South Korea Day 3
Day three
was just as much of a monster touring day, despite being all by lonesome with
no tours for the day, my favorite way to explore a city. It was interesting wandering through several
different Seoul markets, and despite all that I still couldn't find what I was
looking for. I did not have any tours
scheduled for today, so I went to my tried and true method of exploring a new
city, find stuff that looks cool on the map and go see what it is all about.
There is a
large green blob located near Insa-dong on the map, labeled Jongmyo Shrine, now
in other parts of Asia large shrines are either very important, interesting or
both. Thus my mind made up, I started on
my way to the shrine. While on the way I
saw a small Tteok Museum labeled on the map.
Well I had no idea what Tteok was, so I went over to check it out. As it turns out, Tteok are rice cakes, of
which there are many varieties in Korea depending on the region and time of
year. This particular Korean cuisine
dates back to the early Bronze Age so it has been around for quite some
time. Rice cakes are classified based on
how they are made, steaming, pounding, frying, and boiling. There are also a variety of fillings that can
be placed inside the cakes as well. The
cakes are eaten on New Year’s Day and during other celebrations.
The museum
also contained an exhibit on kimchi which was pretty interesting as well. Sorry for the lack of pictures here, but the
museum does not allow pictures. It did
offer several different cooking classes some of which looked interesting,
however you needed to have a group of at least 5 people and call in
advance. Either way it was a nice way to
start day even if it had the side effect of making me hungry.
As I cut
through the narrow streets towards the Jongmyo shrine I hit my first surprise
of the day.
Mahabodhi
Temple was built by Zen Master Yon Shung a Buddhist monk in 1911 and dedicated
it to the Korean Independence movement.
He was a key figure in the Korean independence movement until his death
in 1940.
The Temple
Bell Tower thingy
Nice Lady
There be dragons
Its little
hidden gems like this, that make me love traveling to a new city even
more. Just wandering around with the
map, you never know what you are going to get.
Jongmyo Shrine (Well kinda sorta maybe)
I arrived
to what seemed like a long line of tourists waiting to get in and figured it
wasn't open yet. Well not exactly, it
seems that the only way to get in is to take a tour of the place. Well just my luck that the next English tour
was leaving in about 25 minutes, so I bought a ticket for the exorbitant price
of 1000…… won, which is a little less than 1 USD. You guys really didn't think I would pay 1000
dollars to get inside did you. A stroll
through a nearby park to kill time and I was ready to go.
More Churches or the Seoul Version of Christ the Redeemer
Jongmyo Shrine (For real this time I swear)
First off
let me say the guide was great, and she was very knowledgeable about the site. Don’t worry I refrained from asking any
stupid questions this time. Now for the
Shrine, it was built east of the palace in 1395 according to Feng Shui, to
house the memorial tablets of the royal family.
The current buildings date from 1601 after they were rebuilt due to
being burned down in a Japanese invasion of Korea. In Confucianism the bodies are buried
somewhere else, but the tablets are said to contain their souls, when they
called back to Earth to honor them are certain times during the year. During the Josen Dynasty the ceremonies were
performed five times a year at night.
Currently though the ceremonies are only held once a year on May 1st. The ceremonies involve a lot of rituals,
dancing, music, and food. Now if you’re
thinking what I am thinking, woohoo part time baby, and well you would be wrong,
very wrong. It is a very serious and
solemn affair, attended only by the royal family, and high ranking government
officials to honor their ancestors. As
it is the only site of its type left in Asia that still performs the ceremonies,
it was designated as a UNESCO site in 1995.
What you
are looking at here is a path called the kings way. The king walks on the center platform while
the government officials walk on the left and right platforms, with everyone
else walks on the ground. Here at the
shrine it takes on a higher significance due to the relationship with the royal
ancestors. We were told multiple times
not to step on the king’s way and I felt kind of bad when a tourist from Hong
Kong kept stepping on it. I don’t
understand all the importance of it, but it’s important to the Koreans so I’ll
follow along.
Kings bathroom for ceremonial preparations
Kings ceremonial robes
Entrance to the main ceremonial area
Spirit Chambers- where the tablets are stored
Yeah it is huge,
I am standing in the far back corner.
Spirit chamber close up
Entrance for us peons
Other highlights from the shrine
This copper
pot would normally contain water, which was thought to protect the building
against fire. The rational was that the
water would scare off the fire spirits that normal would light buildings on
fire. They are placed at the four
corners of the building being protected.
Cool artwork
City Gates of Seoul
After
leaving the shrine, I continued on my self-guided walking tour of Seoul heading
for the east gate of the city (Heunginjimun).
Before I made it to the gate I meandered through the Pyounghwa Market in
search of a zoom lens for my camera. Yes
the durable point and shoot Olympus TG-3 comes with an attachable zoom lens. My thoughts at the time, I’m gonna get my
lens, I’m gonna get my lens, this is going to be awesome, I’m gonna get my
lens…… Dang it! So yeah the entire place
was one giant clothing market. Not
exactly my cup of tea. Despite being
housed in a large building resembling a giant department store it is more like
a long cluster of individual stalls selling just about everything you could
want.
Heunginjimun Gate
There is a
small park next to the gate that contains part of the old city wall. It was turned into a park and it is a
favorite spot for denizens of Seoul to relax, as long as your knees can handle
the hill. Walking through the park led
to discovery number 2 of the day, the Seoul City wall museum, which is a nice
little exhibit explaining the history of the different city gates, and the city
wall over the years.
The wall
Amazing stone work- each of those stones are cute square which I found to be very interesting as most Asian castles that I have seen use brick or uncut stone.
OK break time
Warning Asian Architecture time
You’ll
notice how the roof in the pavilion pictured above has a slight upward curve
towards the edges of the roof. This is
unique to Korean architecture, and I didn’t see anything like it in Mongolia,
Thailand, or Japan.
Mongolia- Winter Palace of Bohd Khan
You will
notice here that yes it does indeed tilt upward at the corners it is more of an
inclined plane and not a gentle curve.
No doubt this is a Korean influence from the days of the Mongol Empire.
Thailand- High pointed roofs
Japan
Senoji Temple gate (Buddhist)- slight upward line but not a
full curve
Shinto Shrine- Ueno Park- Straight Roof line
End Asian Architecture time
Warning Korean Mythology Time
The
northern gate of the city was almost never opened, and if it was, the gate was
not left open very long. The reason was
the northern winds carried, various spirits and other beings with it that would
make the women of the city extremely promiscuous. Yes, the north wind made the women of Seoul
get their freak on. Notice they do not
mention which city gate had to stay closed to prevent the men from getting
their freak on.
Korean Mythology Time over
Nadaemun Market
Undeterred
from my shopping failure I made my way down to the Nadaemun market one of the
bigger markets in the city in hopes of finding my camera lens.
Yup it’s
big and it’s crazy and I got lost so I had lunch. Just for the record it wasn't a wrong turn at Albuquerque. It was a wrong turn out of the number five subway exit.
Yes, it
looks more appetizing than it actually is.
I’d rather have Mongolian pizza and they don’t even know what proper
pepperoni is. Anyway I eventually found
my way, and camera stores, lots and lots of camera stores. I must have went through over more than two
dozen stores and not a one had Olympus cameras, let alone what I was looking
for. Yeah, one of my big goals for the
trip turned out to be a totally bust. I
had to order the lens online and ship them to my parents’ house before having
them shipped out to Mongolia.
This is for Kelvin- Look Seafood
Hhmmmmm
doesn’t that look tasty.
There is
more than just markets in Nadaemun. The
Sungnyemun, or South gate is located by Nadaemun. Not much to see here besides the gate, and I
wouldn't got out of the way to see it, but if you are in the area it is worth a
shot.
The final
stop of the day was Namsan park, which I thought would be a small little thing,
and boy was I wrong. The park is called
the heart of Seoul and it is huge. It is
loaded with all kinds of different attractions, statues, monuments, museums,
and lots of other stuff. Now most of it
was closed on the day I was there, but I still had a nice time. Oh and one last thing it is very hilly, so I
don’t recommend making the last stop of the day like I did.
First President of Korea
First Vice president- Don’t ask me why he gets the bigger monument
Tea shop- sadly it was closed
Hey look mom I think I just got on a Korean K drama
View from the top
Bonus- Dinner
So with all
the walking I did I was plenty hungry by the end of the day and Korean barbeque
sounded perfect. Well the meal was
listed for two people.
Waitress-
Is for 2
Me- Don’t
care hungry
Waitress-
Is for 2
We- Don’t
care hungry
Waitress-
…….OK
I have long discovered that two person meals in Asia are really meant for just one American. FYI- it was also very tasty.
