Robert Koehler Travel & Photography
Images of Korea
With camera in hand, I went to Suwon on Sunday evening to photograph some blue hour shots of the Janganmun Gate. Which, for those keeping score at home, is Korea’s largest city gate. Sadly, I shot a lot of my shots using a circular polarizer, just to experiment. The results looked like crap. Which means [...]
Sunday was Easter of course, and seeing how even Jesus thought it a fine day to get out for a stroll, I figured the least I could do was go to Myeong-dong Cathedral to snap some shots. Myeong-dong Cathedral I’m not going to go into the history and architecture of the mother church of Korea’s [...]
One of the many nice things about living in Seoul is you’re never more than an hour’s commuter train ride away from somewhere much more relaxing. Last weekend, I finally had a sort-of-free Sunday, so I broke out the camera and hopped on the 5:30 train from Cheongnyangni to Yangsu-ri to catch the sunrise from [...]
Here’s a bit of food porn to help you pass another rainy day. Ssarijip (싸리집): The Other Red Meat Earlier this week, a Korean-American friend of mine was in town and was in the mood for a particular dish, so we headed out to Gugi-dong, a quiet neighborhood in the hills north of downtown, to [...]
Taking advantage of the fine weather Saturday, I went down to Jincheon, a pleasant little rural community in lovely Chungcheongbuk-do, to visit the charming Buddhist temple of Botapsa, known to aficionados of Korean traditional architecture for its majestic three-story wooden pagoda, the only one of its kind in Korea. While I was in town, though, [...]
The official Buddha’s Birthday holiday was Tuesday; I’d hoped to head out of town to somewhere like Bongamsa Temple in Mungyeong, but the weather was so crappy that we stayed in Seoul. And with that, I bring you my Buddha’s Birthday holiday. Joseon Jjigae 500 Years We had a decidedly non-Buddhist lunch at a recently [...]
I spent Wednesday at Gyeongju’s Yangdong Village, recently designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site, working on a story. The ancient capital of the Silla kingdom, Gyeongju is a wonderful place to visit as the town is virtually a big outdoor museum. You could probably spend months there and not see everything. Returning downtown from Yangdong [...]
Tosokchon is quite possibly Korea’s most famous purveyor of samgyetang, a Korean summertime specialty. Located in Chebu-dong, just to the west of Gyeongbokgung Palace, this place was a favorite of late president Roh Moo-hyun (the current president, meanwhile, is reportedly a fan of another summertime dish). So popular, we went at 9pm, and it was [...]
I’m not a huge fan of Insa-dong restaurants — too touristy and overpriced, IMHO — but when they’re good, they’re real good. A good example of this is Toetmaru Doenjang Yesul, a popular eatery in an alley just before Insa-dong Crossroad. Run by poet/photographer Park Jung-sik, this lively place specializes in Hamgyeong-do gang doenjang, a [...]
Another lazy weekend, another opportunity to photograph some food and architecture. This, time the wife and I went to Insa-dong to try Ganpan Oemneun Kimchi Jjigae Jip, a kimchi jjigae joint in Insa-dong. While we were in the neighborhood, we also stopped by the Korean traditional teashop Insa-dong and strolled around Unhyeongung ‘Palace’, the charming [...]
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