When you've got a spare afternoon, why not Seomun Market?

While Seomun isn't the most diverse market I've ever been to, it's a good place to stop for anyone new to Daegu. You can buy food, clothing, accessories, furniture, shoes, wigs, thread, fabric, blankets, pillows, buttons, silverware, flowers, and any number of other things that escape me at the moment. Every nook and cranny of this giant market has a shop selling something.

Good quality wigs, starting at 20,000won

All of your sewing needs, met in one stall

A fuck ton  lot of buttons.

Along the main road beside the market (marked by a huge sign, can't miss it), vendors are selling fresh food. Fruits and vegetables, rice and nuts, fish both fresh and dried, and lots of bugs and squid. These stalls are kept somewhat separate from the bulk of the market, a wise decision considering how smelly fish gets when it's outside for hours. Ugh.

There are several buildings forming the core of the market, with the vendors outside being shielded by their collective roof. Each building is slightly different: one is for hanboks (Korean traditional clothing), another has furniture, and the largest is clothing and fabrics. There are 4 floors and a basement in each, easily accessed by escalators in the center of the building. The higher you go, the less crowded the halls become, so I like to visit the fabric floors just to collect my thoughts from the chaos of outside.

Ready to eat food is plentiful in the market, if you're looking for a quick grab 'n go meal. Most of the stands within the physical market serve mandu (fried dumplings), ddoekbokki (rice cakes in spicy red sauce), odeng (pressed fish cake on a stick boiled in broth), or hoddeok (the greatest invention ever. See my post about favorite things in Korea). On the fringes of the market are smaller stands where you can sit down and eat these things, or get a bowl of bibimbap (mixed rice), kimbap (roll of rice with various fillings), or naengmyeon (cold noodles in vinegary broth). All of it is cheap and delicious.

My favorite hoddeok stand in Daegu. Dead center of the market, always has a huge line

Typical mandu on the left, and the flat mandu, famous in Daegu, on the right

Ddeokbokki. Usually very spicy!!

Unlike markets in other countries, where the vendors will say nearly anything to keep a sale going, the vendors at Seomun are much more relaxed. If you want it: great. If you don't: go away. They'll haggle, of course, but I never feel verbally assaulted the way I did in Cambodia or Vietnam.

I love going to Seomun market, even if I don't need anything. I can always get some hoddeok, find some terribly incorrect English, and get ideas for future projects. If you're in Daegu, check it out.

How to get there: On the green line (line #2), the stop is Seomun Market (although I think they're changing the name to Sinnam eventually). Come out of exit 1, and immediately make a u-turn to the right coming out of the stairs. Without crossing, follow the street to the left until you reach the large sign. When it's so congested you can hardly walk without running over an ahjumma, you've reached your destination.

안녕!