Our day would begin with cloudy skies again.
We would be leaving Cheongju for Seoul. We were staying at the Cheongju Grand Plaza Hotel
This was the view out of our window.
Art and I would really miss these elaborate breakfasts when we left Korea.
My Fitbit revealed that I'd gotten 3 hours and 40 minutes of sleep that night.
Out in the lobby we bumped into our tour friend, Mary who showed us the newspaper she'd bought for her daughter.
Sigh...
We were all still trying to recover from the shock.
Our first stop of the day would be the Korean Folk Village in Yongin which is on the way to Seoul.
Although the morning started out rather cloudy, we were happily able to see some blue skies.
We saw billboards showing us where certain historical dramas had been filmed at the village.
There were these two phallic stones at the entrance. Villagers would post notes wishing for a baby boy on the stone.
First sons had the onerous task of making sure their parents were honored after their deaths with ceremonies, etc.
Monuments like this were often erected by the eldest son to honor his parents' memory.
Different kinds of roofing really caught Art's interest.
We enjoyed watching these performers demonstrate traditional music and dancing.
These horseback riders were pretty darn amazing!
They could shoot targets with a bow and arrow while riding on a horse. They could also ride backwards, jump onto a galloping horse, etc.
One of the buildings we visited was the local jail.
A law against cruel and unusual punishment did not apply here.
(Postscript: These are not real prisoners. They are manikins to represent what used to happen in the past.)
Gosh! I do miss the kalbi. We don't eat much meat at home so this was not our usual diet. Do you realize how EXPENSIVE kalbi meat is in the U.S.?
After lunch we were driven to Namdaemun Market where we had a great time shopping for bargains.
At least I think they were bargains.
Everybody on the bus were frantically trying to find omiyage (gifts) for friends and relatives at home.
After the shopping expedition we were able to visit the Seoul Tower.
We also noticed that the Korean people had discovered Love Locks. It was quite eye catching.
Our daughter, Tiffany had told us that Korea is known for their excellent skin care products so we visited the Duty Free Shop.
It was completely packed with young Chinese women. We tried looking, but they were very expensive and we had no idea what would be good.
Tiffany had also given us a list of inexpensive items that we might try getting if they were much cheaper. It was a surprise to find them on Amazon for a few pennies less (delivered free to Prime members). We gave up.
In the evening we went to a comedy called Cookin' Nanta which didn't require us to understand the Korean language. We enjoyed it very much and yes, Art got a souvenir t-shirt.
Dinner that evening was a soothing chicken soup. They gave you a tiny plate of salt in which to dip your pieces of chicken. That was different from anything we'd had before.
And so ended another day. There were only two more days left to our trip.
Tomorrow: DMZ
This was the view out of our window.
Art and I would really miss these elaborate breakfasts when we left Korea.
My Fitbit revealed that I'd gotten 3 hours and 40 minutes of sleep that night.
Out in the lobby we bumped into our tour friend, Mary who showed us the newspaper she'd bought for her daughter.
Sigh...
We were all still trying to recover from the shock.
Our first stop of the day would be the Korean Folk Village in Yongin which is on the way to Seoul.
Although the morning started out rather cloudy, we were happily able to see some blue skies.
We saw billboards showing us where certain historical dramas had been filmed at the village.
There were these two phallic stones at the entrance. Villagers would post notes wishing for a baby boy on the stone.
First sons had the onerous task of making sure their parents were honored after their deaths with ceremonies, etc.
Monuments like this were often erected by the eldest son to honor his parents' memory.
Different kinds of roofing really caught Art's interest.
We enjoyed watching these performers demonstrate traditional music and dancing.
These horseback riders were pretty darn amazing!
They could shoot targets with a bow and arrow while riding on a horse. They could also ride backwards, jump onto a galloping horse, etc.
One of the buildings we visited was the local jail.
A law against cruel and unusual punishment did not apply here.
(Postscript: These are not real prisoners. They are manikins to represent what used to happen in the past.)
Gosh! I do miss the kalbi. We don't eat much meat at home so this was not our usual diet. Do you realize how EXPENSIVE kalbi meat is in the U.S.?
After lunch we were driven to Namdaemun Market where we had a great time shopping for bargains.
At least I think they were bargains.
Everybody on the bus were frantically trying to find omiyage (gifts) for friends and relatives at home.
After the shopping expedition we were able to visit the Seoul Tower.
Wikipedia: The Seoul Tower, officially YTN Seoul Tower, is also known as the Namsan Tower. It is a communication and observation tower located on Namsan Mountain in central Seoul. At 236 meters (774 feet) it marks the highest point in Seoul.
Built in 1971, the tower is Korea's first general radio wave tower, providing TV and radio broadcasting in Seoul.
We also noticed that the Korean people had discovered Love Locks. It was quite eye catching.
Our daughter, Tiffany had told us that Korea is known for their excellent skin care products so we visited the Duty Free Shop.
It was completely packed with young Chinese women. We tried looking, but they were very expensive and we had no idea what would be good.
Tiffany had also given us a list of inexpensive items that we might try getting if they were much cheaper. It was a surprise to find them on Amazon for a few pennies less (delivered free to Prime members). We gave up.
In the evening we went to a comedy called Cookin' Nanta which didn't require us to understand the Korean language. We enjoyed it very much and yes, Art got a souvenir t-shirt.
Dinner that evening was a soothing chicken soup. They gave you a tiny plate of salt in which to dip your pieces of chicken. That was different from anything we'd had before.
And so ended another day. There were only two more days left to our trip.
Tomorrow: DMZ
How did you do this on so little sleep? Oh those poor criminals. Can you just take their pictures like that? They must have been very bad.
ReplyDeleteThose are actually manikins. The representations are from past history... I think. Thanks for letting me know, Annie. Since the photos are small, it's hard to tell. I've made the corrections on the post.
DeleteLove all the interesting details you give us!
ReplyDeleteFascinating....beautiful and amazing. Sleep tho. I think I would spend my time on the bus sleeping...perhaps I would even sleep walk until I had my eight hours.
ReplyDeletewonderful! except for the newspaper headline. i am still just sick about it!
ReplyDeletewhat a trip, so much history and culture to enjoy not to mention new foods!
ReplyDeleteAwesome photos. Re Humboldt book, he had a huge affect on John Muir.
ReplyDeleteYour brain must have been in overdrive to take in all the sights and information.
ReplyDeleteI couldn't get by long on such a little bit of sleep. I hope you made up for it later on! And such incredibly interesting sights to see. Glad Art got his t-shirt. :-)
ReplyDeleteTHE FOOD! Thanks for documenting the yummy things you eat. : )
ReplyDeleteYum, kalbi!
ReplyDeleteI had no idea what kalbi meat is, so I googled and it told me it is short ribs. Is that right? When I was a child we raised our own beef and had short ribs quite often . I live them braised. I have notices that they are an expensive cut to buy in the market.
ReplyDeleteYou are learning so much about the history and culture of Korea.
There was so much I didn't know about the country where my son-in-law was born. It was doubly interesting for me to learn so much every day.
DeleteWow, long days and little sleep. You are amazing. The jail was an eye opener. I checked kalbi meat also and it made me realize I haven't have short ribs in years. A shame for they are delicious. May have to correct that. Am enjoying learning about this country few of us know much about apart from that scary guy to the North.
ReplyDeleteYou must have learned so much.
ReplyDelete