Bukchon Hanok Village

29 September 2011

Bukchon Hanok village is the place to visit in Seoul if you want to see the traditional Korean houses or hanoks.   Access to the hanok village area is via Gahoe Road straight ahead from the Anguk subway station, exit 2. Gahoe Road has many small shops selling art and curios and is also where the Seoul Museum of Chicken Art is located.

I entered the village through a small road called Bukchon Ro 11 Gil (above left) which is on the left of Gahoe Road if you walk away from Anguk Subway station. 

I saw what looked like young Ladies Finger fruit in a pot (above right) planted by a resident, next to a pharmacy located at the intersection of Bukchon-ro 11 Gil and Gahoe road.

We checked out a small shop selling artistic hand-made jewellery before continuing on up a gentle slope.

 

It is a good thing that the beautiful traditional Korean houses are being conserved and/or refurbished. But something should be done with the messy overhead electrical cables.

This area is often used as a shooting location for Korean dramas, such as Personal Taste (Sanggojae - house number 43) and Heartstrings (house numbers 70-5 and 70-28). I had not watched any of the above dramas before my visit, else I would have checked out the hanoks used in the dramas.

In any case, we were on a guided city tour. So we followed the guide up the well-travelled tourist path, with the designated photo stops. Not so fun compared to exploring this area on our own.

I think this place is well worth a second visit if I am in Seoul again. The area I covered was just a small part of the overall village. The overall experience would be more fun, if given more time to explore and I think there are plenty of photo opportunities at this place.