Waking up late is just a common theme of my trip. It suits me well because I can do things and go into the later hours of the night. When I finally got off to my day, I headed to the subway and took Line 3 to Anguk stop. I got out and asked a local policeman where Yogyesa Buddhist temple was. He told me to walk down the road and I was happy looking for it. As I could not find it and I came to a big intersection, I decided to ask for the help of the local information booth. I found the help of a very pretty Korean girl who’s English was impeccable. She gave me a local map of the area and showed me where it was on the map. I was very grateful and thanked her before getting on my way. I went down the way and ended up passing on my right and walked all the way down into what I think was the financial and business district. I did not mind walking and enjoyed the beautiful weather! I bought a local newspaper, the Korean Times and read it whilst walking. I ended up making a huge circle in my endeavours and eventually was on the other side.
After consulting my map, I found that the palace was a lot closer than I had originally thought and the scale of the map was a little out of proportion. I walked to the temple and it was gorgeous. There were tons of women there for some odd reason, but maybe it was the time of day for the women to get to the Buddhist temple and pray. I payed my respects to the temple and did not actually enter it because people were praying and there was not enough space. I looked for the foreigner’s information booth, but it was close and it was a shame because I would have loved to hear someone explain the significance of the temple and shrine. I stopped in the store for the temple and got a nice Buddhist prayer necklace and also some LED keychains and a Pepsi. I had seen the museum on my way in and decided to check it out.
The place was a small museum and I think it was more of a community center with an exhibit to show off some of the Buddhist artifacts. I went through the exhibit once and took some pictures. It was hard because there were not that many explanations on what I was looking at and they did not elaborate on it either! When I finished, I felt a little bit ripped off, but my luck turned for the better! I was looking at this room, and this lady noticed I was looking in her direction. She asked me something in Korean and I responded, “Sorry, I don’t speak Korean.” And she told me to wait. She brought me a nice looking old man who spoke English. He assumed I wanted a tour and I obliged. He spent the next hour telling me the stories that went along with all the pieces in the exhibit. I found out he volunteers there and gave free tours in English to anyone who happened to come through. He was very thorough in his answers and explanations and I was very grateful for this. After the tour, I went outside to find a place to eat and quickly found the shopping district of Insadong.
It was a hybrid street with shops surrounding it and people walking, but cars were still allowed to drive through it. I walked around and bought a Korean towel that I will hang in my house. I finally found a place to eat and they served the Korean equivalent of dumplings. I also had a clam noodle soup. I enjoyed my late lunch whilst reading the newspaper I had acquired earlier. The dumplings were very good and they were the best part of the meal. I walked around some more and decided to head back to the guesthouse.
I saw a place that sold guitars and decided to check it out. The place I originally saw did not have the kind of guitar I was looking for, so I looked for the subway. On the way, I found another smaller shop and stopped in. They did have a very nice acoustic electric bass, which was exactly what I have been looking for the past couple years. It is always more useful to have an acoustic guitar plus it is also ready to be plugged into an amp. I laid my eyes upon a beautiful orange guitar. I was allowed to strum it a little bit and I could tell the place was in desperate need to sell something. The starting price was a little more than I would want to pay for and I was able to bargain for a good price plus a nice traveling soft case, tuner and three picks! After buying the guitar, one of the ladies had to go get the case from a bigger store, so she left and I waited for her. I ended up talking to the two people left. The guy was the cousin of the girl who had left and the other one was just another worker. We shared our musical tastes and I found out that he liked R&B a lot and our tastes’ overlapped a little bit. We talked and when she finally came back, I was reluctant to leave.
I headed back to the guesthouse a very happy customer! After a nap and some rest, I headed out again to see if I could find a good hamburger. That failed, as I could not find the restaurant I was looking for. I ended up eating a cheap meal at KFC. That concludes my day!
After consulting my map, I found that the palace was a lot closer than I had originally thought and the scale of the map was a little out of proportion. I walked to the temple and it was gorgeous. There were tons of women there for some odd reason, but maybe it was the time of day for the women to get to the Buddhist temple and pray. I payed my respects to the temple and did not actually enter it because people were praying and there was not enough space. I looked for the foreigner’s information booth, but it was close and it was a shame because I would have loved to hear someone explain the significance of the temple and shrine. I stopped in the store for the temple and got a nice Buddhist prayer necklace and also some LED keychains and a Pepsi. I had seen the museum on my way in and decided to check it out.
The place was a small museum and I think it was more of a community center with an exhibit to show off some of the Buddhist artifacts. I went through the exhibit once and took some pictures. It was hard because there were not that many explanations on what I was looking at and they did not elaborate on it either! When I finished, I felt a little bit ripped off, but my luck turned for the better! I was looking at this room, and this lady noticed I was looking in her direction. She asked me something in Korean and I responded, “Sorry, I don’t speak Korean.” And she told me to wait. She brought me a nice looking old man who spoke English. He assumed I wanted a tour and I obliged. He spent the next hour telling me the stories that went along with all the pieces in the exhibit. I found out he volunteers there and gave free tours in English to anyone who happened to come through. He was very thorough in his answers and explanations and I was very grateful for this. After the tour, I went outside to find a place to eat and quickly found the shopping district of Insadong.
It was a hybrid street with shops surrounding it and people walking, but cars were still allowed to drive through it. I walked around and bought a Korean towel that I will hang in my house. I finally found a place to eat and they served the Korean equivalent of dumplings. I also had a clam noodle soup. I enjoyed my late lunch whilst reading the newspaper I had acquired earlier. The dumplings were very good and they were the best part of the meal. I walked around some more and decided to head back to the guesthouse.
I saw a place that sold guitars and decided to check it out. The place I originally saw did not have the kind of guitar I was looking for, so I looked for the subway. On the way, I found another smaller shop and stopped in. They did have a very nice acoustic electric bass, which was exactly what I have been looking for the past couple years. It is always more useful to have an acoustic guitar plus it is also ready to be plugged into an amp. I laid my eyes upon a beautiful orange guitar. I was allowed to strum it a little bit and I could tell the place was in desperate need to sell something. The starting price was a little more than I would want to pay for and I was able to bargain for a good price plus a nice traveling soft case, tuner and three picks! After buying the guitar, one of the ladies had to go get the case from a bigger store, so she left and I waited for her. I ended up talking to the two people left. The guy was the cousin of the girl who had left and the other one was just another worker. We shared our musical tastes and I found out that he liked R&B a lot and our tastes’ overlapped a little bit. We talked and when she finally came back, I was reluctant to leave.
I headed back to the guesthouse a very happy customer! After a nap and some rest, I headed out again to see if I could find a good hamburger. That failed, as I could not find the restaurant I was looking for. I ended up eating a cheap meal at KFC. That concludes my day!
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