[Seoul Series] Day 4: O’Sulloc Tea House and Nakwon Music Complex

There are so many things going on that I just couldn’t complete my Seoul Series in one go but a promise is a promise, and I promised that I will post about our Seoul itinerary last March 2012 (it’s gonna be almost a year since our Seoul trip!). And since most of the hits, comments, or emails I’m getting are about Seoul, here you go. The second part of my Day 4 post. The first part is about Insadong in general, Ssamzie-gil, and Jogyesa Temple. This one is about O’Sulloc Tea House and Nakwon Music Complex.

[Seoul Series] Day 4: Insadong, Ssamzie-gil, Jogyesa Temple

This is the Day 4 installment for my Seoul Series (which I started to document our visit to Seoul last March) and I’m going to break it down into several posts:

• Insadong, Ssamzie-gil, Jogyesa Temple
• O’Sulloc Tea House, Nakwon Music Complex
• N Seoul Tower
• Myeongdong, NANTA Theater

The first two posts will focus mainly about where we went in the Insadong area and it will be helpful if I show you the map of Insadong. I have highlighted some of the interesting spots that you might want to check out.

click to enlarge

Seoul Series: Why I Love 126 Mansion

After my posts on how to get a Korean visa and sharing our travel itinerary, here comes the next one to talk about the lovely guesthouse we stayed in while we were in Seoul last March 21-25. The guesthouse is called 126 Mansion in 126 Palpan-dong, Jongno-gu, Seoul. The guesthouse is located in the quiet but artsy neighborhood of Samcheong-dong.

I haven’t stayed in a hostel or a guesthouse in any of my travels before because I am picky when it comes to hotels. However, as I was planning for our Seoul trip, I already had my mind fixated on staying in a guesthouse than in another corporate chain. I have seen so many K-dramas already (I started getting hooked on K-dramas since 2004) and I’ve always been fascinated with their ondol floor. This is why I thought it would be a waste of chance to experience Seoul for real if I stay in a hotel.

I dropped by AirBnB to look for guesthouses in Seoul but there’s nothing there that captured my attention except for 126 Mansion. Just by looking at the photos of their rooms alone, I already got convinced that it’s where I want to stay. But I didn’t book via AirBnB. I directly went to the website of 126 Mansion to make my own booking. And that’s how I started becoming friends with the owners of 126 Mansion.

Seoul Itinerary for 5 Days / 4 Nights

As promised, I’m sharing our itinerary for 5 days/4 nights in Seoul.

Just want to tell you in advance that I went to Seoul with my husband and our family. We’re 12 in the group with 5 people just around my age and 7 senior citizens. Had I traveled with my husband alone (we will definitely go back there on our own), our itinerary would have been a more taxing one but definitely budget-friendly. Overall though, given our group demographics and physical considerations, I would have to say that we pretty much covered a good number of tourist attractions but just so you know, the itinerary I’m sharing might not reflect the cheapest way to go around town.