Insadong

I began writing this entry a month ago, but then I got distracted by midterms and out-of-town trips, so I’ve only just now gotten around to finishing it.  But I wanted to make sure to post it, because it covers one of the most interesting and charming parts of Seoul. 

When visiting Korea for the first time, Insadong in Seoul should probably be one of your first stops, but for some reason it took me nearly 8 months to get there.  It’s a great place to sample all things Korean, from traditional tea shops and killer street food to all kinds of hand-made souvenirs, and it’s right in the heart of the capital.  So when a friend suggested a day trip to Seoul on one of the first nice spring weekends, this is where I requested to go.  His way of agreeing was to ask with incredulity, “What do you mean you haven’t been to Insadong yet?”

Jogyesa Temple

We hopped on a train around noon on a Saturday after a hasty kimbap lunch.  Once we arrived in Seoul, our first stop was Jogyesa Temple.  I hate to say it, but after 8 months in Korea the Buddhist temples, beautiful though they are, are starting to lose their novelty for me – meaning, they’re all starting to kind of look the same.  The colors are still stunning, the carved panels along the outside are still impressive, but I’d be lying if I said I still regard them with the same sense of wonder that I had last fall – especially when they’re in the middle of an urbanized area surrounded by the same featureless office towers that pervade every Korean city. 

Close-ups of Jogyesa
Temple decor

At any rate, in contrast to the usual stillness of temples, the courtyard outside Jogyesa was bustling with activity on this Saturday.  This was partly due to there being many visitors like me who were trying to enjoy the nice spring weather.  But there was something else going on, something augmenting the bustle – there were groups of men everywhere, some of them stacking dozens and dozens of large cardboard boxes against the temple, while others were erecting rows of thin metal poles and scaffolds all through the courtyard.  My friend explained to me that they were preparing to decorate the temple for Seokga tansinil, or Buddha’s birthday.  This is a national holiday in Korea (and most other Asian countries), and at the time the date was still over a month away.  I now know that Buddhist temples throughout the country festoon their grounds, buildings, and gardens with colorful paper lotus lanterns for the entire month of the holiday, and if I’d waited just a couple more days before visiting Jogyesa, I would have arrived to a much more vibrant, festive display. 

After concluding our stroll around the temple grounds, we crossed the road and entered Insadong.  If I’d thought the temple was bustling with activity, I was ill prepared for the commotion of Insadong.  The dense crowds that thronged through the streets swept me away, and it was useless to fight against the current.  This place was an assault on the senses.  I was bombarded by all the sights, sounds, and smells (the good and the bad) of Korea, for they all seemed concentrated in this one small neighborhood.  The rank odor of simmering beondegi (silk worm pupa, a popular street food item) mingled with the spicy smell of more palatable Korean food like tteokbokki.  People stood on soapboxes and in store fronts shouting in Korean, some of them with microphones or megaphones – I think this had something to do with the upcoming election, because there were people marching around with large signs as well.  I could be wrong about that though.  The streets were lined with little merchant shops selling their wares – antiques, pottery, porcelain tea sets, intricately decorated wooden boxes, hanji paper, hand-printed cloth wall hangings, etc. etc.  There were men painting and selling paper fans on the sidewalk.

Insadong is popular with locals and foreigners alike, which I’m sure is why it was so crowded on this day, the first true spring-like Saturday after a long, cold winter.  Even though it was once a neighborhood for wealthy government officials, Insadong has been the haunt of artists, especially painters, for hundreds of years.  It was transformed during the Japanese occupation when all the wealthy residents were forced to leave and sell their belongings, turning the area into hotspot for the trading of antiques.  Over time, the area became more and more associated with arts, folk crafts, and cafes.  It supposedly once had a more historic feel than it does today.  Korea sometimes has an upsetting tendency to bulldoze its historical sites in its quest for modernization; this tendency led to the renovation of Insadong at the start of the new millennium.  Still, it has managed to maintain its status as one of the most popular parts of Seoul, especially with foreign visitors. 

Hotteok!

As the crowd carried us down the street, I disengage myself long enough to pop into a few shops to seek out souvenirs for folks back home.  This was like Takayama all over again – after months of failing to find suitable gifts for people, I suddenly found myself surrounded by them, and a minor shopping binge ensued.  The only thing I bought for myself was some hotteok, my favorite street food snack (it’s sort of like a thick fried pancake or biscuit stuffed with brown sugar, cinnamon, and ground peanuts).  We also stopped in a tea house – this one was more modern than traditional – and I had a big steaming cup of the richest, most decadent ginger tea I’ve ever encountered.  At that point, I was satisfied with my Insadong experience and was ready to get away from the crowd for a little while.  On our way out, we got stopped by two separate groups of college-age girls (about 5 or 10 minutes apart) who were trying to interview tourists about Korea’s services and tourist infrastructure.  It wasn’t clear whether this was for their jobs or if it was a class assignment.  Now, I’m not sure if I’m technically a tourist, and I usually don’t stop to talk to clipboard-carrying people who approach me on the street – but what can I say?  I’m a sucker for cute Korean girls, I guess, because I gave each group about 10 minutes of my time.

Tea house in Insadong

Traditional hanok houses in Bukchon

A short walk away from Insadong is Bukchon, a beautiful neighborhood of steep, narrow streets and traditional hanok houses.  Unlike recently-renovated Insadong, this 600-year-old urban environment still manages to capture the atmosphere of the Joseon Dynasty.  It’s also probably among the most photographed places in Seoul – I’d wanted to check this place out ever since seeing some images a friend uploaded to facebook months before.  It’s a place of pretty interesting contrasts.  Very old-meets-new.  The streets are lined with old, quintessentially Asian houses with curving roofs and parallel rows of overlapping shingles; but between the houses one can see the towering, faceless skyscrapers of modern Seoul all around.

By the time we left Bukchon, the daylight was fading.  We appeased our appetites with some typical Korean barbeque and then patjuk for dessert – a hot, sweet red bean porridge.  I know patjuk may not sound very appetizing to some, and to be honest it didn’t sound so great to me either, but it was surprisingly good and I could easily understand why this was considered a winter-time staple.  We then capped the night off the way we do so many Saturday nights in Korea – with a couple bottles of maekju.

Check back soon for some posts about a few other interesting parts of Korea that I’ve recently visited for the first time – such as Gyeongju and Busan.  

Bukchon neighborhood in Seoul