Korea 2011: Suwon Folk Village: Museum

Here are some of the displays to be seen in the museum:

Here is the sleeping lady acquiring her white eyebrows :)

Korea 2011: Suwon Folk Village: Monastery

There is a monastery which is still used right at the top of the village:

In and around this monastery is a sense of incredible peace - the dense tropical foliage, running water and the mountains rising in the background. 

Korea 2011: Suwon Folk Village: Touristy things

There were various things that I am collecting here under 'touristy' things, which don't warrant a post of their own:

Honey Nut sweets

 No post of Korea would be complete without Honey Nut sweets.  The enclosed 'cage' in which they are made is for hygiene purposes.  In front of the sweet maker is a bowl of rice flour.  He begins the process with a 'coin' of honey which he stretches and stretches and stretches into hundreds of very fine 'hairs'.  He takes about 50 lengths of honey 'hair', puts a blob of a nut mix in the middle and then seals the blob of nut mix in the honey hair.  They are really yummy to eat.  Not too sweet and very light.

Demonstration of a Korean wedding

 The bride is inside the 'carriage'.  The men dressed in blue are government officials.

Fans and other souveniers

Tiles depicting Korean life in cartoon form

Basket weaving

 The long column of basket on the left is a doll to sleep with.  It provides cooling and aeration in the hot tropical nights.  I ever so nearly bought one, but thought of the long lug home, so didn't.

Wood sculptures

Balloons of cartoon characters

Korea 2011: Suwon Folk Village: Crafts

Here are some of the crafts which were being demonstrated:

Pipe Making

Pottery

Potter's work benches

Wood Carving

Musical reeds - like recorders

Mask Making

Korea 2011: Suwon Folk Village: Natural Beauty

There was so much natural beauty:

The above, to me, is a classic.  The tree with pink foliage on the left, a traditional style gateway leading out to the tropical mountainside, the man-made path leading through it.  I could have stayed here for hours, drinking in the peace of it all.

Everywhere, there were small displays of flora tumbling out of tree stumps or kimchi pots.  I have chosen this one because of the wagon in the background, and the very real interest being shown by a monk in the foliage that he saw.

On all the garden walls, squash plants trail abundantly.  No doubt this was common in the early farming days.

Korea 2011: Suwon Folk Village: Farm Life

One can get a sense of what it must have been like to live in a village in Korea, back in the days when farming was the way in which people lived:

Example of a farmhouse.  This one is still occupied

The walls were used for storage

And for drying herbs and vegetables

The rooms were tiny, each with a specific purpose

An outside cooking facility

A hut on the river bank

A mill wheel

Korea 2011: Suwon Folk Village: Another Enchanting Custom

The Suwon Folk Village was quite an experience.  I will attempt to cover the various aspects that we saw, starting with and enchanting custom which occurs at the entrance to the village.  There is a table where one can get strips of natural paper.  There is a pen, and there is a donation box.  One can write messages and then do this:

Messages tied to a tree

I did four.  Here is the one that I did for Isy:

For Isy

Isy, I know, will love this.  She is sentimental, as I am.  I suspect that those that I did for others might be regarded as sentimental and silly, so I'll keep them for myself.  I know I did it with a lot of love in my heart.  It is enough for me that those little messages will remain there until the paper disintegrates and becomes part of the land of the village.

Korea 2011: Namsung Tower

For those who are familiar with Seoul, the Namsung Tower, a communication and observation tower located on the Namsun mountain, needs no introduction.  It towers imposingly above the city.

Namsung Tower

At its feet is a park for citizens and tourists alike to enjoy.  Here are some of the things we saw and experienced whilst there:

This is the geographical centre of Seoul

City View

This city view gives a very clear representation of the density of Seoul.  The white buildings in the background are predominantly high rise flats - the places where most people in Seoul live.

Locks

This custom enchanted me.  One can buy a lock, include a message and lock the lock to the trees and railings in and around the tower.  As can be seen from the picture above, millions, if not billions of people have shared the custom.  What makes it so enchanting is that everyone who left a lock there will remember it each time they see the tower above the city.  We did not do this, but I did it elsewhere.  I will blog it in a future post.

An arbour, in traditional style, for people to rest

A monument

Light fittings, which function additionally as seats

Teddy bears outside the Bear Museum

Walls on the way up to the tower

Flowers seen on the way up to the tower

Korea 2011: Buses running on electricity

It was whilst we were visiting Namsung tower that we came across this phenomenon.  The tourist buses that run between the city and the tower are mobilised using electricity.  Here is a bus 'filling up':

Once again, the ever practical Koreans have placed the refill points in the parking lot of the Namsung tower, where they are out of the way of the city crush.

Korea 2011: Insadong

Insadong is a tourist area.  Restaurants and shops have a more Western flavour than other areas of Seoul.  Here are some things seen there:

Ginseng

Hard Rock Cafe

Starbucks

A dress shop

Now that I think about it, there wasn't much at Insadong which was all that different from the rest of Seoul.  Ginseng is available in many places in and around the city, as is Starbucks.  There are clothing shops absolutely everywhere in Seoul.  The one above is perhaps more typical of Western party clothes than one would find elsewhere.  The Hard Rock Cafe guitar above belongs to a Hard Rock Cafe which no longer exists.  The guitar sign must have remained as a memorial thereof.