Seoul Food

Happy Thursday everyone! :)

Going back a bit because I wanted to share some of the foods that my friends and I ate while exploring around Seoul.

Bingsoo--a popular summer snack in Korea that comes in a variety of flavors and styles. Not going to lie, but we had some type of bingsoo every day that we were in Seoul :)

Kinako bingsoo

For only 2,000 won in Hongdae

Fancy bingsoo at a cute cafe in Insadong

Crispy and thin outside with ice cream and chocolate syrup inside :) I didn't see this snack a lot, but it was located on one of the side streets in Hyewa

Fruit smoothies in a cute little cafe! They even let you write down song requests and played them ^^

Make-your-own ice cream at Ma Creme in Hongdae

Because a visit to Korea wouldn't be complete without eating bibimbap. Multiple times :)

Mul-naengmyeon (cold noodles in a chilled broth). Perfect to combat against the heat, although the spicy sauce was a lot more than hot and spicy!

Thank you so much for reading and I hope you have a wonderful rest of the week :)

Mt. Koya: A Spiritual Pilgrimage

Happy Monday everyone ^^

Koyasan, or Mt. Koya, is a famous and popular pilgrimage destination. Located in Wakayama prefecture, this mountain is the center of Shingon Buddhism which was introduced to Japan by Kobo Daishi. Okunoin is located within the area and is the site of the mausoleum of Kobo Daishi. He is believed to be in an eternal meditation as he waits for the Buddha of the Future and provides salvation to those who ask for it. The faith of Japanese people can be attested with more than 200,000 gravestones in the enormous cemetery.

My friends and I started early, but it still took us about three hours to reach the main station at Koyasan. Doing an overnight stay at one of the many temples is a popular option for many pilgrims  and visitors. It gives them an opportunity to experience the traditional lifestyle of Buddhist monks. We didn't stay overnight, but were still able to spend the day there and explore around.

Catching the cable car up to the main station

We caught one of the many buses from the station and got off at Rengedani. From there, we explored the area for the rest of the day. The map made Koyasan appear to be extremely big, but we ended up walking to every temple with the exception of Okunoin.

I usually see either Japanese or English written on ema (small wooden plaques where people write down their wishes or prayers) so it was exciting to see someone from Argentina write out their wishes/prayers! :)

Konpon Daito. With a height of 48.5 meters, this temple was one of the most impressive ones that we saw. It is located within Ganjo Garan along with several other temples and pagodas. 

The entrance to Okunoin, an enormous graveyard where thousands of people from all ranks lie peacefully. This includes military commanders, CEOs from large companies, and your regular average person. 

Torodo: Lantern Temple

Probably my favorite picture from that day :) 

Thank you so much for reading and I hope you have a wonderful week! ^^

Hyewa Mural Village: Color Rehab

Happy Friday everyone :)

Another post from my trip to Korea! While looking up various places in Seoul, I stumbled upon a suggestion to visit Hyewa Mural Village. Turns out that this small village was only a twenty minute walk from our hostel! The various murals that locals and visitors see are the finished (and ongoing) products from local artists who participated in a project to revitalize the quaint neighborhood area. This village has since become a more popular tourist attraction and because of this, I decided to go back again the next day before anyone else came :D In addition to seeing the murals alone, I also ventured up to Seoul City Wall. The further you walk in, the less outside noise you hear as you lose yourself in the many paintings that line the streets or peek out from corners...

We started our way up the stairs and were already impressed by the mural that lined the entire wall.

An ongoing project? 

If these two cuties and the pink bike don't brighten up your day as you walk past, I don't know what will.

Invisible chair! :) 

I thought this was a wonderful idea. While most of the writings were in hangul, there were still quite a handful written in English. 

Flower tile mosaic. I've always wondered how people make these when you take angles and the height of the stairs into consideration..

Many photographs depicting this newly revitalized area were hung around the village as a sort of portfolio and I couldn't resist snapping a few ^^

This was one of the most popular murals since people can stand right in front  of the angel wings to get their picture taken :)

Continued to walk past the village and followed the road and the Seoul City Wall that was built around Seoul at the beginning of the Joseon Dynasty.

Didn't walk down this path, but it looked so peaceful ^^

When I got to the top, I was rewarded with a panoramic view of Seoul :)

Thank you so much for reading! ^^ I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!