Sweltering Seoul

Bukchon Culture Center/북촌한옥마을
http://english.visitkorea.or.kr/enu/SI/SI_EN_3_1_1_1.jsp?cid=561382

• admission: free
• subway: Line #3 (orange) to Anguk Station/안국역, exit #3 (five minute walk)

The Bukchon Culture Center is the gateway into the Bukchon Hanok Village of Seoul, located between the two heavyweights of royal palaces: Gyeongbokgung and last Thursday's excursion, Changdeokgung. The Culture Center is open free of charge, and they have a Hi! Seoul Greeter staffed there, at least on Saturday mornings. On display in the house is a good overview of what hanok is, and there are some cultural activities that the tourist can do, for a price. Decorate paper fans, for instance. Very useful on a day like today.

My plan was, then, to follow the "Samcheong-dong Walk" from the latest issue ofLonely Planet's Seoul city guide. Now, maybe I'm directionally challenged. However, I was unable to find most of the landmarks that were included on the map for this walk. I ended up instead wandering close enough to the Blue House (Cheongwadae, Korea's answer to the White House) to be shooed away by security. As the map in the book doesn't include anything about the Blue House, I believe I may have gone in the wrong direction.

Bukchon is a hilly part of Seoul, however, and it was just too hot to wander about aimlessly in an attempt to find what LP said I should see. I did find some hanok, though. Hanok being the traditional style of Korean houses that were built by the yangban (nobility) so many years ago. I will post about it in more detail should I go back and properly see the Bukchon Hanok Village.


Insadong/인사동
http://english.visitkorea.or.kr/enu/SH/SH_EN_7_2_2_1.jsp
http://www.oldteashop.com

• admission: free
• subway: Line #3 (orange) to Anguk Station/안국역, exit #6 (five minute walk)

After wandering aimlessly throughout the general area of Bukchon, I decided to go by my old tried and true. Insadong. Those of you familiar with Seoul may berate my for being an ex-pat that still visits the street regularly, and may deride my choice to recommend that others go there, but hear me out. Besides being the overcrowded souvenir street with more tourists than Koreans (which it can be on the weekends), there are some genuinely good places to go, if you know where to look. For me, today, these places were 옛찻집 and 신옛찻집. In English, the Old Tea House and the New Old Tea House. 신옛찻집 is the easier of the two to find, and has a nicer atmosphere. It is in a genuinely old Korean-style building, tucked off the main road. Teas cost W6,000 at both shops, and I treated myself to an iced tea at one, and an iced quince tea at the other.


Insadong also is a great place for buying souvenirs, if that's what you're looking for. I just happened to be looking for air-con and iced tea.

Cheonggye Stream/청계천
http://english.visitkorea.or.kr/enu/SI/SI_EN_3_1_1_1.jsp?cid=264625

• admission: free
• subway: Line #1 (dark blue) or Line #2 (green) to City Hall Station/시청역, exit #4 (ten minute walk)

Feeling the heat as I was today, the last place I went to before retreating home to the comfort of my air-con was Cheonggye Stream. The stream ran through Seoul towards the east historically, but was paved over as an overpass for traffic until 2005. Then in 2005, a restoration program began that resulted in the lovely little river walk that runs through the downtown of Seoul today. Beginning from Cheonggye Plaza where the red and blue sculpture "Spring" towers, the walk heads towards Dongdaemun for a length of approximately 6km. Artwork is interspersed along the walk, and it is very popular among couples and families.

It is also extremely popular on warm days like today, as it is possible (though apparently officially discouraged) to sit with your feet in the water. There are no marts in the immediate area, but I would suggest stopping at a GS25 or the like along the way and picking up an ice cream or an ice cold drink to enjoy while people-watching.


Tomorrow I'll be going to the Hantan River in Gangwon-do, the northeastern province of Korea, for some rafting and bungee jumping. I'm off with Adventure Korea again, and it feels good! Assuming I survive my 53m jump Sunday afternoon, I'll be sure to post all about it.