My Traditional Dwelling Experience in Bukchon Village

In every travel that I plan, I always make sure that I can experience the locals' dwelling place.  

We decided to spend our last night in Seoul in Bukchon Village so from our Full House experience, we transferred to Bukchon Guesthouse via subway and as mentioned, it was excruciating lifting our trolleys from the stairs and pulling up in the subway under drizzling weather. 

a little uphill to Bukchon Guesthouse

Coming out of Anguk Station, we met Jay, the owner of Bukchon Guesthouse at the famous landmark, Mister Donut.  Going there is quite an uphill. It was like going back to the past and how a typical neighborhood of yesterday's Korea looked like. I loved it! It was so charming, so calm and so humbling.  I can compare it to our own Intramuros or Vigan during Spanish Era. Along the streets are a mixture of artsy and fancy stores from bookstores to souvenir shops, handicrafts to vintage decors, from noodles to pizza houses and one coffee shops to another. I really loved it - my old soul!

the street uphill

To stay in Hanok is one of our South Korea bucketlists. Described by Wikipedia as Korea's traditional houses which interior structure planned accordingly.  

Description copied from Wikipedia: This principle is also calledBaesanimsu (배산임수), literally meaning that the ideal house is built with a mountain in the back and a river in the front, with the ondol heated rock system for heating during cold winters and a wide daecheong (대청) front porch for keeping the house cool during hot summers.

Typical Hanok House is very homey and cozy. With jars (sometimes of fermented kimchi) in the garden

Koreans are very particular of leaving your shoes outside the house. This is also a gesture of courtesy to the owner of the house.

We occupied three twin-rooms and had our own ondol (heated floor map). Breakfast is free from 7am to 9am and computer/washing machine, iron and other facilities are free. 

Scene from "Personal Taste"
Photo credits: www.dramabeans.com

Am I in "Personal Taste"? another Korean drama starring Lee Min Ho.

One more thing I liked about staying in Bukchon was that we cooked our own breakfast.  The common area was very welcoming that we felt like we're just home away from home.

Dining area decorated with pictures and notes from guests all around the world.

The place is very cozy and homey. We had a good sleep that night. If you don't mind sleeping on the floor, then experience Ondol, the sleeping pad on the floor with heater. 

After a whole day of island tour, pulling and lifting of our luggages in the subway and walking on the streets under drizzling weather, we bought some soju and had our own drinking session to warm the cold night and celebrate our last night in seoul.