Korea (IV). Korean Folk Town

There is a famous Korean Folk town near Suwon which is pretty famous. Therefore, as I was in Suwon, I decided to go there to learn more about traditional Korean lifestyle. And the visit was quite rewarding.

The next photo was not taken in Africa or South Pacific ;) It is the typical totems at the entrance of any traditional Korean town to chase evil spirits away:



This it a typical house. It is interesting to see how chili peppers are being dried up.



There were many people doing traditional work. These ladies for example were extracting silk thread from silk worm cocoons.



On the top of a hill next to the town, there was a small temple. Very Korean! Temples always in the mountains!




There were some performances from time to time: archery, a traditional marriage, horses... I could only attend the one with horses and it was quite a show!



Next to the peasants' town, there were several large houses belonging to the upper classes...



I could also see some Koreans practicing a traditional sport which reminded me of sumo...



... and was quite surprised at these strawmen...



Finally, the guys at the blacksmith's house.



It was an interesting visit to see how a traditional village would look like in the past. Quite a contrast with the crazy neon-lit towns these days!

Korea (III). Suwon

Suwon is a city located some 30 km South of Seoul and it can be reached by metro from the capital city. The main sight here is the UNESCO World Heritage Hwaseong Fortress, a wall of around 5km which surrounds part of the city. There are also some sights such a Korean Folk Town (topic for the next post) in a nearby city and a just reconstructed palace near the walled fortress.

First of all, I visited that palace. Its name is Hwaseong Haenggung. Some king used this palace for some important historical celebrations. Currently, the palace looks like a succession of courtyards with nice Korean traditional architecture. Have a look:




The walls which are World Heritage draw kind of a circle around the mountains in Suwon. In the place where they should touch, there is a famous gate: Paldalmun.



This is the map of the walk I was going to start.



The beginning of the round trip around the wall starts with a pretty steep climb! In no time you get a nice perspective over the whole city:



The views from the top of the mountain are really good. I was just uphill from the palace I visited before. Therefore, I could take a nice shot of it:



There are several buildings at the top of the mountain: a tower and a Korean style pavilion (maybe a shrine?).




After descending the mountain, the best sights appear:

- A pretty nice gate with a tower next to it in a curve in the wall



- A cool large gate in the same style as Paldalmun




- A succession of nice buildings in the wall with a river crossing the wall



- The other side of the wall in the place where the river came in



Further on, more buildings, gates, etc... But the highlights maybe was just walking along the wall and enjoying the views



The last kilometers were not so impressive in the sense that there were no major sights, just outlook towers. Anyway, still pretty enjoyable.



Hwaseong fortress was an impressive sight! Maybe one of the highlights of Korea! and accessible by metro from Seoul!! :)

Korea (II). New Seoul

Seoul has many historical sites, but mostly, it is a city on the move. Full of people and cars, street markets, 24-h shops/restaurants/saunas, thousands of neon lights... The city is alive 24h a day and it really starts living at night, when the Sun goes down and lights lit the city and dye it with millions of colors.



The city is full of street markets and restaurants where you can get everything from seafood to dog soup.




If there is one building which can be seen from many places in the city, that is Seoul Tower, which supervises the city from the top of a mountain.



Seoul also has nice architecture, like this stunning building in the downtown area:




And old buildings are also integrated in the urban landscape in good harmony. This gate is just across the street from the futuristic building before!



Apparently, the city has changed a lot in the last 5/10 years. One of the projects to create a more livable downtown was the creation of a river where people could walk and relax.




The city is full of markets, usually full of people at any time!



Another nice building:



This one is one of the most famous shopping areas, Myung Dong:




In short, Seoul is a vibrant city in whose streets you can get lost for a couple days ;)

Korea (I). Historical Seoul

I am back from Korea and Japan. As always I come back from Japan, I was shocked for the complete lack of organization in the USA and how underdeveloped it is compared to such a great country as Japan. But that would be a topic for a whole new post.

Today, I will start talking about my trip in Korea. I was in Korea roughly 8 days and visited many places in there. I started my trip in Seoul, in the North and flew out from Busan, in the South. South Korea is a nice country. It is pretty developed and you are do not have to suffer constant hassle from street vendors or touts. The country and its people do not need it, they are well off. That makes a visit to Korea quite relaxed and enjoyable. When I arrived, everything seemed to me really similar to Japan: no hassle, clean, technology everywhere, streets lit by thousands of neon lights... but after some days in the country and leaving Seoul, I slowly started finding the differences. Korea is really developed and nice, but not as developed as its neighbor to the East. People are usually nice, but you find the rude type more often than in Japan. People live more in the streets: street vendors, street restaurants... The train system is very good but not as much as the Japanese system, which is probably the best in the world.

Well, that was the introduction and overview to Korea. Now, let's start with the fact, the photos...

Seoul is a very historical city which has been severely hurt by wars with Japan in which almost always Korea lost. Many royal palaces have just been reconstructed and one of the coolest, for example, was finished last year! Japanese defeated Koreans and as usual, the winner did not care about loved historical items. They just dismantled palaces and used the wood to build new buildings. There are 5 royal palaces in Seoul, quite a lot! But I started my visit at Inwangsan (인왕산), a nice mountain with temples where shamanist priests are very active. Shamanism is a traditional religion of Korea.

The visit was nice and the tracks were not very clear, so I went out of the track several times and maybe even entered forbidden areas... according to some signs written only in Korean...

The temples were nice and cozy and I could see some rites.



The view from the top of the mountain was cool: the wall around the temples could easily be seen and the city in the background in the mist looked nice.



There were some strange rocks which locals think divine:



And a Buddha, carved in the mountain rocks:



After that very early morning walk, time for royal temples. I did not have a defined plan but wanted to see as many temples as possible. In the end, walking quite a lot and with no little effort, I made it. If you go to Seoul, please do not do it... try to allocate 2 or even 3 days if you want to visit all the temples!

Changdeok-gung(창덕궁,昌德宮) is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and an impressive start for any visit to the Korean capital city. It is really impressive and if you want to visit, you can only visit with a tour guide, so you are explained everything in detail, which is just perfect. It looks like a Forbidden City Korean-style, but soon you start noticing the differences. Korean style is quite unique and different from Chinese and Japanese, although you can sometimes appreciate the influence of those two styles.



The highlight of this palace is the Hidden Garden, a really photogenic garden with a beautiful pond and a couple of very Korean constructions.




Another palace which is also UNESCO World Heritage is Jongmyo Shrine. The royal family used to use this shrine.



The third palaced visited was Changgyeong-gung(창경궁,昌慶宮). This palace was nice, but after visiting Changdeok-gung, it did not look so impressive. I would visit it on a different day in a future trip...



The fourth palace, and the most important for the Joseon Dinasty, was Gyeongbok-gung(경복궁,景福宮). This palace is still under reconstruction and some parts were very recently open for visitors. Anyway, it is quite impressive and highly recommended!








Finally, the last palace, while I was walking downtown, was Deoksu-gung(덕수궁,德壽宮). It is really downtown, next to the city hall and in an area full of lights at night. Quite a contrast! you can visit at night if you want, so it is perfect to wrap up some hardcore visiting day! This is the main gate and what you can see without paying. The interior is cool, with a couple of traditional Korean buildings and a Western Style palace built at the beginning of the 20th century! The last palace of Korean kings...