Day 6: BTS, Bukchon Hanok Village, Tapgol Park, and more

Today was great! I purchased a ticket to the BTS 2018 O,Neul exhibition at the Ara Art Center several weeks before I came to Korea and today was the day I got to go see it! It was basically 4 floors of never released videos and photos from their debut up to the present plus props from some of their music videos and lots of quotes from the albums. The exhibition was amazing, the photos were adorable, and it was super well organized! Everyone could walk through and explore at their own pace and at the end there was a time capsule where visitors could write a message to, or about, BTS (of course I did this). I also took lots of photos and bought some small merchandise at the end. I have started to collect pins from the places I have been since they are small and not too expensive. Fortunately there were pins for the exhibition!

The painting in the middle was done by one of the members of BTS (Jungkook) for a music video. The creepy looking person in the mask on the bottom left was from their teaser and music video for Fake Love. Some of the members also designed outfits and masks matching styles from different music videos from their debut up to the present. There was one for every title track music video they have released. The one on the bottom right is from their music video Fire and was designed by V (if I am remembering correctly).

The Ara Art Center ended up being just off Insadong Street where I had been a few days ago with Jisu and her mom. It was also close to Bukchon Hanok Village, which is a traditional Korean village with lots of tiny alleys. All the buildings are over 600 years old and have been preserved. It's buildings and streets have made it an increasingly popular spot for people to go to take photos. I walked about an hour to get to the village (it wasn't supposed to take that long but I accidentally started off by going in the wrong direction). Along the way I bought some street food and ordered it all in Korean (I later realized I ordered it incorrectly, but I was proud of myself in the moment)! These are some photos from my walk there.

The village was very pretty. It was full of traditional homes and the majority of the people that had come to take photos or look around were wearing hanboks, which added to the feel of it. It was a bit of a climb to get there but once I made it I could look out and see mountains and part of the city. It's not built to be a tourist area and they are people's homes so everyone there needs to be quiet and respectful.

There were lots of small cafes and clothing stores along the way and I stopped at a hidden restaurant on the way back to get some lunch. The lady there was super nice and when I left I said that the food was yummy. Both her and the cook were excited that I said it in Korean.

I then walked back to Insadong Street and spent the rest of the evening exploring that area. I took a different path back to the street (mostly because I had no clue where I was going) and walked past a few art galleries and museums that looked interesting. When I got to Insadong Street I bought several pairs of cool, handmade, and expensive earrings that I will probably never wear, but oh well.

There is a place called Tapgol Park at the end of the street that is a little enclosed park just off a big intersection. It is filled with historical paintings and structures. Luckily there were signs that were beside many of the monuments and they were in both Korean and English!

I walked back along Insadong Street to get to my subway stop and purchased a cool, much less expensive, earring that I haven't stopped wearing since. By about 7 pm I was starting to get a little hungry again went into a cute cafe on the second floor of a building. It was mainly desserts and tea so I tried garaddeokgooee (I think that's the romanized version of the Hangeul), which are grilled rice cakes. The texture was a lot different than I expected, really gooey. I don't even know how to describe the taste... It wasn't my favourite thing that I've eaten so far but it was interesting and I feel like it could grow on me! One of the nice things about travelling alone is that none of the things I did today were planned. I finished at the BTS exhibition and simply Googled stuff that was nearby and went from there. I can pick and choose where I want to go without worrying about what other people want to do and I can change my mind or go explore random places I see whenever I would like.

This marked the last day of exploring while staying at my hostel in Yongsan-gu. When I got back that night I procrastinated packing for as long as I could and then bought a super last minute flight to Busan. I'm headed to Busan for 2 days to go to the Asia Song Festival, which has a ton of really cool k-pop groups performing.

I thoroughly enjoyed my stay at Banana Backpackers (my hostel). The room and bed were big and everything was very clean. The common areas were happy with lots of quirky decorations. I also met Katie and Tony here who are super nice people. I am meeting them again on Friday (when I am back from Busan) in Hongdae to go watch some street performances.

Hope everyone is doing well!

Emily

(October 1, 2018)

Distance walked: 10.4 km