A Day Trip to Seoul
Our guide from Seoul National University (SNU) organized a day trip for us from the Hoam Faculty House to explore the city on one of our free days before attending the JRS Conference. Sharon Hews, Rod, and I had a wonderful experience with Alex, a freelance travel guide associated with SNU’s travel agency. His excellent English skills and extensive knowledge made the day even better. He was also very accommodating to our preferences. For example, I requested jabchae for lunch, and he discovered a charming local restaurant in Insadong that we would have never found as ordinary tourists. After lunch, when Sharon desired coffee, he directed us to a delightful café surrounded by bamboo and lush greenery (more on that later). Remarkably, he even managed to find parking spots! There were a few instances when he would drop us off and handle the parking on his own.
Our day was packed with activities and enriched our understanding of Korean history and culture. We began with a visit to the National Folk Museum, then proceeded to Changdeokgung Palace. Our day continued with lunch and coffee in the Insadong area of Seoul, followed by a visit to Jogyesa Temple, wrapping it up with a stroll through Gwangjang Market.
I’ll cover each stop in separate posts, starting with our lunch, for which we have lots of photos to share.
Insadong is a bustling tourist district in Seoul, known for its narrow, winding alleys (called golmok) and several larger streets. The area is filled with small galleries, restaurants, tea houses, trinket shops, and handicraft markets. It’s also home to Jogyesa Temple and Unhyeonggung Palace.
Alex guided us down a narrow alley to a local restaurant whose name was in Korean, except for a small sign indicating it was a Korean restaurant. Without him, we would have never found it and certainly would have struggled to communicate with the staff if we had ventured in alone! Fortuitously, Alex was set on ensuring we experienced an authentic Korean meal, and he certainly delivered. Our meal was a colorful array of dishes and flavors. While many items were familiar to us, a couple were new. We have always loved Korean cuisine, and this was the perfect example. We conveyed to Alex that we preferred dishes that were not overly spicy, as many Koreans enjoy very hot food.
In Korea, it is customary for each person to receive a bowl of soup and a bowl of white rice, with additional dishes served for sharing. Accompanying our meal were various pickles, kimchi, and different dipping sauces, depending on the chef’s offerings for the day. We enjoyed bulgogi (marinated beef), small fish, jabchae (sweet potato noodles with vegetables), assorted vegetables, and a fresh salad.
What a delightful feast!
 had a great day out with Alex…){kind=link}