Since I have most of the day free before meeting my travel companions and our tour leader this evening I decided to do what we often do when visiting a new country- sign up for a walking food tour to learn more about what I will expect to eat while here. This one sounded intriguing, offered by Secret Food Tours Seoul:

https://www.secretfoodtours.com/seoul/food-tours-seoul/

The walking tour makes 7 food stops to try local Korean street food and lasts about 3.5 hours.   It will be interesting to see who else will  be on the tour.

I managed to stay up last night until about 8:30PM local time (4:30 AM Seattle time) before calling it a day. I did have to wander down to the front desk with my handheld Samsung AC controller to have them explain how to operate it as all the symbols were in Korean.

Woke up today, fully refreshed, at 4:30AM ready to hit it!  Oh well, an afternoon nap will hopefully get the final time adjustment in place. Using the extra time to start this day’s blog before venturing out for a coffee. I did walk a few blocks last night in the local area and found   Both a Starbucks and a McDonalds! Since my walking tour begins at 10AM I do not want to have a heavy breakfast before departing for the tour.

While looking up the hours of nearby coffee shops I quickly learned that Seoul does not wake up early! Virtually all the coffee shops did not open until 7AM or later! McDonalds does not even open until 10:30AM. I killed time writing this blog entry and finally ventured out about 6:45 to go to a nearby coffee shop called Hollys which was supposedly open. It was not! Heading back to the hotel I noticed a Starbucks next door and found it opened at 7, so in I went. An Americano and a scone cost me $5.90, inexpensive compared to Seattle Starbucks prices. While drinking my coffee I noted more things about Seoul and Korean culture. Koreans work hours are 9-6, perhaps explaining the late opening of coffee shops. The cars on the road are clean and new, as are the well-marked cabs.  There are very few motorbikes on the streets and NO electric bikes or scooters crowding the sidewalks and streets. There are very few bike lanes. Over 50% of the people (going and old) on the street are wearing face masks.

Asking the front desk about directions to the food tour meeting place he suggested taking the local subway system which would have involved a transfer along the way. Having noted that there are sometimes English signage with the Korean signage I still did not feel comfortable trying to maneuver the huge (9 separate lines) transit system this early in the trip so I plan to take a cab, which are plentiful, clean and modestly priced.

Taking a cab worked like a charm and the bill was only  $5.87 and you do not tip the driver. Our guide was a young lady a named Sonsa and we were joined by a family of 4 (2 teenage sons) from Melbourne, Australia. We walked through the nearby  famous food market (Gwangjang) where we stopped at several locations to taste traditional Korean street food and try their popular rice wine called Makgeolli. We learned that Koreans eat out an awful lot and it is places like here in the market that they frequent. We left the market and walked to other nearby locales for further sightseeing and food including some delicious ice cream and finally ending up at a local traditional (leave your shoes at the door and sit on the floor) tea house for a special medicinal tea and more snacks. It was a delightful 3.5 hour tour of trying local foods and drink. I liked it all except I was not fond of a dish of beef tartar mixed with slivered pears and a raw egg!

We walked through the market as we stopped and sampled the various foods. The market offers a marvelous visual and scent tableau of Korean life.

Leaving the market we walked to other nearby locations to see shops and visit our final food tasting items.

Another cab ride ($4.98) with an 84 year old driver who spoke a bit of English brought me back to the hotel for a needed 2 hour nap before meeting with my tour people at 6PM.

At 6 PM our travel group of 16 met with our tour director, Rob Lee, for the first time. Surprisingly the age of the group was older than I expected, as I was under the impression that G Adventures catered to a younger crowd. In our group of 16 only two of the group (2 girls from the UK) were on the young side. The rest of us fall into the mature category. There is a gentleman and lady from Ireland ( they do not know each other), a gentle person from Australia, a couple from Victoria, BC, two couples from California and two ladies from NY state. Also surprisingly many people have traveled with G Adventures before.

Rob, who was born and raised in Korea and has worked for G Adventures for 7 years, spent about 20 minutes going over the logistics of the trip and then led us to a local restaurant to experience the Korean BBQ, where the meal is cooked at your table.

After dinner for which we each paid our own bill (mine was 28,000Won or $21.05 – no tipping in Korea) Rob offered to take us on a walk of the local area to show us Seoul at night. Walking the streets of Seoul at night is quite an experience! Thousands of people, dozens of street food carts lining the pedestrian street and offering every imaginable hand held food item, stores open until 10-11PM. It is a happening place!

The ultimate goal of Rob’s walk was to show us the artifical stream that was created in the middle of the city. Originally a road it was converted into a moving stream of water through the city center. It is 10 km long and the flowing  water is recycled by huge pumps. It is very popular with people of all ages, especially the kids who play in the shallow water during the summer.  It reminded me of the river walk in San Antonio, but without the bars and restaurants.

14,483 steps later I was back in my room and more than ready for a good nights sleep. Tomorrow we begin our tour of local sights in Seoul.