Insadong

20-25 September

We stayed in an older part of town called Insadong.  It is full of craft shops, restaurants and of course souvenir stalls.

We were lucky enough to arrive during the Cheong or Thanksgiving which is the mid-Autumn festival in Hong Kong. It is a three day holiday period and our area is a popular place to visit. Streets were crowded and all sorts of exotic food was on offer. The ice cream cones looked fantastic, but I was saving my appetite for a Korean meal.

There was a large variety of restaurants in the area and each night we managed to find something completely new, often with a challenge of how to eat it.

Korean’s eat fast. Very fast. It was hard to slow the procession of food to our table down so that we could savour it and also watch others eat, so we knew how to tackle it with forks, spoons, chopsticks or just fingers.

Tapgol Park is in the Insadong area, and it is home to the 2nd and 3rd National Treasures, Palgakjeong, the 12m high, 10 storey pagoda and the Monument of Wongaska, both from the 15th century