Two travel bees

This is part two of our trip to Seoul, please see the previous post for more!

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Seoul is a fusion between a blooming hyper modern metropolis with glossy skyscrapers and traditional Korean culture and values.

The city appears very welcoming and social with streets crowded with people of all ages and money changing hands quickly at the local juice place, coffee bars and snack booths.

We found ourselves feeling very much at home in Seoul, despite it having a very different "wibe" than Scandinavian cities.

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The last days in Seoul we wandered around in the city and  visited the local markets (food halls) with their sensory explosion of sound, food and exotic smells. At the food market, the variety of food offerings are enormous and authentic Korean. At one booth, you'll see locals pointing out which arm of a huge living octopus they would like to be cut out and prepared for dinner, at another, the fish saleswoman has netted the chosen fish from the tank and clubs it with a stick to be placed on a weight and sold to the waiting customer. At the same time your nose stings from the smell and aromas of an overload of different types of paste and fermented vegetables that don't only supplement, but defines Korean cuisine.

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A short metro and bus ride from the city center lies the mountain range of Bukhansan National park with a vast amount of rocky trails and summits to be conquered. One of the very last days of our great stay in Seoul, we ventured away from the foggy buzzing city into a quiet oasis of small waterfalls and dense woods.

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We had few expectations and prior knowledge of Seoul and ended up with many happy memories and great experiences from the Korean capital in our suitcase before flying south to the tropical island Jeju (more on our Jeju trip in the next post!)