The Medicinal Herb Market

On Saturday, my friend Michael and I wanted to go on an adventure to Seoul. We casuall flipped through the Lonely Planet and decided to go to Asia's biggest medicinal herb market.

After getting off the subway we made our way to Korea's medicinal herb museum. As all of the museum was in Korean, we were left to view the diferent potions and lotions. We even saw preserved animals like frogs and rattlesnakes, what they used the animals for, your guess is as good as mine. After smelling different herbs and looking at all the pretty jars, we headed off to the real marketacross the street...



(jars of various herbs and plants in the museum)



(little rattlesnakes used in the remedies)

The medicinal herb market was one of the biggest markets I have ever been too. Wall to wall people, it would be a claustrophobic s nightmare. There were people left and right selling different herbs, plants, you name it. In Korea, there is a very high health conscious outlook. For example, I always see people exercising, no matter what time of the day. Yesterday in Seoul, I saw people with tennis rackets and all the gear walking through the streets at 3:30am. Also, everything that you eat in Korea helps your body in some way. For example,seaweed is supposedly good for circulation while dog gives men "stamina" throughout the summer.

While walking through this massive market, I had a "I am really in a different country" moment. This art of medicinal medicine is completely foreign to me. These medicinal herb recipes have been passed down through generation to generation in Korean families. There are so many different concoctions to cure just about anything from cancer to the common cold.



(me at the entrance of the market with a big stone grinder)



(frogs)



(garlic)





(ginseng)