Miles and Miles of Smiles!

The Seomun Market parking garage was packed the Monday we were there. My friend had to drive to one of the highest levels before she found somewhere to put the car. The three of us got out, bundled up, and walked over to the window overlooking part of the market. Along the road were dozens of stands selling dried foods, fresh fruit, household goods, all kinds of stuff. Beyond the shops you could see miles and miles of the Daegu cityscape.

This was my second trip to the market. Still, I was amazed by the enormity of it, and I couldn't wait to get downstairs.

Seomun Market is a Korean traditional market with thousands of shops, most of them housed inside large buildings, selling almost anything you could want: shoes, clothing, kitchen utensils, dishes, toys, food (fresh, dried, live,) fake designer bags, cosmetics, beads, buttons, ribbons, fabric. There's an entire section devoted just to fish and squid and octopi and seaweed. Little stands throughout the market sell hot fresh Korean food. It's crowded, it's dirty, and every voice you hear is speaking Korean. There's so much to see, you don't know where to look or which way to go first.

We shopped around a little, but what we were there for was the fabric. Seomun Market has hundreds of fabric shops, most of them only tiny stalls crammed side-by-side into large buildings, selling every kind of cloth you can think of. Many of the stalls are like little fortresses made of bolts of cloth. The merchants who work in these fabric fortresses have to literally climb over a wall of fabric to get in and out of the nests they've made. Walking down the narrow aisles, you'll see some of the merchants working with sewing machines, all the machines dark green or gray and metal and older than I am.

 

 

 

I bought some nail polish, some fabric, and a handmade wallet and purse. Was fascinated. Took tons of pictures. Learned to ask permission before pointing my camera at people. It's interesting how much nicer and less blurry pictures turn out when you're not trying to take them when your subject's looking the other way!