It was another crisp clear day in Seoul and I set out to explore the traditional Korean architecture of Buckchon Village. On the way I stopped at a Buddhist temple known for its vegetarian food. I explained what I was after to a woman in the guest information booth and she quickly threw on her coat and motioned for me to follow her. She led me into a members’ only eating hall. She pulled out a card and swiped it multiple times. I wasn’t going to be able to pay for the meal. As soon as I saw the food I was so incredibly excited. It was just like the temple stay I did in Taiwan. Minimalist Buddhist fare is delicious and so healthy. I wish I could have at least one meal like that every day. My hostess then gave me a tour of the temple and explained in elementary English several of Buddha’s teachings. One of the main reasons I travel is for experiences like this. Sharing a simple meal with someone from a vastly different culture can be enlightening and at the end of the day isn’t human connection what we are all after. I said farewell and she recommended that I do a temple stay next time I am in Korea. I most definitely will!
I recommend you stop by one of the tourist information booths and get a map of the Buckchon Village area before exploring. There are several very nice photo spots that are highlighted on the tourist map. If you feel inclined, there are several houses that have been converted into small businesses. You can learn how to make traditional Korean toys, buy traditional soap, or rent traditional clothing and do a photo shoot inside one of the historic homes. After meandering through the streets and asking a lot of mainland Chinese tourists to jump with me, I made it with one minute to spare to the English guided tour of the Gyeongbokgung Palace. Doing a tour is the way to go with these types of sites. The tour lasted an hour and made sure I saw all the highlights. If I had done it by myself, I would have been there 3 hours easily. Warrant the strong wind chilling me to the bone definitely welcomed a shorter stay than what I normally would want.
What I found most interesting from the tour was the significance given to the mother of the emperor. She was given her own lavish quarters with a multitude of servants and attendants. As soon as the emperor died, she was shifted to another abode and replaced by her daughter-in-law. The extensive heating system was also fascinating. The Korean peninsula is slammed every year with a long and cold winter and thus they were forced to be inventive. Several of the most used buildings were elevated with large ovens underneath the main floor. I greatly enjoyed the modern version of these heated floors and think we should start using them at home (albeit with central heating it would be an unnecessary luxury… but still). If you are making a trip here, make sure to see the Blue House (the president’s official residence) which is directly behind the Palace.
The evening was spent in search of yet more Buddhist vegetarian food and this time it was beyond heavenly. Directly across from the temple there was a temple stay information center with a restaurant on the second floor. For 8 USD you could load up a tray of soup, rice, kimchi, sweet potato, seaweed, and an assortment of vegetables with tofu. The most important rule when eating in an establishment like this one is that you have to eat everything on your plate. Waste is unacceptable. Let’s just say it was painful getting everything in my stomach and I may or may not have hidden one of my sweet potatoes in Tim’s bowl. I was there so long that one of the employees gave me the evil eye. What? I like to eat and if a meal is 100% plant based I go overboard.
What I haven’t shared yet is the absurd Couchsurfing situation I found myself in. A month in advance I contacted a host who had a high rating and a lot of positive reviews. A few days before getting to his place I contacted him to confirm directions and he never responded. Tim said I could stay at his host’s house. On the way there Tim started telling me a few things about his host. All of a sudden it hit me that his host was the same one I was supposed to stay with. It was strange that after chatting with me for a month he just went MIA, but he was still accepting other surfers. Well things were still going to get weirder. An hour before our arrival, he contacted Tim to say he was stuck in Japan due to a snow storm. So he just gave us the code to his apartment and said we could stay there without him. Now that sounds generous, but in reality it is just bizarre. Who allows complete strangers access to their home? I trust people, but there is a line. We got there and the apartment was nice, but there was no heat. I know beggars can’t be choosers, but my real complaint wasn’t the heat. It was the fact that the host had just pressed accept to all the Couchsurfing requests he received. He had stopped responding to my messages because there were too many surfers for him to communicate with. That night there was a Thai family with a young son and us all sharing two beds in a small room. Not only was it a freezing night, but the father snored like a bear with a collapsed nasal passage. I really felt for his wife. She felt uncomfortable in the situation and was obviously embarrassed that her husband made it impossible for everyone else to sleep.
The next night things got more festive with 13 people all cuddling together and sharing one toilet. Not ideal. In my opinion this isn’t being a good host. The fates were looking out for me though. At the chiropractor I was joking about my horrendous sleeping conditions and the secretary offered for me to stay with her family. More on Sherlyn and her family next post.
I recommend you stop by one of the tourist information booths and get a map of the Buckchon Village area before exploring. There are several very nice photo spots that are highlighted on the tourist map. If you feel inclined, there are several houses that have been converted into small businesses. You can learn how to make traditional Korean toys, buy traditional soap, or rent traditional clothing and do a photo shoot inside one of the historic homes. After meandering through the streets and asking a lot of mainland Chinese tourists to jump with me, I made it with one minute to spare to the English guided tour of the Gyeongbokgung Palace. Doing a tour is the way to go with these types of sites. The tour lasted an hour and made sure I saw all the highlights. If I had done it by myself, I would have been there 3 hours easily. Warrant the strong wind chilling me to the bone definitely welcomed a shorter stay than what I normally would want.
What I found most interesting from the tour was the significance given to the mother of the emperor. She was given her own lavish quarters with a multitude of servants and attendants. As soon as the emperor died, she was shifted to another abode and replaced by her daughter-in-law. The extensive heating system was also fascinating. The Korean peninsula is slammed every year with a long and cold winter and thus they were forced to be inventive. Several of the most used buildings were elevated with large ovens underneath the main floor. I greatly enjoyed the modern version of these heated floors and think we should start using them at home (albeit with central heating it would be an unnecessary luxury… but still). If you are making a trip here, make sure to see the Blue House (the president’s official residence) which is directly behind the Palace.
The evening was spent in search of yet more Buddhist vegetarian food and this time it was beyond heavenly. Directly across from the temple there was a temple stay information center with a restaurant on the second floor. For 8 USD you could load up a tray of soup, rice, kimchi, sweet potato, seaweed, and an assortment of vegetables with tofu. The most important rule when eating in an establishment like this one is that you have to eat everything on your plate. Waste is unacceptable. Let’s just say it was painful getting everything in my stomach and I may or may not have hidden one of my sweet potatoes in Tim’s bowl. I was there so long that one of the employees gave me the evil eye. What? I like to eat and if a meal is 100% plant based I go overboard.
What I haven’t shared yet is the absurd Couchsurfing situation I found myself in. A month in advance I contacted a host who had a high rating and a lot of positive reviews. A few days before getting to his place I contacted him to confirm directions and he never responded. Tim said I could stay at his host’s house. On the way there Tim started telling me a few things about his host. All of a sudden it hit me that his host was the same one I was supposed to stay with. It was strange that after chatting with me for a month he just went MIA, but he was still accepting other surfers. Well things were still going to get weirder. An hour before our arrival, he contacted Tim to say he was stuck in Japan due to a snow storm. So he just gave us the code to his apartment and said we could stay there without him. Now that sounds generous, but in reality it is just bizarre. Who allows complete strangers access to their home? I trust people, but there is a line. We got there and the apartment was nice, but there was no heat. I know beggars can’t be choosers, but my real complaint wasn’t the heat. It was the fact that the host had just pressed accept to all the Couchsurfing requests he received. He had stopped responding to my messages because there were too many surfers for him to communicate with. That night there was a Thai family with a young son and us all sharing two beds in a small room. Not only was it a freezing night, but the father snored like a bear with a collapsed nasal passage. I really felt for his wife. She felt uncomfortable in the situation and was obviously embarrassed that her husband made it impossible for everyone else to sleep.
The next night things got more festive with 13 people all cuddling together and sharing one toilet. Not ideal. In my opinion this isn’t being a good host. The fates were looking out for me though. At the chiropractor I was joking about my horrendous sleeping conditions and the secretary offered for me to stay with her family. More on Sherlyn and her family next post.
