Hanok Village: A Taste of the Bygone Past

Here’s a long overdue post on my family trip to Hanok Village. As it happened almost four weeks ago, I opted to not include a descriptive summary of the trip. Instead, here are some pictures I took when I was there.

So our family decided to go to Jeonju in the North Jeolla Province. Jeonju is known for bibimbap and Hanok village. Hanoks (한옥), for non-Koreans, are traditional Korean houses that are absolutely exquisite. Hanok Village displays a whole village made entirely of Hanok-styled houses. It’s definitely a popular tourist destination for local Koreans and foreigners. One thing to note is that besides the beautiful houses, the street foods are delectable.

This is Jeonju Moju. The easiest way to explain what it is is that it’s a type of makgeoli (fermented rice liquor) that is cooked with a variety of traditional Korean herb(?). Sounds weird but it’s quite delicious. For cinnamon lovers, moju has a strong cinnamon taste to it.

Street of Hanok Village. You can rent traditional Korean dress hanbok to wear for 1-3 hours.

Many of the stores and restaurants were inside Hanok-styled houses.

This bamboo grove reminded me of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000).

If only alleys in Seoul were this beautiful

Overpriced rainbow slushie…

Jeonju bibimbap croquette

Grilled octopus that reminded me of Taiwanese street food

The highlight of all foods: shrimp dumpling. The shrimps were plump and the fillings savory.

Interestingly, there was also a Catholic Cathedral which sharply contrasted the traditional Hanoks right across the street.

A rather interesting view of the two…

The street was laid back and the atmosphere incredibly relaxing. Here’s a photo of a man playing harmonica.

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Definitely visit Hanok Village if you’ve got the time. It’s definitely a great place that contrasts from the busy streets of Seoul.