Kansamida South Korea Part 2- Seoul and Seoraksan
I was so glad to wear long sleeves and pants in Seoul! At least I wasn’t carrying them in vain. Even then, the coldest it got was 10 Degree Celsius- kind of like summer in San Francisco.
Seoul
My airbnb host Jenny brought me to a Ssam (wrap) restaurant nearby her house, the restaurant is a local favorite because it makes really good seafood sauce. The key to eating Ssam is to wrap bite size amount of meat, side dish, and seafood sauce inside two big vegetable leaves then eat the wrap all in one bite.
A friend I met in Busan told me about the international fireworks festival next to the Han river. People brought bento boxes, blankets, drinks, and poker cards while watching the fireworks go up in the air. There were many people though, so I escaped the scene early to avoid the crowd.
The next day I went to Gyeongbakgong, there was a full day of traditional music and dance performances right in front of the giant statue. The backdrop made the performances even more dramatic.
Anyone could rent traditional clothes to tour the palace area, and if you dress up, your admission to the place is free.
While I enjoy the historical buildings and lovely parks, I also appreciate Seoul’s busy streets. Areas such as the Hongik University area, Ewha Women University, Myeongdong are full of life. You can find stores after stores lining up along the street with food stalls in between. In Hongik area, artists take spots in busy streets for busking. After visiting Seoul, I strongly believe that Seoul has the highest number of cafés per street. Koreans really drink coffee like water! I have also spotted the 100 won (10 usd cent) coffee machine! If you put a coin in the machine, it gives you a 3- sip size hot coffee in a paper cup.
I highly recommend visiting the national museum in Seoul, it’s free! I felt like I had taken a crash course in the history of Korea after walking around the museum for a couple of hours.
Seoraksan
Nature inspired a lot of aspects of the Korean culture, Korean’s love of using wood in their living space, fresh local ingredients from nearby farms, and their love for hiking were just a few examples.
I experienced the Korean hiking culture first hand in Seoraksan National Park which is a few hours northeast of Seoul. I took the bus there early in the morning and stayed overnight in the mountains in a guest house.
First, Koreans are decked out with their hiking outfits. It looks like they are prepared for any mountain or weather:
Second, temples and Buda statues are delightful finds high up in the mountains. Most likely, you would also find inscriptions on stone walls near the temples. I hiked the most popular Ulsanbawi Rock trail and found all of the above. The tress, architectures and mountains are harmoniously situated next to each other. 
Third, Koreans build stairs to the top of mountains, I don’t think they like switch backs that much. Though at times it seemed like the stairs were endless while I was hiking Seoraksan, I got very good views from every part of the stairs.
The whole hike took about 4 hours total, the nice part was restaurants and cafes waiting at the bottom of the mountain. Enjoying a cup of coffee after a good hike always lifts my spirits.
Art everywhere:
