Hop on!

Seoul and Korea provide more and more tourist friendly services, and if I never used their bus programs, I'm quite impressed by their dynamism. Two new exciting routes are just starting these days.

At the national level, a new free shuttle bus for foreigners between Seoul and Jeonju will start tomorrow to celebrate the Visit Jeonbuk Year (for 26 weeks, see links and details below). All you need is: to bring your foreign passport, to book online, and to be among the lucky lottery winners (). And if you're too lazy to even plan ahead your trip, know that you land in Jeonju Hanok Village, in Wansan-gu, the historic center. If you missed this great city (great not only for Korean cuisine lovers), you have no excuse now. Even if you don't win the lottery, go!

Seoul-wise, Seoul City Tour Bus inaugurated its Traditional Markets Tour on February 22*. Double deckers will start every 35 mns for a 105 mn journey, and you can hop on and off at any of the 15 stops:

• 37. Departure from Doota (Dongdaemun Doosan Tower)
• 38. Bangsan Market (and its baking street, all the ustensils), Jungbu Market (dried fish and food)
• 39. Lotte Young Plaza (opposite Myeongdong's NOON Square, and next to Lotte Dept Store - if you don't want to shop "traditional market" all the way)
• 40. Seoul Station Bus Terminal no. 6
• 41. Namdaemun Market
• 42. Myeong-dong
• 43. Jonggak (and Bosingak)
• 44. Tapgol Park, Insadong
• 45. Sewoon Electronics Plaza 
• 46. Gwangjang Market
• 47. Pyeonghwa Market - Dongdaemun fashion town
• 48. Dongmyo shrine, Dokkaebi Market (Banghak-dong), Pungmul Market (flea market, Sungin-dong)
• 49. Yangnyeong Market (oriental medicine)
• 50. Majang Market (meat and livestock, Majang-dong)
• 51. Jungang Market (Singdang-dong)

This service is not free, but KRW 12,000 max (for adults), that's a fantastic deal to discover Seoul's main traditional markets in one day (from 9:30 to 18:30), particularly when you don't know the city: seats are equipped with audioguides and screens, and there's even an interpreter on board (ENG/JAP/CHN) to help you decide where to stop and what to do... which may include cultural visits (eg Dongmyo, Insadong, Tapgol, Bosingak), and should include snacks in every market. Why not have your fix at Gwangjang (see "(Gimbap) Drug Wars in Gwangjang Market"), try "Kalguksu alley and Gamegol mandu (Namdaemun market)", eat dry squid in Jungbu Market, red meat in Majang Market?... I should hop off now, before I drool all over the keyboard.

Seoul-Jeonju free shuttle: jeonju.chesstours.co.kr - email: visitkorea@chesstours.co.kr - Tel: +82.2.1577.2507. Departures 3 times a week - Friday, Saturday, Sunday -, between March 1st and August 25. Check also K-Shuttle lines (k-shuttle.com), and Jeonju City website (jeonju.go.kr).
Seoul City Tour Bus: seoulcitybus.com (NB: much more detailed on VisitSeoul) - Tel: +82.2.1544.4239 (Traditional Markets Tour), +82.2.777.6090 (Seoul City Courses)
... and always: VisitSeoul.net - VisitKorea - Korea Travel hotline: 1330

Seoul Village 2013
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* the fifth course after "City Circulation" (26 stops across Gangbuk with all major highlights), "Cheonggyecheon-Royal Palaces" (13 stops), and 2 non-stop "Nighttime Courses" that include the Han Riverside.

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20130228 UPDATE

Just received this ad by email (links to VisitSeoul):

(Gimbap) Drug Wars in Gwangjang Market

Sunday afternoon. In this dark alley of Gwangjang Market, all shops are closed except Monyeo Gimbap.

Surprise: hundreds of people are queueing for their fabled "mayak gimbap" (this "drug gimbap" owes its name to its supposedly addictive flavor). It took us over thirty minutes to get our fix, and we're in the dead middle of the afternoon ! Check it out :



Each dose costs KRW 2,500 and comprises 8 mini-rolls (not sliced) packed in a plastic box, along with one portion of mustardish sauce and two toothpicks (to make the injections as safe as possible).

Business is good: the dealers have hardly time to chat before moving to the next junkie, and even if they restrict two doses per head, their big metal buckets are quickly emptied. The boss then rides his motorbike to the lab and comes back five minutes later.

I'm not at all an expert in drugs but frankly, this one didn't make me fly. Yet I love gimbap and this one is more than ok. I liked the way they cut the carrots, in thin julienne instead of one big stick. The 'vinaigrette' may taste exotic to Korean palates, less to a French one.

As you can notice on the above video, the atmosphere is rather grim because this part of the market doesn't work on Sundays. Monyeo Gimbap is still located in the center, but fellow merchants recently told them to move their point of sale: the JoongAng Ilbo made a paper on their 'drug', and packs of new customers arrived, congesting the whole street all day long, every day of the week.

Yet nature abhors a vacuum, and rival dealers have been proposing their own 'mayak gimbap' long before the article. I saw four or five of those, even one specialized in kids (boy are drug dealers shameless marketers !). More than a few peopled queued there too, oblivious of the fact that this was not the real stuff.

Note that another joint recommanded by JoongAng Ilbo, Sunhuinae Bindaetteok, doesn't draw as many visitors, so it didn't have to leave the bindaetteok alley of the market. Jongno Bindaetteok remains my favorite, but theirs tastes - and looks - very good too :



The heart of Gwangjang Market is open on weekends, and the food section remains one of my favorit visits. But the atmosphere cannot be compared to week days : this old market is much more lively, and all kinds of people working in the area come to feast joyfully on great pig feet, sundae, bindaetteok, pajeon, and yes gimbap.


Monyeo Gimbap (머녀 김밥)
(the authentic 'mayak gimbap' - 원조 마약 김밥)
Tel +82.2.2264.7668
Sunhuinae Bindaetteok (순희네빈대떡)
Tel +82.2.2268.3334
Gwangjang Market, Yeji-dong, Jongno-gu, Seoul, ROK


Seoul Village 2011
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