Our last few days in Seoul we a mix of old and new, culture and creation.
We started the “old” part by visiting the first Buddhist temple in Seoul. The Jogyesa temple buildings and furnishings were beautiful, but largely overshadowed by the neon inflatable decorations for the recent celebration of Buddha’s birthday. Such a different take on a temple from the ones we have seen elsewhere.
We went down a nearby alleyway and found ourselves on a narrow street lined with art galleries and brush and porcelain shops. The Insadong neighborhood is one of the oldest artisan areas in Korea. Some of the shops were just opening up, but we didn’t stop until we reached the larger craft store at the end where Ruth found some excellent dolls, and we both bought amethyst earrings. Korea is a big source of amethyst.
Next we went to the Bukchon Hanok Village, which is a residential area with well-preserved traditional architecture. We took a lot of photos - and visit an artisanal school to see what the houses look like inside -simple wood screens, panels and floors. Very cool.
The three stops together gave us a good sense of the charm of the old city that has been overwhelmed by growth.
For contrast, we headed south of the Han River to see the Gangnam neighborhood, where there are very tall new buildings, shopping areas, a street of plastic surgeons, and trendy restaurants. We stopped at the Starfield Mall, which featured a statue of the “Gangnam Style” music video which was very popular when Cheryl was in Cambodia.
The mall was ENORMOUS! It is famous for a huge library near the convention center. The library has two coffee shops, and you are not allowed to check out books or periodicals, but you can sit there and read for as long as you like. It was very cool!
We had lunch at a restaurant in the mall - noodles and potstickers at a “plant forward” restaurant, and visited a garden nearby.
Then we headed further down the river to walk in the park and then take a short cruise on the Han River to see some of the famous buildings from another perspective.
Our last day in Seoul was more about modern cultural exchange. We started with a talk and Q & A session with a North Korean defector. The young woman had escaped with her family when she was a teenager and explained her journey to us. Having heard how difficult it is to leave N Korean, it was enlightening to find out how many thousands of people have done it. Her parents worked at several jobs for many years, saving up money, and keeping it buried in the ground for safe-keeping. One of the ways her father earned extra money was being a broker for illicit trade with China, so he knew about the broker system for escaping. They used bribed guard to cross into China and then traveled through Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia with brokers along the way. It was still an incredibly difficult trip. When defectors finally get to S Korea, there are many programs available to help them. It was interesting to chat with her and learn a bit more about the divide in the Koreas.
Our last experience was an Optional Home-Hosted dinner, where we learned to make bibimbop, a dish that consists of rice with many vegetables, an fried egg and some kimchi (if you want some spice). It is all mixed up in a big round bowl. The couple who hosted us were very engaging, and it was interesting to see one of the apartments in a huge urban complex (on the 22nd of 25 floors). After lunch we had a nice conversation about life, health care, stock trading and the price of gas!
We did some shopping in the afternoon. In the evening, we went to the Nanta show - which was a cross between Blue Man and a cooking show - lots of fun (but no photos allowed, so these are from the Internet).
We finished up with a big fried chicken meal for our farewell dinner. After one last pass through the night market, we went home to prepare for our trip to Mongolia.
You can just see our hotel at the end of the crazy shopping street
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