Most people fly home with a bag from Daiso and a bag from Olive Young.
Nothing wrong with that. I go to both — one for household basics, one for cosmetics.
But there’s another kind of thing you can carry home. Something that outlasts the trip.
There’s a shop for that a thirteen-minute walk from Itaewon Station. It’s called TWL, and the sign outside spells it out: Things We Love.
I am not a person who cares about things. I ate rice out of a storage container for years and never thought about it once. Then I bought one plate here.
The plate
It looks like a full moon. Round, pale, heavier than you expect. The surface is smooth the whole way across, and I keep running my thumb over it.
The first thing I put on it was melon. Almost the same color as the plate. The two of them looked right together.
It does ordinary work now. It goes under a teacup. It holds kimchi. Whatever I put on it, I like looking at it.
I did not expect to care about a plate. I still don’t shop for dishes. But the plate taught me something I didn’t know — that one well-made thing can make an ordinary day richer.
What TWL is
That plate came from the third floor, off the shelf marked DAILY.
TWL is four floors. A sign by the stairs tells you the whole shop in four lines.
The first floor changes with the season — seasonal gifts, and pop-ups that come and go.
The second floor is craft meant to last: teaware, and work by makers from Korea and elsewhere. Most of the names I saw there were Korean.
The third is everyday tableware — ceramics, glass, dishes, cutlery.
The top floor isn’t a shop at all. It’s a gallery TWL runs itself. When I went, a brand from abroad had a pop-up in it. What’s up there changes.
When I’m buying a gift I look under 50,000 won, and I have never had trouble staying there.
What to look for
The shop is called Things We Love, not Things Korean, and plenty of what’s here comes from abroad. But plenty of it is Korean, and that’s why I send visitors here.
You don’t have to guess which is which. The shelves carry the maker’s name and a few lines about them. TWL also works with makers on pieces of its own — its TWL Edition, sold nowhere else.
Most of what I buy at TWL I give away. These four I kept: the plate, a charm I wear on a necklace, a glass object that sits on my desk, and a small teaspoon. I still use all four.
Those are mine. Here’s the rest of the shop. I hope you find one that means something to you.
If you’re going
Getting there. 34 Noksapyeong-daero 40na-gil, Yongsan-gu. Thirteen minutes on foot from Itaewon Station, Exit 1 — and you’ll walk past a Daiso and an Olive Young on the way, if you still want those. Here’s the shop on Naver Map.
Map: NAVER Map
Hours.
Tue–Sun
Noon – 7:00pm
Mon
Closed
Everything is online at twl-shop.com. The fourth-floor gallery keeps its own site at handlewithcare.kr, where past exhibitions are archived.
People come to this neighborhood from everywhere, and their food arrives with them. Japanese and Chinese — those are our neighbors, that much makes sense. Vietnamese. Cuban. Jordanian. Brazilian. Mexican. American. And it keeps going. Not in some food court built for tourists, either. Just scattered around the streets I walk every day.
That list is long for a reason. Yongsan-gu is where foreigners in Seoul have always ended up. A U.S. Army base sat here for most of the last century, and there are about two dozen embassies in Hannam-dong, the next neighborhood over — Italy’s is one of them. So a lot of people around here come from somewhere else. The food came with them and stayed.
I’m the local here. I’m the Korean one. And living in the middle of it has made me curious about everywhere else. I grew up thinking of other countries as places you fly to. Around here they’re just open for lunch.
It also makes this a good place to open a restaurant, if the food you cook comes from somewhere else. The neighborhood is already used to you. So they keep opening.
O Tigelle is one of them. The Italian one. This shop is the original — there’s a second one in Gongdeok now, but it started on this street.
It is the best sandwich I have ever eaten. Not just the best in Seoul. Not just the best for the money. The best one.
Which leaves me with a thought I can’t put down. If this is what an Italian sandwich tastes like on a side street in Seoul — what is waiting for me in Italy?
Is there a Korean restaurant near you? Tell me what it’s like — honestly.
What is a tigella?
The shop is called O Tigelle, and the thing it makes is a tigella. I didn’t know what that was either, so I looked it up.
It comes from the Apennine hills between Modena and Bologna, in Emilia-Romagna. A small flat round bread, about ten centimeters across — it sits in your palm. Flour, water, salt, and a little lard. That was the entire recipe.
The good part is how they baked it. Not in an oven — between two hot faces at once. Crust on both sides, and a middle that stays soft. Those faces were flat clay disks, heated in the fire and pressed onto the dough. The disks were the tigelle — Latin for “cover” — and the bread ended up taking the name of the tool. At O Tigelle the tool is metal instead of clay — a hinged pan with seven round wells that shuts over the dough and goes onto an open flame. Same job.
The shop’s own explanation, in Korean. The pan beside it is the tigelliera.
What goes inside, traditionally, is cunza: pork lard beaten with garlic and rosemary, spread while the bread is hot enough to melt it, with Parmigiano Reggiano — the original Parmesan — grated over the top. Modena’s answer to pesto. After that, anything cured — and Emilia-Romagna cures more pork than just about anywhere on earth.
Which is why the menu here reads the way it does. Mortadella. Coppa cotta, coppa cruda. Pancetta. That isn’t a Seoul café reaching for Italian-sounding words. Those are what you actually find in a tigelleria in Modena, and the salumi here — the cured meats — are made in-house. The shop comes from Omangia, an Italian restaurant in Hannam-dong.
I’d never heard of Omangia until I looked this shop up, and I haven’t eaten there. But if they can make a sandwich this good, I want to see what they do with a whole restaurant. I’ll report back.
The friend who brought it to my office
I didn’t find this place. It was handed to me.
A friend who lives in Itaewon showed up at my workplace one day with lunch. The bread was the first thing I noticed — round, flat, nothing like sandwich bread. Then I ate it. It was called truffle ricotta, and it was extraordinary.
I asked him where it came from before I’d finished it.
When I went myself, two things happened. The first was the menu. I’d assumed my friend had brought me the one good sandwich; instead, there was a whole board of them.
The second is the reason I never stopped going. The kitchen is huge — as big as the room you eat in. There’s a sack of Italian flour parked on the floor by the counter. The bread is made in that kitchen. So is the ham — it’s hanging in a glass case right now, months away from being ready to eat. A kitchen that big told me how much they care about the food. The food backs it up.
Cured in the shop, hanging in the shop. That’s why you can’t go wrong with O Tigelle.
What I actually order
These days it’s one of the sets. Set one is a Special, a truffle ricotta, and a coffee. Set two swaps the truffle ricotta for a small soup or a small meatball. An hour out of the pool, one sandwich isn’t enough. Both sets come with the coffee that finishes waking me up. What decides between them is whether I want something hot. After a swim I usually do — so, set two, for the soup.
Set one — a Special, a truffle ricotta, and a coffee. 16,000 won.
The soup is mushroom, and it is the best soup I have ever eaten, too.
It’s a cream soup with enough mushroom in it to chew on. There’s a bright green herb oil pooled across the top, and cheese gathered in one place rather than dusted over it. Parmesan, maybe — I’ve never asked, and I’m not going to pretend I can name it. Take the cheese first, on its own. It’s sharp, it wakes your mouth up. After that you’re into the cream underneath, which is warm and fills you up.
I don’t usually like a thick soup. This one isn’t one. It’s thin enough to drink and thick enough to dip bread into — and half a tigella comes standing in the bowl to do it with.
Set two — with the mushroom soup. Half a tigella comes standing in it.
I’ve gone three weeks running and ordered something different every time. Of the Specials I’ve had the Mortadella, the Coppa cruda and the Hawaiiano. All of them good.
Now, how the menu is put together.
Most of the Regulars are built around one cured meat. Next to the Specials they look like the budget row. They aren’t. What comes with the meat — ricotta, butter, honey, and so on — is chosen to push the salumi forward, not to compete with it. That’s what the board means by enjoy the natural taste of salumi. You’re not choosing a tier. You’re choosing a flavor.
The sets are for a meal. For a snack I order Regulars instead. Pancetta is the one I keep going back to. The menu says sweet and salty: there’s honey in it, along with ricotta, olive oil, oregano and Parmigiano Reggiano. I am a salt-and-sweet person, and once something gets its hooks into me I eat it until I’m sick of it. I am not sick of it.
If it’s your first time
Truffle ricotta. It’s what my friend put in front of me, and I’d put it in front of you for the same reason — it’s a spread and a bread and nothing else, which makes it the cleanest way to actually taste the tigella. It’s also the cheapest thing on the menu, at 4,000 won. Start there.
Then a Regular, any of them. That’s the row where the salumi is the point. I’d say pancetta, but only because I’m me.
And get the mushroom soup. I like meat, and I watch my protein. There’s no meat in the soup or the truffle ricotta, and most days those two are still what I want.
Take it with you
The bread travels. That’s the whole reason I ever tasted it — my friend walked one over to my office in a paper bag, and it was still extraordinary half an hour later.
So consider not eating it here. I got mine to go once and ate it at the Han River.
This matters more than it sounds, because of where the shop sits. The National Museum of Korea, the War Memorial of Korea, Yongsan Family Park and the Han River are all in this part of Seoul. The shop opens at eight. If any of them are on your list, you can pick up breakfast here on the way.
If you’re going
Getting there. Noksapyeong Station, Line 6, Exit 3. From there it’s 299 meters — about six minutes, one crosswalk. If you’re coming from the main Itaewon strip, give it ten minutes on foot. Here’s the shop on Naver Map.
Search the name and you’ll find two. The one in this post is the original in Itaewon, at 168-6 Noksapyeong-daero. The other is in Gongdeok, in Mapo-gu — three stops up Line 6, same name, different shop, and I haven’t eaten there. If that one’s closer to you, here it is on Naver Map.
Map: NAVER MapThat sack by the counter is Italian flour.
Hours.
Mon, Wed–Fri
8:00am – 4:50pm (last order 4:30)
Sat–Sun
8:00am – 5:50pm (last order 5:30)
Tue
Closed
The menu
Prices are in won and current as of August 2026. The shop posts its menu on Instagram, so check the current one here. The photo can be hard to read on a phone, so I’ve typed it out below.
Regular — “Enjoy the natural taste of salumi.”
Mortadella (savory, soft, Italian bologna-style ham — suitable for a light meal)
5,700
Coppa cruda (original whole dried pork shoulder — for salumi masters)
5,700
Coppa cotta (Italian salumi made of boiled pork shoulder — less salty, good for salumi starters)
5,700
Pancetta (Italian-style pork belly — sweet and salty)
5,700
Chorizo (Spanish salumi of ground pork and chili — spicy and smoky)
5,700
Jambon (whole-boiled pork hind leg, French ham — if you want the natural meat flavor)
6,000
Truffle ricotta (made from the original recipe of Omangia restaurant — very appetizing)
4,000
Caprese (stracciatella cheese with fresh arugula and sun-dried tomatoes — a light, refreshing choice without salumi)
6,500
Special — “Special tigelle made of salumi with special toppings.”
Mortadella special (cheese and paprika, pistachio pesto — a deep pesto flavor)
8,500
Coppa cruda special (arugula, ricotta, fig jam, provolone — sweet fig jam against the cruda)
8,500
Coppa cotta special (arugula, sun-dried tomato, cheese, sliced red onion — for vegetable lovers)
8,500
Salmon special (smoked salmon, dill cream, avocado, pickled egg, ricotta, red onion — the popular one)
9,000
Hawaiiano (grilled pineapple, provolone, pistachio pesto — a deep prosciutto flavor)
8,500
Burrata special (zucchini and Italian prosciutto with a whole creamy burrata)
9,000
Sides
Mushroom soup
10,000
Tomato meatball
11,000
Sets
Basket set — 2 Regular + 2 Special
2,000 off
Set 1 — Special + truffle ricotta + coffee
16,000
Set 2 — Special + small mushroom soup or small meatball + coffee
17,000
Thanks for reading this far. I hope you get here, and I hope the trip is a good one.
I said that one day I’d pick the best mix coffee for you, and share my not-really-a-recipe. Today is that day.
If you’ve been to Korea, you’ve already met this thing. Korean coffee mix: that skinny foil stick sitting next to the hot water dispenser at a restaurant, a guesthouse lobby, your friend’s office. Free, always there, nobody makes a fuss about it. Most travelers walk right past it.
Don’t be one of them. Try one — that’s what it’s there for. And then, before you fly home, buy a box. Actually, buy a few: they cost about what a keychain costs, and they taste more like Korea than anything else in the souvenir shop.
What exactly is Korean coffee mix?
Korean coffee mix holds three things in one stick, already measured for you: instant coffee, creamer, and sugar. Tear off the top, pour it into hot water, and stir. That’s the whole ceremony. Thirty seconds, no barista, no machine.
And here’s the part I didn’t know until I wrote this post: Korea invented it.
In 1976, a Korean company called Dongsuh Foods put coffee, creamer, and sugar into a single package under the brand Maxim — the world’s first coffee mix.
So why is it everywhere? Because hot water is everywhere. That’s the only equipment it needs, which meant coffee could turn up in places a café never would: a construction site, a mountain shelter, a bank counter, a barracks. Mix coffee became the fuel of Korean work life, and it never left.
How much of it? Fifty years later, Dongsuh still holds about 88% of Korea’s instant coffee market — every other brand in the country is splitting what’s left. And Maxim Mocha Gold alone reportedly sells around 170 sticks every second. Not every minute. Every second.
My pick: Maxim Supreme Gold
So… my pick is Maxim Supreme Gold. The reason is simple: it’s the expensive one.
In coffee mix, “expensive” means about 50 won a stick more than Mocha Gold, the standard one. Under four cents. It’s the cheapest way I know to feel rich, and I use it every day.
This is what rich feels like.
But I’d like to think it’s not only about the price. For me, coffee mix is really about the creamer — that milky body. I drink black coffee too, plenty of it, but this is a different pleasure entirely. So I want the creamiest one, and that’s this one. Dongsuh upgraded the creamer for this line, and you can see it on the label: 60 calories a stick against Mocha Gold’s 50, in a 13.5g stick instead of 12g. That gap is the creaminess. White Gold goes the other way, swapping the creamer for skim milk powder, so it comes out lighter and cleaner. Lighter is fine, but I want creamy.
The box helps too. Clean lines, a little cup on the front, GOLD printed right under the name — it looks more expensive than it is. That’s ideal gift math. And the 20-stick size fits into a corner of your suitcase, which matters when you’re bringing one back for each coworker.
Be honest — doesn’t this look expensive?
My not-really-a-recipe
Here it is, the recipe I promised: use milk instead of water.
That’s the whole thing. I told you it wasn’t really a recipe.
But I can tell you where I learned it. Every Korean man does his military service, and mine came with a 200ml carton of milk every morning. Milk is fine. What I wanted was a latte. There was no café, no chance — but the admin office had a box of coffee mix, because every room in Korea has a box of coffee mix.
So one morning I tore open two sticks, poured them into the milk carton, folded the top shut, and shook it as hard as I could.
Two sticks, 200ml of milk. That’s the entire shopping list.Shake it with the full desperation of a soldier who wants a latte.
I expected lumps. Cold milk, powdered coffee — it had no business working. It dissolved. And it was good: sweet, thick, cold, closer to a dessert than to coffee. That carton became my morning for the rest of my service.
You can keep shaking until every last grain is gone. I stop early — the bits that survive are my favorite part. Let me have this.
Years later I make it like a normal adult, in a cup: a splash of hot water first to melt the powder, then cold milk on top. Less milk than the carton version — I don’t measure it, I just pour until it looks strong. Strong is what I’m after in the morning. And no ice, ever. Ice waters it down, and thick is the entire point.
Then, writing this post, I went back and made it the old way — two sticks straight into a 200ml carton, shake. It was better. I think it’s the water. Even that little splash thins it out, and the carton version has nothing in it but milk and coffee mix.
So do it the way I did it in my early twenties, with no kitchen and no other options. 200ml of milk, two sticks, and shake it longer than feels necessary. No ice.
Looks convincing, doesn’t it? The taste goes past convincing.
Buying it
You don’t have to hunt for this. Walk into any supermarket in Korea — a big one, a neighborhood one, the small one under your hotel — and it will be there, usually a whole shelf of it.
Coffee mix is everywhere.
Get the 20-stick box, the one in the photos above. It’s the size that works as a gift: light, flat, cheap enough to buy five of them, and it doesn’t look cheap when you hand it over. Around 6,000–7,000 won depending on the store, so four or five dollars. Buy one more than you need — the last one is for you.
You can buy a friend’s heart for four dollars. Five if the store’s expensive.
And it’s a good thing to fly with. Nothing to break, nothing to leak, nothing a customs officer will look at twice. And whoever you give it to will get more out of it than they would from the keychain you were about to buy instead.
In my case, it’s Korean donkatsu (돈까스) — our own style of pork cutlet. And I’m not alone here. Many Korean men my age would say the same.
I don’t know exactly why. When I was a kid, that thin, crispy, huge donkatsu was pure happiness. Maybe it made me feel, “Wow! This meat is as big as my face!” And that crispy, oily taste was something moms didn’t really want to give their kids — which made it more special. It was the kind of food you got on your birthday. And sometimes, when I was upset, my mom would comfort me like this: “Kid, let’s go eat donkatsu.” That was game over.
In my case, I dive into my childhood just by looking at this plate.
Korean donkatsu vs tonkatsu: three cousins
Here’s a fun fact I learned while writing this post: my soul food has a family tree, and it crosses three continents.
It started in Europe — think Austrian schnitzel: meat pounded thin, breaded, and fried. In 1899, a Tokyo restaurant called Rengatei turned the French côtelette into “katsuretsu,” which became tonkatsu — the thick, juicy version Japan loves today, sliced into pieces and eaten with chopsticks.
Donkatsu arrived in Korea in the 1920s–30s, but the thick Japanese style didn’t stick here. When it finally got popular in the 1960s, Korean donkatsu went back to the schnitzel way: pounded thin and wide, covered in a brown demi-glace-style sauce, and served uncut — you eat it with a knife and fork. So, funny enough, my Korean soul food is closer to a schnitzel than to a tonkatsu.
A feast of donkatsu
In Seoul, there are many old-school donkatsu places. Today, let me introduce mine: Donzanchi (돈까스잔치) in Dongbinggo-dong, near Ichon Hangang Park. Their donkatsu comes the classic way: as big as your face, drowned in brown sauce.
Donzanchi is a little special because they also sell janchi-guksu (잔치국수). Janchi means “feast” in Korean — so the restaurant’s name literally means “donkatsu feast.” Later, I learned why the noodle is called that: janchi-guksu was the dish for weddings, birthdays, and big celebrations. The long noodles mean a long life — and a long marriage. Koreans still ask an unmarried friend, “So, when are you going to feed us guksu?” It means: “When are you getting married?” Unlike donkatsu, this one is real traditional Korean food.
Their signature menu is janchi-guksu with a donkatsu on top. Honestly, I don’t recommend it, because I hate losing the crispy texture of my donkatsu. (If that combination sounds good to you, you would probably like katsu-nabe.)
It’s not a special noodle — and that’s why it’s special.
You know, it’s not a super fancy taste. But sometimes we miss our childhood. When I want to sink into that memory, I go to Donzanchi.
Jeong (정), served in a styrofoam box
Maybe you’ve heard of jeong (정) if you’re interested in Korea — that warm, generous attachment Koreans share. At Donzanchi, jeong comes in portions. The plates are huge. But don’t worry if you can’t finish: leftover donkatsu can be self-packed for free. Take-out containers are right there, and you just pack it yourself. (The janchi-guksu can’t come home with you, though. It’s noodles.)
This is Korean jeong! Do you have an emotion like this in your country? Please tell me.
Eat it like a local
There’s no special way to eat here. Just one tip: try your janchi-guksu with dadaegi (다대기), the seasoned soy sauce on your table. Janchi-guksu is mild, and mild is good enough. But with dadaegi? It’s a kick — like kimchi.
Janchi-guksu too mild? Try this: dadaegi. (Caution: add it little by little — it’s very salty!)
The perfect finish: mix coffee
Many Korean restaurants like this have a mix coffee machine near the door. If you spot one, don’t pass it by. It’s the perfect finish to your meal.
I’ve heard many foreigners take mix coffee home as a souvenir. Good choice. In a future post, I’ll pick the best mix coffee for you — with water it’s good, but with milk? A perfect dessert. I’ll even share my recipe. (Calling it a “recipe” is a little embarrassing, but I’ll share it anyway.)
Honestly, the coffee from that old machine tastes subpar. But this is the REAL vibe.
That’s the vibe.
Donzanchi is a nice stop if you visit Ichon Hangang Park (이촌한강공원) — it’s a local’s course in our daily life. I’ll introduce that area soon.
So… have a great meal, my stranger.
Quick facts
Name: Donkatsu Janchi, Dongbinggo branch (돈까스잔치 동빙고점) — listed as “Donzanchi Dongbinggo Branch” on Naver Map
What I ordered: Yetnal (old-style) donkatsu, 13,500 won (as of July 2026)
Hours: Open daily, 10:30–21:30 (last order at 20:45)
Where: Dongbinggo-dong, Yongsan-gu — a short walk from Ichon Hangang Park
Are Myeongdong (명동) and Gyeongbokgung (경복궁) too crowded? Is the Seoul summer making you hot and dizzy? Seoul is a huge city, but it has a lot of nature too — like Bukhansan (북한산), the mountain you can see from almost anywhere in the city. We locals love hiking it. But let’s be honest: for some of us, hiking sounds a little heavy. And hiking in the middle of a Seoul summer…? Phew.
So here’s what I do instead: I go to the mountain, but I don’t climb it.
The Mountain Everyone Sees, Few Need to Climb
If you have one day to enjoy Korean nature, Bukhansan (북한산) might be your best choice. It’s a whole national park inside the city — about 80 km² of granite peaks and old temples, visited by around five million people a year. The highest peak, Baegundae (백운대, 837m), is a real climb: the final stretch is bare granite, and you pull yourself up holding steel cables. It’s not Hallasan (한라산) — Korea’s highest mountain on Jeju Island, a full-day pilgrimage — but don’t let the half-day course fool you. This is a serious mountain, not a city hill.
Here’s one for the Patagonia fans. Before Yvon Chouinard founded the company, he was a young American soldier stationed in Korea in the 1960s. On his days off, he kept coming back to one place: Insubong (인수봉), Bukhansan’s sheer granite tower. The routes he pioneered there — climbers still call them “Chouinard A” and “Chouinard B” — remain among the most beloved climbing routes in Korea, sixty years later.
And you’ve probably already seen this mountain. If you’ve stood in Gwanghwamun (광화문) Square and noticed a dramatic stone ridge rising far behind the palace roofs — that’s Bukhansan. It has been Seoul’s backdrop for six hundred years.
So, don’t you want to go? Me too. But climbing it in the middle of July? …That’s another story.
I Go to the Mountain, but I Don’t Climb It
Don’t get me wrong — I love being in nature. But hiking in a Korean summer? It’s harsh. The heat, the humidity… Conquering the peak of Bukhansan on a day like today? No, thank you. I’ll just sit by the stream and enjoy the greens.
(To be fair: if you want to experience Korean nature deeply, I do recommend the full hike too — just pack enough water and snacks!)
At the foot of Bukhansan, at the edge of Eunpyeong Hanok Village (은평한옥마을), there is a stream — Jingwansa Valley (진관사 계곡) — where locals go to cool off. Swimming in Seoul is complicated — but dipping your feet? That, we can do.
Getting to Jingwansa Valley
If you’re taking the bus to Jingwansa (진관사), get off at the stop called “Hana high school, Samcheonsa, Jingwansa” (하나고·삼천사·진관사입구) — it shows up in English on Naver Map, just like this. (Full disclosure: I actually drove there that day. But I did my homework for your wonderful day 🙂
– From downtown (Myeongdong, Seoul Station, Jongno): blue bus 701 goes all the way — one bus, no transfers.
– By subway: Line 3 to Gupabal Station (구파발역), then green bus 7723 to the same stop.
Source: Naver Map
And… we should grab some snacks first, right? It takes two minutes from the bus stop to a CU (a Korean convenience store — you’ll see them everywhere in Seoul). I went with a Monster Ultra White and a bag of Poca Chips (포카칩), Korea’s beloved potato chips. Grab whatever suits your taste. Oh, and see that red circle on the map? That’s the spot.
Source: Naver Map
If you walk along the stream, you’ll see a fence running beside the trail — but keep going, and you’ll find the spot where the fence ends. That’s the saetgil (샛길) — a little side path that locals quietly use. From the bus stop, it’s about 12 minutes on foot, flat and easy.
An Hour by the Stream
As soon as I met the stream, my stress washed away.Is this Seoul? No way…But then again, maybe it’s better that this is Seoul — no big plans, no gear, and you still get a view like this.Are you good? You look so happy, doggy.Ah… this is heaven. (The water? Cool, not cold — but more than enough to kick the summer heat.)
Around me, everyone had their own way of doing nothing: families with packed lunches on the flat rocks, a couple who brought camping chairs and set them in the water, dogs shaking themselves dry and jumping right back in. Nobody was in a hurry. I stayed about an hour, and it felt like the whole afternoon.
The Frogs Get It First
One thing you should know before you go: this valley belongs to the frogs until July.
Jingwansa Valley is part of the Jingwan Wildlife Protection Area, home to salamanders and the maenggongi (맹꽁이) — an endangered narrow-mouthed frog. Every year from February 20 to June 30, entry to the stream is restricted for their breeding season. The valley reopens on July 1st, just in time for the Korean summer. I kind of love that: Seoul closes a valley so the frogs can sing in peace.
A few rules, year-round: no cooking or camping, no fires, take your trash with you, and leave the frogs alone. Simple manners for a place this good.
Trash doesn’t belong here. I carried this one out — care to join me?
Quick Facts
– What: Jingwansa Valley (진관사 계곡) — a shallow stream for foot-dipping at the foot of Bukhansan
– Cost: Free. (Just take your trash with you — I hope we can hand this nature down to our sons and daughters.)
– When: July 1 – late summer (closed Feb 20 – Jun 30 for frog breeding season)
– Getting there: Bus 701 from downtown, or Line 3 to Gupabal + bus 7723 → “Hana high school, Samcheonsa, Jingwansa” stop → ~12 min walk
– Naver Map tip: copy-paste 진관사 계곡 (small places often don’t show up in English search — Korean works every time)
– Bring: sandals, a towel, snacks (or grab them at the CU near the bus stop)
– Nearby: Eunpyeong Hanok Village (은평한옥마을), and Jingwansa (진관사) — a temple famous for its Buddhist temple food
– Driving? There’s a public parking lot (한문화 공영주차장) right by the entrance — ₩100 per 5 minutes (about ₩1,200 an hour), capped at ₩13,000 a day.
If you always find your own little happinesses — like a stream at the foot of a mountain — Seoul has plenty more of them. More soon.
