.
This was founded by the Joseon
Dynasty, correct my pronunciation in
the comment section, and it was the
first palace that started their 500
year reign in Korea.
This is really one of my first times
experiencing Asia.
The only time I've been to Asia was
during The Biggest, Baddest Bucket List,
which is almost four years ago now.
We spent a week in Thailand, a week in
Singapore, and a week in Indonesia.
This is my first time in Asia proper,
and, honestly, I've got a feeling we're
going to be spending a lot more
time in this part of the world.
Are you with YouTube?
Is it normal [what's normal?] for people to
wear traditional clothing?
Or do they only come here if they're
having a wedding, or something?
No, no, no.
I think it's been like two years.
They rent or purchase traditional clothes.
Not only for foreigners, also the Koreans
on weekends come out and wear
"hanbok" (traditional Korean clothing).
It's not usual for someone to have
that kind of clothes because it's
pretty expensive.
People usually wear it for weddings or
for holidays,
but they don't usually wear it everyday.
It's like a kilt in Scotland. Kind of.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
We're in the inner sanctum right here.
It's pretty cool.
Definitely reminds me of the Forbidden
Palace in Beijing, where you have the
royal area that would have been full of
officials, royalty, concubines, of course.
You've got to have the concubines,
back in the day.
Eunucks, soldiers, the whole shabang.
This would have been the center of
the action. Pretty cool.
I, honestly, cannot imagine what it
would have been like to be royalty.....
living in a place like this.
It's like Mel Gibson says,
"It's good to be a king."
I can't imagine how "zen" this place
would have been.
Perhaps, we should go find out
at a tea ceremony.
Back in the day, this would have been
sealed off. It would probably
have been completely empty, except
for the officials and the royalty that
would have had official business here.
Now it's open; it's cool,
and it's freezing.
Carlos, how do you feel about Korea
so far? First time in Asia. Right?
First time in Asia, and I'm
fascinated by this place. It's awesome
It's quite different from West L.A.
We're not in Santa Monica. No.
But, Koreatown...not so different.
Yeah, sort of.
Cheers. We're in Seoul, Korea.
We're eating live octopus and penis fish!
Welcome to Vagabrothers.