Another nice day in Korea…
Today is Sunday, my only true day off here, as mentioned, so I took it easy. After doing my workout I watched the Yankee game (they won!), wrote some emails, and took a nap.
At around 5 I headed to Anguk station, near Insadong, the same area I went to last Sunday, only this time I walked around a lot before I actually found myself in Insadong. While walking I came across an old dynasty-era ‘gate’ that once guarded the city, back in the days when Korea had a king, hundreds of years ago. Then I visited is a Buddhist shrine, which sits atop the third story of a modern building. I met a very nice monk there who escorted me to the shrine. Like much of the rest of Seoul, the area in and around the shrine is decorated with paper lanterns, to celebrate Buddha’s birthday, which is this week [please see the pics of the temple interior and exterior]. Then I headed to Samcheongdonggil, which is a really lovely area, much like Insadong proper, but more modern and packed with cafes and Italian, Chinese, Japanese, and Korean restaurants. It’s a windy street with lots of people and it’s quite quaint. Heading back down toward Insadong I passed many yangban, which are traditional Korean aristocratic homes, the kind that most people think of when they envision single-family homes in Korea. Most such homes in Seould have been razed, but there are a lot in this particular area.
I had trouble finding Insadong in the dark, but a Korean woman and her daughter happily escorted me for a few blocks until I got there. Even though I came here last Sunday, I returned to this area for two reasons. First, it’s a great area, with lots of little alley ways and tons of traditional Korean restaurants, as well as lots of street vendors selling Korean trinkets and souvenirs. But the main reason I wanted to return was to go to Gogung, which is a traditional Korean restaurant that serves excellent bibimbap which many typical Korean side dishes. I also had something called moju, which is a thick fermented rice drink flavored with cinnamon; it’s served in and drunk from a small wooden bowl. Honestly, it was so ridiculously good that words can’t describe it. All the food and drink you see in the photo cost about $12.50. Pretty amazing. Since the Korean won is so weak (1350W=1USD), I am getting bargains all over Seoul. Had I come here 6 months ago, when the exchange rate was 900W=1USD, I would have paid about 35% more for everything. So I am benefiting from Korea’s weak economy.
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