Travel South Korea with me! Holiday Photo-Journal (Ed. 2)

simonsayz (51)in #travel • 7 years ago (edited)

Hello again to my new Steemit friends, new potential followers and maybe a few random upvoters.

Really proud to have almost hit 200 followers, I have to start posting every day. (how many people say this to themselves and don’t get around to it? - I am seriously going to make a conscious effort to put aside 2-3 hours a day and try! - wish me luck!

Today I am going to share with you my edition 2 of my “Holiday Photo-Journal” series - this edition is featuring an amazing food festival that I discovered in Seoul, I can't wait to get back there on my next Seoul trip!

I really hope you enjoy it and feel free to upvote and I will always return the favour :)

In this edition I share my experiences whilst travelling and living in and around Seoul and in later editions some other beautiful places in South Korea. It is interesting that not a lot of people tend to have South Korea on their holiday bucket list or top choices of places to visit , but for me it's a foodies paradise and an all-round great place to relax and take in all the culture and amazing hospitality that South Korea has to offer!

Some of you may or may not already have worked out that I am a die-hard foodie and in particular a street food lover. I am an Anthony Bourdain fan and you will typically find me in any city i visit , exploring and sampling something delicious and sometimes strangely exotic street food in any main street, laneway or riverside etc.

What does street food mean to me? It represents the staple that has fed the people of any given country and helped shape it, its usually honest and deliciously comforting. Unfortunately it is disappearing in many places around the world and the streets/locations that used to be lined with street food vendors have now turned into high rise apartments or shopping centre complexes or other general developments. I find eating street food the greatest way to really taste the culture of the country you are in right at it’s roots and in so many cases, within each country - there are sooo many different street foods to sample!

Back to South Korea, as it is in my mind, the street food capital of the world and the topic of this post.

I know , a lot of people may have China, Taiwan, Thailand, Vietnam, or India on the top of their lists for the best street food and don’t get me wrong - I love them all , but for me, Korea is the King of Street food. I love the spice and the fact that when you ask for real heat, that is actually what you will get! A mouth burning experience not for the faint hearted. The South Koreans are masters of Street Food , so let's take a look why.

When entering or departing any subway station , street food and that familiar smell of Deli Manjoo , Fish Cake Soup, Tteok-Bokki, Bungeo-ppang, Korean Street Toast, Dakkochi, Hotteok and more will try to ruin your breakfast, lunch or dinner plans as you are in transit! Not limited to these foods obviously, but they tend to be the one's that catch the nose as ultimately familiar.

I have been frequenting Seoul and South Korea since 2009 and this adventure begins in a place I only recently found in April 2016 and that is Seoul Bamdokkaebi Night Market (서울 밤도깨비 야시장). SBNM as I will call it from now on is located along the banks of the Han River and I arrived slightly early around 4pm , but it really starts to get packed after people have finished work (they usually work quite late the South Koreans - hard workers!). Here is a short video of dusk at SBNM - its runs 03.24.2017 ~ 10.29.2017 from 6pm - 11pm.

There were at least 50-60 food vendors scattered around the areas of Banpo Hangang Park, Dongdaemun Design Plaza, Cheonggyecheon Stream (Mojeongyo Bridge-Gwangtonggyo Bridge), and Yeouido Hangang Park that make up SBNM and the choices were great. One thing i really loved was that you could purchase cheap beer and soju from an onsite temporary supermarket, not only that , but you could buy pork belly and rent portable gas stoves with butane and tents to lounge around and even sleep over in. The supermarket had everything required for an amazing night out and everything was so well priced and affordable - the next time I go I will gather more people and hire a tent (You can also bring your own tents, picnic rugs or marquees to chill in/on).

Below are some photos of the food vendors and foods we sampled.

Chili Prawns & Beef Nachos always go down well with some ice cold beer!

The burger food vendors had a factory line pumping out the burgers to a full line!

Lots of family fun to be had, the area features a large pool where kids and adults alike can cool off from the scorching Seoul summer heat.

Not only was there a world street food area, but also a massive market place where you could buy all kinds of handmade crafts and other interesting things. There was also a stage that was on the Han River as seen further down in the photos.

Delicious piping hot organic beef burgers in brioche buns and nothing satisfies a carnivores hunger like some cubed steak to devour!

Another good way to stay out of the summer heat, bridges provide great shade for many of the other market areas.

The burger assembly line in action..

For the sheer volume of people , the long queues moved fast - which is a good thing.

Come and get your delicious shrimp!

Meat on a stick, is there anything more genius ? seriously?

The market stall area - lots of things to see and buy.

There were live bands on the Han River stage all evening.

My adventures around South Korea didn’t only revolve around street food alone, in future photo-journal editions in between the food photos, I will show you my other less fattening experiences in Yeosu, Seoul & Suraksan. But they are for another Holiday Photo-Journal edition - Stay tuned, follow me , upvote me and check back for new editions coming soon.

If you liked my Steemit post, please follow me for more! https://steemit.com/@simonsayz
I will always follow you back ^^

Until next time , May the Steem be with you!

(All photos are mine , but you can reuse them as long as you keep my watermark)

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Below: A shout out to some of the new steemit people I followed recently - I hope you can follow me back too!

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