Authentic Traditional Korean Village ~ Hahoe Folk Village

We took 8am bus from Seoul to Andong. The reason why we made a short visit is because we wanted to see Hahoe Village, the most authentic korean traditional folk village in South Korea. Journey from Seoul to Andong took 3 hours, then we have to take another bus to city center. We send our stuff to our hotel first before taking another 40 mins bus trip to Hahoe Village. So in the end we only have one afternoon to check Hahoe Village and Andong. But trust me, its all worth it. 

Being in UNESCO list under "Historic villages in Korea" category already enough to make us going there and check it our self. Well, we love anything involving UNESCO and World Heritage Site. 

When we arrived we actually made a mistake for stopping one stop earlier. Fortunately, we haven't eat lunch and when we check with tourist information center, they told us there's no restaurant in the village. And again we are fortunate since the Mask Museum also at the first bus stop. 

So, since we love Korean food and was so hungry, we went searching for a restaurant. Restaurant at this area already look exciting enough and we couldn't wait to see the village. 

We checked this restaurant but didn't see anyone, further inspection inside we saw few occupied table with customers sitting on the floor. Then we've been greeted by the owner who took us to restaurant next door which look less appealing. She didn't speak any english and we didnt know whats happening. We end up eating here and since we are hungry and we still can eat on the floor, korean style, we don't complain. 

Seafood Pajeon aka seafood pancake/omelette 

Our Lunch Set 

Rice pudding, courtesy of Mrs. Boss

Korean style dining

Andong specialty food is salted mackerel. We tried and it was delicious. This is also one of few places in Korea we ate where they serves a lot of Banchan (side dish) to accompany the main dish. Of cos we couldn't finish it all since Nico didn't like Kimchi which comes with different type of vege. 

After lunch we went directly to Hahoe Mask Museum which is located at the entrance. It was small but interesting museum. They not only house masks from Hahoe and korea but also from all over the world. 

If you don't feel like walking, you can take shuttle bus to go to Hahoe village just next to information center for free. We were dropped outside of the village and from there we have to walk around the village. My first impression was, its a very calm village, so very quite and definitely authentic. 

As tourist prefer to stay in Seoul and it was weekdays, we are again blessed to enjoyed this village to the fullest. Besides us there's a small group of local people, 2 japanese women and 2 western guy roaming around the village. 

This village is a reflection of social and cultural systems of the Joseon Dynasty with a distinguish different between houses for Scholar, Noblemen, servant and commoners. 

View before u enter the village 

Mud-walled House 

Straw Roof 

thatched-roofed house 

We left after strolling around the village and hoping we have enough time to check Andong before everything closed. We bought Andong mask for 40000 won as souvenir. So peeps, if you are looking for authentic korean folk village, go to Hahoe. Its only 3 hours away from Seoul, not many tourist, salted mackerel is delicious and you definitely will feel like you are shooting your own k-drama. 

Souvenir Shop in the village before exiting 

Handmade Hahoe Mask 

You can go here by ferry but we dont have time to check it 

2 weeks South Korea ~ Seoul

Berkurun dh rupanye tak update blog, walaupun aku dok rumah yg org ckp tak buat apa, aku sebenarnye ada banyak kerja nak buat. So since laki tak balik makan harini, aku nk cite pasal trip bacpaking kitaorg kat korea for 2 weeks June haritu. Harini jugak ttba gedik nk tulis dlm bahasa ibunda sbb google suruh ahahahaha, since aku pun jarang nk tulis bahasa melayu so harini try la, lagi cpt kot rsnye siap post aku ni. 

Masa memula buat travel plan, naik meroyan gak la sbb try to squeeze as much as we could dlm plan kan. Budget kena kira sbb bukan murah travel dkt korea beb. Kitaorg start our trip dkt Seoul, then pegi Suwon, Andong, Daegu, Gyeongju, Jeju and finished in Busan. 

Mana kitaorg pegi dkt Seoul? 

Day 1: 

Bibimbap 

Sebelum jalan kena makan dulu, kitaorg sampai dh tghari so singgah makan kedai ahjumma mcm xfamous tp penuh. We really love korean food, aku biasa gak masak kalau kat rumah tp of cos la x authentic mcm org korea masak kan. Laki ambik bibimbap, aku amik nasik ngan stir-fry squid...sangat2 sedap hokey sbb korean food pedas. 

1. Changdeokgung & Secret Garden 

Palace entrance

Palace compound

Secret Garden

Seoul ada 4 palaces (nk tulis istana bunyi mcm pelik plak), so first day kitaorg start dgn Changdeokgung. Tiket masuk sini tak termasuk secret garden so kalau nk pegi garden dia kena beli combined ticket. Secret garden located dlm kawasan palace jugak, dlm pada secret2 tu pun besar rupanye garden dia, so kalau join tour as good as 1 hour berjalan dlm taman sambil ambik gambar n dengar explanation. Kalau pakai high heel mmg jenuh la turun naik bukit. 

2. Bukchon Hanok Village

Check punye check takde gambar huhuhuhu. Maybe sbb kitaorg lapar kot, so sambil jalan sambil makan, tangan tak sempat nk capai phone. Kampung traditional k-pop ni menarik jugak especially utk tourist yg hanya dtg seoul, at least dpt la tgk traditional village diaorg kan. Kat sini ada mcm2, bukan je kampung tp ada kedai kopi, cafe, kedai souvenir, kedai baju and tempat kalau korang nak try pakai Hanbok (korean traditional costume mcm dlm k-darama tu). Aku tak try pun pakai Hanbok sbb masuk banyak kedai nampak muka org malaysia, dh pegi jauh2 rs rugi pulak jumpa org kg sendiri huhuhuhu. 

3. Gwanjang Market

nak kimchi apa cik? 

Hanbok 

korean Ginseng 

Dlm banyak2 MERKET dkt korea yg kitaorg pegi Gwanjang market is the best. Punya la besar, semua benda ada. Dr sayur, seafood, ginseng, baju, food stall, kasut, souvenir..macam2 la. So kalau korang pegi Seoul sila la kesini. Kalau nk beli Ginseng, kalau rs2 reti macam mana nak prepare and masak, beli la fresh ginseng tu. Kalau tak reti beli je Ginseng tea sudah. At first kitaorg mcm nk mkn dkt sini tp sempat gaduh kejap, so cancel makan. Lagipun aku malas nk ckp yg aku tak makan khinzir kat semua stall. 

4. Cheong-gye-cheon

Last event of the day kitaorg singgah sini for the famous jalan yg jd sungai tu. Kitaorg gedik2 jugak la lalu situ, celup2 kaki, tapi hati lebih kepada makan. So mencarik la restaurant bbq sbb tak makan bbq lagi. Jalan punya jalan kitaorg jumpa la satu restaurant ni, dia punye bbq sgt superb. Side dish dia lain dr yg lain tp so sorry sbb tak tau kedai nama apa, main masuk n tak snap gambar. Makan lebih penting. :p

So first day kami start dengan makan dan habis dengan makan juge hehehheh

Day 2 :

1. DMZ

Second day kitaorg ikut tour pegi DMZ sbb nak merasa tgk North Korea. Nak pegi sini ada mcm2 rules kena ikut sbb masuk joint security area utk kedua-dua negara. Passport copy nak kena bagi dekat tour, nanti sampai border ada askar check lagi, katanye ada satu bas tak boleh masuk DMZ area ni sbb ada tourist gi snap gambar askar yg check  dlm bas, so semua org kena balik. Selain dr tu diaorg imply strict dress and behavioural codes jugak, so nnt tour guide kasi tau sesuai ke idak baju korang tu. Kalau korang check review dkt tripadvisor, semua org concern risau apa nk pakai. Tp bila sampai sana aku tgk relax je tourist cina pakai skirt, baju bling2..so tak tau la mcm mana sebenarnye. Walaupun kawalan ketat, tp tourist bas masuk DMZ ni berkoyan koyan. Penuh tourist dr China mostly. 

So dlm DMZ tour ni nnt diaorg akan bawak pegi :

1.1 Imjingak Park

Sini first stop sblm masuk border, sini la jugak kalau nak pegi toilet, beli breakfast berbagai. Nice park tp sbb banyak no org payah nk bergambo. 

1.2 Third Infiltration Tunnel

Dekat area ni ada 4 tunnel yg org North Korea korek utk pegi South Korea utk ambush,tp kantoi jugak dgn oppa2 south korea. So dlm banyak2 3rd tunel ni diaorg bukak utk public, so dpt la merasa masuk terowong 73m deep and 265m long ni fefeling jd askar. Semput noq berjalan dlm ni, jgn main2. Aku tak recommend tempat ni utk org tua melainkan diaorg sihat dan cergas. BTW, dlm tunnel tak leh amik gambar.

1.3 Dora Observatory

Sini la tempat semua org berebut teropong nak tgk North Korea. Dh tgk dlm teropong pun sayup2 mata memandang, lps tu nampak mcm bandar mati pun ada, mcm takde aktiviti. Tp its spark our interest nak pegi North Korea pulak lps ni, tp check2 mahal katanye nk kesana sbb semua nak kena ikut tour tak leh jln sendiri sesuka hati. 

 

1.4 Dorasan Station

Tour bawak kitaorg pegi sini as part of DMZ tour. Basically takde apa cuma setakat train station. Tp train station ni pegi Pyeongyang, North Korea. 

DMZ tour berakhir dgn trip ke kedai Ginseng yg sgt mahal dan tak boleh ambik gambar. Matsalleh2 dlm bas tak mo pegi sebenarnye sbb ye la diaorg mana reti makan ginsengkan. Kitaorg ambik tour dgn lunch, ingatkan lunch dkt area DMZ tu rupanye balik Seoul baru dpt makan, nyesal la rs sbb boleh carik kedai sendiri kan tp akhirnye suka hati sbb food kat kedai tu sgt sedap. 

Lepas makan kitaorg pegi Lotte World mencarik baju Hard Rock Cafe, typical malaysiankan. Laki aku yg dulu tak minat pun dh ikut2 bini dia beli baju HRC. Kitaorg gigihkan jugak sbb ni last day dekat Seoul, takut tak dpt plak baju karang. 

Ni je gambar yg boleh ambik dkt kedai Ginseng 

Lunch 

Lotte World, HRC dkt 5th floor 

Hasil shopping

Aktiviti terakhir dekat Seoul adalah Namdaemun Market & Changgyeonggung Palace. Namdaemun market mcm pasar siang gitu, tp aku tak minat nk tgk baju2 dia sbb macam china made pastu xde kualiti. Kitaorg masuk jalan kejap pastu beralih arah pegi palace. Nasib la bukak lagi, rupanye bukak sampai ke malam. So ada la rezeki nak tgk. 

Next post aku cite pulak pasal day trip pegi Suwon, kat seoul ni 2 hari je. Aku sebenarnye hampa sbb aku rs korea tak mcm dlm drama, tp apa pun dh puas hati dpt tgk Korea hahahah.  Aku tak cerita pasal shopping ke skincare dlm post2 aku ni sbb kalau pegi sana tak payah susah hati, kedai bersepah2. Etude house, skinfood tu selang 2 3 kedai ada kedai diaorg lagi. Aku yg konon xnk shopping pun terjebak beli skincare, lagi2 bila diaorg ni sangat bermurah hati bg sample, syok jdnye.