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10D9N Korea Trip – Day 8 (Part 2): Namdaemun Market 남대문시장 / Kalguksu Alley 칼국수 / Galchi Jorim 갈치조림

| by mitsueki

10D9N Korea Trip: 23 April 2015 – 3 May 2015 (Updating!)

Getting to Namdaemun Market 남대문시장!

The next destination on the itinerary was a visit to Namdaemun Market!

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As mentioned multiple times, please do get your hands on the Seoul train map app to navigate your way around Seoul! It’s very easy, just follow the directions and it is pretty accurate!

Directions to Namdaemun Market: Take the train to Seoul Station before switching to another train to Hoehyeon Station on Line 4. Walk out of Exit 5 to get to Namdaemun Market or just follow the signs!

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But first, we grabbed a drink – watermelon milk and Binggrae melon drink from a random GS25 convenience stall. At that point in time, Seoul was heating up and getting really warm! Just imagine.. I was wear long sleeves and almost sweating 🙁

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Kalguksu Alley 칼국수

Our first order of business at Namdaemun Market was to head to Kalguksu Alley 칼국수! It’s actually quite easy to spot the alley – just look for the plastic looking covers at this door in front of the alley and you know that you are at the right place.

You can also refer to the map below taken from VisitSeoul.

Unfortunately, it seemed like EVERYONE had the same idea of eating a meal at Kalguksu Alley and it was utterly and horrifying crowded as seen pictured below. The bf refused to enter the hot sweaty mess inside (it was a hot day remember?). There were no empty tables or seats at all, super super crowded.

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I’m not surprised though as some of the restaurants in Kalguksu Alley are pretty popular having been featured on KBS/SBS to name a few.

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This is what we missed eating at Kalguksu Alley – kalguksu (kalguksu 칼국수) means handmade knife-cut noodlesand boribap (Boribap 보리밥 means barley rice with mix vegetables). All Photo credits below to VisitSeoul.

Galrich Jorim Alley 갈치조림

There is also another famous ally called Galchi Jorim alley (galchi jorim 갈치조림) that serves braised hairtail fish dishes.

You can spot the entrance of Hairtail Alley from this picture below!

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Would have dearly loved to try but oh well, that’s a trip for next time then! 😀

Exploring Namdaemun

Alright and back to Namdaemun Market!

Namdaemun Market, located in the very center of Seoul, is the biggest traditional market in Korea selling children’s clothing, men & women’s clothing, daily miscellaneous goods, kitchenware and local and imported products. Most shops have their own factories and make the products themselves offering both wholesale and retail prices which enable visitors to purchase various shopping items at extremely inexpensive prices. – Visit Korea

Namdaemun Market Map

Here’s a map of Namdaemun Market for your reference below along with colored codes where you can find the different streets – food street, meokja street, galchi street and jokbal street! Photo credits to Visit Seoul!

Another useful map from Yorae below! Think you will definitely find the 2 maps very useful as Namdaemun Market is HUGE and can be hard to navigate the place especially if you are just interested in purchasing specific items!

Just to share, I explored Namdaemun Market without the use of a map and boy was it difficult to walk around as I didn’t expect the sheer size of the market!

Still, it was quite an experience getting lost in the market as you wander from street to Street and it’s always different wherever you go! We saw so many items from sale from clothes, kitschy souvenirs to food.

Just a note not to expect any fashionable clothes here as most of them are catered towards the locals (especially the ajummas!)!

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Most of the cooked food for sale are also catered towards the locals so you may find many interesting food varieties and have no idea what they are!

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Other recommended items to purchase at Namdaemun Market will be Korean souvenirs, ginseng and seaweed! Read this post for more details!

Shinsegae Department Store

Just as we were wandering around Namdaemun Market, a long procession of people clad in panda suits were marching around the market! Teehee and 1 of them even waved at me! 🐼🐼

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We followed the pandas to Shinsegae Department Store (its their promotion technique) and headed straight to the only place of interest for us – the Food Hall at the basement! Shinsegae is a luxury department store chain in Korea so you can expect that everything is pretty fancy, even the food area. It was too upscale for us and we left for our next destination after walking around for a bit.

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Don’t forget to stay tuned to my blog / like my blog’s Facebook page / follow me @mitsuekion Twitter & Instagram for the latest updates!

Till later,
♥ mitsueki

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Author: mitsueki

Hello! I'm mitsueki aka Daphne and I blog at mitsueki.sg! Follow me on IG for more updates too!

2 Comments on “10D9N Korea Trip – Day 8 (Part 2): Namdaemun Market 남대문시장 / Kalguksu Alley 칼국수 / Galchi Jorim 갈치조림”

  1. Hi! thank you for your blog and very informative. Where did you get the seoul train map app in english. I’ve been searching but couldn’t find the right one. I live in Canada and I don’t know why it is not working. Do i have to be in Seoul for this to work. Thanks!

    Reply

    1. hi elena! download the kakaometro app, its in english – very easy to use(: u dont have to be in seoul to use it! im using this app right now to plan for my upcoming trip next month!(:

      Reply

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