Sweltering in Seoul

Today we meant business! We got a 5 day travel card for travelling round Seoul, the T Card also called the Climate card. If travel was this cheap everywhere, it would make the workd a better place.

It cost around £7.00, which is very good for unlimited travel for buses, trams and the underground!

We stopped off at a market and had a chilling drink, I had preserved grapefruit and honey on ice again,I am getting very partial to it.

The temperature today was 36 degrees, but with the humidity factor it was more like 43 degrees. We just tried to keep hydrated, walk in the shade and go into air conditioned places.

We were headed to the Palace and to a number  of museums in the area. Sometimes the transport systems are very confusing, but I really feel we are cracking it!

We passed a beautifully decorated temple.

Firstly we went to the National Folk Museum, that had a lot of outdoor things.

The stones are guardian posts – or sacred poles. They gave protection and also they were worshipped.

Pete said that I looked like some of them!

On the outskirts of the museum were several hanbok traditional dress hire. If  you wore it into the palace museum yougot in free. The cost of the museum was arounf £,2.00, but the hire was much, much more. Lots of people had got into the spirit, dressed up traditionally, clutching their mobile phones.

Luckily some of the museum was also inside, which also included thee Children’s museum.

It was really good, very interactive and interesting. Going through the rites and passages of Korean people, from conception to death.

I liked the interactive part about dealing with illness. It sounded  bonkers but actually  there was a great deal of substance to it.

Apparantly the starch in potatoes does help to draw out the heat in a burn, also very good for  acne and skin irritations!

Well…..at least it will take your mind off it!

It also dealt with marriage ceremonies, that sunded very ornate and involved.

The bride and groom each drink from half a gourd each, symbolizing their union as one. Before the wedding ceremony the bride formally greets her new in-laws, offering gifts, and receiving blessings. A fun part involves the parents throwing chestnuts and dates, which the couple tries to catch, with each representing a child.

Both the bride and groom wear the traditional Korean attire, the Hanbok. The bride’s Hanbok is typically red, and the groom’s blue, symbolizing a balance of yin and yang.

Pete had a go at traditional dancing!

Finally, they dealt with death, this funeral carriage was a real Bobby dazzler!

Next to all of this was the Gyeongbokgung Palace, the largest and most striking of the 5 grand palaces built during the Joseon dynasty. Built in 1395 by King Taejo. The smell of the wooden buildings was strangely lovely.

I was all set to head back to our apartment, but we saw the Seoul Contemporary Art Gallery. We had a choice, walk through the heat to the subway or get more air conditioning. Air conditioning won hands down. It was a fantastic place, really good as it had a top floor for children to be artistic.

There were some very good multimedia exhibits, too.

They were hosting the 2025 Experimental Film and Video Festival,their 22nd one. I asked a young women what was happening, she explained and offered us free tickets! So,that’s how we ended up going to a showing of Robert Beavers’ unique filmmaking. Not only that, he was attending and gave a talk. I felt like an imposter!

He was showing his early work, then later work. We saw the first half, but then they couldn’t get the second film up and running. It was really interesting. His films were dreamlike. There was one that was definitely homoerotic, which seemed at odds with the Korean conservative attitude to all things LGBTQ.

On the way, we  noticed we were passing Insadong. It’s is hard to pass places and not stop.

So our days stretch on. It’s a very arty area, we wandered round a makers market. We bought presents. We popped to Korea Mart to buy things too. Pete got some sweets that help with waking you up. By this point, we needed something!

Pete opened the pack, and he said they were just like menthol. So I dove in and grabbed a package, ripped it open, and tipped it in my mouth. At that point, Pete said it was like chewing gum. Whatever was in my mouth was not chewing gum! They were the things to keep the sweets dry. I tried to get as much out of my mouth, spluttering in the middle of the street. Pete was passing me water. For about half an hour after, little glass balls fell out of my mouth!

By this point, we really needed to get back, but yet again, we got waylaid, and we stopped at an award winning craft beer bar. Artmonster. The two pints helped us up the hill.