I woke up this morning and remembered our trip up the Lotte Tower. While we gazed over the skyscrapers below, we saw a number of birds of prey, which looked like possibly falcons. It seemed so strange to be up so high, and them being even higher. It was beautiful to see, that amongst all the concrete and glass, nature still prevails.
Getting close to the end of the holiday, we still had a few things to tick off our list, which was quickly going down.
One place on our list was the Bukchon Hanok Village, a must see on any sightseeing list for Seoul. 900 traditional houses, many still occupied by families.
The houses over 600 years old, with beautiful architecture.
It was very beautiful, but also very uphill. As it was slightly overcast, the humidity was really overwhelming at times.
Some of the houses have been chnaged into galleries and cafes. We went to a gallery/cafe and had pink plum iced tea, which was very welcome. We chilled out for an hour there, as it was very calming and had air conditioning!
We wandered around a bit more, taking photographs and then went to the Oriental Culture Museum, which also housed the Tea Museum and a vibrant garden. It did cost but with the entrance fee you got a free drink in the Tea Museum.
I am beginning to really love iced tea, particularly as they have so many different flavour. At the museum I had pine needle iced tea, which was delicious. Added to that I got to see on a ‘throne’ to drink it!
A final look round before we headed down to the hill again, but down down the steep steps!
Being high up did mean we were afforded amazing views!
We left the village where we shouldn’t have done, walking along a very ‘arty’ road. Although interesting, by this point we were both overheated. I was getting grumpier by the second!
I spotted a quirky looking restaurant, outside it had a very big notice saying vegetarian and vegans catered for. By this point I just wanted to sit down and have a break from the relentless heat, the air felt heavy and every step was a challenge for both of us. We ent up the stairs, although Pete was relunctant.
We scanned the menu and there quite a few vegan options. There was only one other customer in the restaurant. Having seen the size of the portions I asked for one dish. The owner got very irate, insisting we could only eat there if we had two dishes. We should have left then , but didn’t!
She brought the food out, at one point smashing a large bowl on the floor. The atmosphere was not great and added to that the man in the corner was slurping his noodles at a high level of decibels.
Pete started eating his food, and his face changed, it seemed as though he had been given dried shredded octopus or something similar. We told the woman, who kept saying ‘pescatarian’. We kept shaking our heads. She stomped over, saying sorry, and grabbed the food and headed back to the kitchen. We didn’t know what to do, our appetites had dwindled considerably. The language barrier seemed unsurmountable, the man in the corner, oblivious, slurping louder and louder with gusto.
Perhaps we took the easy option, although at the time it did’t seem it, we walked out. Pete had got alot further than me down the street. I didn’t want to look back, asI didn’t want to see the little Korean woman running after us! I am not certain how much we achieved in international relationships that day!
We walked quickly down the road and saw a convenience store with picnic tables outside. So, feeling that we may be safe we had an impromptu picnic.
Not exactly the best! We planned our next move and looked up the route. There was a bus stop next to a police station. Unbeknownst to us the police station was next to the convenience shop! At the same time as that realisation I saw a police car coming down the road from where we had been. Lights were flashing, and I was certain that this wasn’t going to end well at all. It wasn’t like we blended in with the environment!
When the polce car passed us, I let our a heavy sigh! We wouldn’t be locked up in a cell and the key thrown away. But not taking any chances, we jumped on the next bus very quickly, heading to the market.
The rest of the day had drama of the right kind. We had booked to see Nanta, described as a culinary Stomp type experience.
It was utterly fantastic! A bit of acrobatics, lots of playing of music using kitchen implements, slapstick. The audience was made up of lots of different people, Germans behind us, small children. It just worked for everyone, it really was a great experience!
Random Acts of Travelling 