adventure: insadong

On Saturday, I met a few friends in an area of town called Insadong. I've been to Insadong before, but it is an area of Seoul I will never get sick of. Walking out of the subway station, I feel like I stepped out of the post Korean War, ultra-modernized Seoul and back 100 years to what I'd expect an Asian city to look like.

Insadong is filled with art galleries, and we spent the first half of the day wandering the streets and peeking into galleries, some wonderful, some not. Around 3, we stumbled upon a cultural festival. A stage was set up and performers in traditional Korean clothing were singing and dancing.  We watched for a bit, and were lucky enough to be standing near the path the performers took as they were leaving to get some close up pics.

After the festival ended, we decided to find a traditonal Korean tea house. We walked through a maze of side streets until we found one that fit our requirements: quaint, quiet, and interesting. We sat down and each ordered a different drink. I tried the plum tea and was blown away by how delicious it was. We sat for over an hour, just enjoying the ambiance and the delicious tea. 

We finished our afternoon with Indian food (go figure) but really enjoyed stepping into a more traditional side of Seoul for the day.