Day 6 in Seoul: Heavy Metal and Ginseng

On our last full day in Seoul, J. and I saw two functional sides of the city. Our first stop was the Mullae-dong neighborhood off of line Line 2. A large section of it is metal work businesses, from heavy duty processes to the craftsman level. This is not a section of town tourists go to. But none of the people working paid us much attention, in part because they were concentrating on welding, bending huge pieces of metal, and not getting crushed by moving tonnage. The smell of welding was in the air, mixed with the roar of heavy machinery and the clank of metal on metal. We could have spent the whole day exploring the area, but we had other sights to see.

image
Man in the street.
image
Color-coded rods.
image
Metal tubes.
image
Rooftop squash.
image
Large scraps of metal.
image
Man wheel long bar.
image
Stainless steel sheets.
image
Man in his colorful and cluttered workspace.
image
Another angle.
image
Another man in his equally cluttered workspace.
image
Metal saw.
image
Man, rods, and hook.
image
Another hook.
image
Welding in the street.
image
Labels for the color coding.
image
Scrap.
image
Man moves metal disk with magnet.
image
More machinery.
image
Rods and cranes.
image
Cramped workspace.
image
Colorful street corner.
image
The less heavy metal neighborhood.

Our second stop was Gyeondong Market off of Line 1. The market specializes in traditional herbal medicine, but it also has produce and meat (including dog). There is a large central cluster of buildings surrounded by herbalist shops. The whole area smelled wonderfully of various herbs, particularly ginseng. There was a wide variety of interesting food stuff on display, much of which I couldn’t identify. I’m uncertain how all of the vendors can stay in business selling so many similar products to the store next door. It must come down to forming relationships with people. Or that the population of the city is enough to support so much competition.

image
Street side lounge.
image
The commerce side of the tracks.
image
Ginseng.
image
Potatoes and tomatoes.
image
Herbal thorny wood.
image
Bark bundles.
image
Herbs and fungus.
image
Jumbo aloe.
image
Sacks of bees and wasps for unknown purposes.
image
Some of the wasps were the size of finger. Scary big.
image
Inside the main covered building of the market.
image
An elderly woman strolls a side aisle.
image
Dried fish.
image
Massive cabbages.
image
Dried stingrays.
image
More dried seafood.
image
Spice sacks and signs.
image
I think this is caterpillar fungus.
image
Little shrimp.
image
Miscellaneous foods.
image
Jumbo chestnuts.
image
Half dogs for sale.
image
Seaweed balls.
image
Preserved whole vegetables.
image
More shrimp.
image
Octopus.
image
My favorite stand: garlic and chilies.
image
Mushrooms.
image
Another market lane.
image
Shadowy storage area.
image
Squid.
image
Tubs of spicy preserved things.
image
Caterpillars.
image
Snails.
image
Box of chicken feet.
image
Beautiful marbleized beans.
image
Green onions in abundance.
image
Herbal wood on a shelf.
image
Squash for sale on the street.
image
Under the bridge eating snacks.

We bought two sizable apples at the market and ate them in likely one of the least scenic intersections in town. I had to go back to the guesthouse to type up some scripts for work, so we took the subway home. Than evening, we celebrated our last night in Korea with a thin crust pizza and two glasses of wine from a cozy restaurant. As a side, they gave us a plate of sliced pickles and jalapeño. A gnat flew into J.’s wine, so I fished it out, dried it off, and watched it fly drunkenly into a window. After our meal, we had used up all of our cash, except the 18,000 won needed for the airport bus. No currency exchange was necessary at the airport.

Seoul was wonderful. I’m not sure how much of it was because I didn’t have to work, but the place definitely left an impression. The city is a perfect balance between clean, comfortable, and exotic. I want to go back.

Archives for October, 2009
October 7th, 2009. Categories / Seoul

News Menu

About Categories Archives