Saturday we rode the bus to Gwanghwamun and walked up to Insadong, a great place to find authentic Korean tea, art and gongs (for AJ). We couldn’t find the main road, Insadongno, at first, but later realized that the bus had dropped us off practically across the street. (Seoul can be a little confusing if you don’t live there). 

Insadong was extremely crowded, but we still enjoyed our slow shuffle down the street while we tried to take in the sights and smells. 

We found Korean masks. 

And spent lots of time listening to the different pitches of almost every gong we passed…

We paid 700 won (or about 80 cents) to try a hotteok, a Chinese stuffed pancake, from a street vendor. It was fried dough with what tasted like cinnamon (maybe ginseng) and of course, corn. The lady at the stall urged us to get two. “Delicious,” she said. She was right.

We wandered down an alley and found a really peaceful spot outside the main road. There was a courtyard surrounding a building that turned out to be the “cradle” of Cheondogyo, a monotheistic religion native to Korea.

 

A plaque on the building reads, “As it was built around the time of the 1919 March 1st Independence Movement, it came to symbolize the Cheondogyo slogan of “Assist the Nation and Make the People Secure.”

On our way out of Insadong, a parade started down the main road. We’re not sure what it was for or what it was supposed to represent, other than a tourist attraction. There were just lots of people in interesting costumes and jingu players.