Gwangjang and rainbow

Gwangjang Market

I had considered going to the royal tombs, Donggureung, today but they are closed on Mondays.

Having been to the other key sights of Seoul, some more than once, I thought I’d swing past Gwangjang Market on the way to Hanok Buchon for lunch at a place I enjoyed on my first visit in 2011.

At Gwangjang, once I got through the boring fabric section, I found the food and eating outlets.  There was plenty I wanted to try here so I wrote off going to the Hanok Buchon area.  Trouble was that I wasn’t hungry yet.

I decided to go to the Jongmyo Shrine nearby.  Bad news was that independent visits are only during the weekends.  I would have to wait for a guided tour (probably free, only requiring the really cheap entrance fee) and the next one was in Korean.  And I would probably be compelled to stick with them for the entire time with no possibility of leaving early if I got bored.

I returned to Gwanjang, killed some time before taking my lunch.  My heart wanted the bindae-tteok (mungbean pancake) even though it was very very deep-fried.

To my surprise, I found a sit-down air-con place that did the seafood version of the pancake at the same price as the stalls in the corridor of the market.  Not only that, the sit-down place offered onions and kimchi as sides plus water.

Text continues after this gallery.

Banpo Bridge

After a short rest back in my room I took the bus to the Namdaemun Market for a walkaround.  It had become hotter and more humid today, making an extended walk unpleasant.

Unfortuantely, the only thing left on my list was Banpo Bridge and it was far too early to head there.  I somehow managed to kill some time before taking transport to the War Memorial area where I had to change from metro to bus.

Exploring the back streets of the War Memorial area, I struck it lucky with some local diners.  Then I struck gold, finding one that did ssambap (meat and rice DIY wrap in leaves).

I wasn’t even hungry after the greasy lunch but enjoyed my pork ssambap tremendously.

At Banpo Bridge, I killed some time waiting for sunset before watching three rounds of the Moonlight Rainbow in daylight, dusk and near-darkness.

Tonight, the lower level of the Bridge was open and it didn’t need to hike down to the site or back up to catch the bus back home.

That concludes my stay in Seoul; another day of not having done very much.  Third time around, I still love the city but didn’t want to invest too much time in the heat traipsing around places I had already done.