Art and soul at the oasis

We’re sorry, this feature is currently unavailable. We’re working to restore it. Please try again later.

Advertisement

This was published 15 years ago

Art and soul at the oasis

Quaint ... Ssari the sapsal in Bukchon.

Quaint ... Ssari the sapsal in Bukchon.

I was sure we were lost. It was dark and, faced with a maze of little alleyways well away from Seoul's main roads, the taxi's GPS had apparently thrown in the towel. But my driver made a call and a bespectacled man appeared out of the gloom, leading a large hairy dog. "Ah, Mr Richard! We walk to guesthouse."

I was wrong about the man leading the dog. The dog was the boss and we had to jog to keep up, my backpack bouncing along. In a breathless conversation, I learnt that my host was Mr Hyoun and his companion was one of his traditional sapsal dogs, Ssari.

Up a short hill and down a laneway, we reached Seoul Guesthouse, a hanok, or traditional Korean house. It had heavy wooden doors under a roof of grey clay tiles, leading to a little courtyard with piles of firewood and earthenware jars. Mr Hyoun slipped off his shoes and slid open a wooden lattice screen.

I clambered up over the high lintel. My room was a cubicle with white rice-paper walls and the yellow floor was warm. This was because the ondol, the old Korean underfloor heating system, was doing its job. I was expecting a sleeping mat but there was a bed with a doona. I loved this place already.

"Bathroom." Mr Hyoun said, as he hopped nimbly along the wooden balcony and slid open another door. Modern fittings, tiles, working toilet, great!

There are few of these old hanoks left in Seoul and many that survive are in Bukchon, a northern village just outside the main city centre. Some are now "visitable Korean traditional houses", which means they can charge visitors a small fee to look through them, while several are run as guesthouses.

The next morning, I headed out to explore, following a map and markers set in the footpath. There was a Museum Of Traditional Knots as well as plenty of nondescript buildings along the route but also numerous hanoks converted into galleries selling lacquer-work, pottery, flutes and stone sculptures.

A particular sign caught my eye: Seoul Museum Of Chicken Art. I'm intrigued by weird museums and wasn't disappointed by this one. A private collector has put together more than 8000 chicken paintings, statues and bric-a-brac, ranging from the beautiful and ancient to the downright kitsch. My guide proudly led me to Australia's contribution - stamps from the 2005 Year Of The Rooster.

Advertisement

There were wooden chicken carvings from traditional funeral biers. Koreans, I was told, see the chook as a symbol of intelligence and courage, faithfully leading the departed towards heaven. A new advertising angle for KFC, perhaps?

Adjoining Bukchon, in the grounds of the Gyeongbokgung Palace, I found the National Folk Museum of Korea and it's a much more professional affair, beautifully displaying artefacts from Korea's social history. There were wooden printing blocks, fishing equipment and farming implements. I particularly liked the stone and wooden sculptures outside - totems that were set at village gates. It was also fun to see children trying their hand at old games like bowling hoops and spinning tops.

Nearby Insadong Road is famous for its restaurants, galleries and craft shops. This being a Saturday, the street was closed to cars and swarming with people. Priests carrying gongs and bowls were begging, guards in traditional dress put on a show, young people were electioneering and good-natured street hawkers sold snacks of grilled octopus, chestnuts and roasted silkworm larvae.

The Beautiful Tea Museum was indeed beautiful, a triumph of filtered natural light falling on wooden tables and a dazzling array of fine earthenware tea sets. Less beautiful was the Knife Gallery, a store selling vicious hand-weapons. Want a samurai sword, battle axe or mace and chain? You've come to the right spot.

Something out in the street was pulling a crowd. It was my host Mr Hyoun and his dogs. The sapsal is a rare but famous traditional Korean breed, which was thought to be extinct 40 years ago until rediscovered in the wild. They are supposed to ward off evil spirits and in the street they were attracting the sort of attention I'd expect walking through Hobart leading a pair of Tasmanian tigers.

During the next few days, working in different parts of Seoul, I came to realise what a distinctive oasis Bukchon is in a city where progress verges on an obsession. With a last night to spend before my flight out, I headed straight back there.

This time I stayed in Tea Guesthouse. It was a little more upmarket than Seoul Guesthouse, though equally quaint, with padded sleeping mats on the floor. But the toilet had a heated seat. Tradition is all very well but mod cons are appealing, too.

TRIP NOTES


Singapore Airlines flies Sydney to Seoul return from $1675. The nearest subway station to Bukchon is Anguk and KAL limousine buses transport passengers from the airport for 14,000 won ($14.40).


Seoul Guesthouse is 35,000 won a night for a single; 50,000 won for a double, see seoul110.com. Tea Guesthouse is 50,000 won single; 80,000 won double, see teaguesthouse.com.


Recommended is the brilliant and very cheap Korean Cuisine Restaurant, in Insadong 4 Gil.


Entry to National Folk Museum of Korea and Knife Gallery is free. Entry to Museum of Chicken Art is 3000 won.

Sign up for the Traveller Deals newsletter

Get exclusive travel deals delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up now.

Most viewed on Traveller

Loading