On day one we were surrounded by huge buildings where the sites were in and amongst these monstrous structures. Today, although we still had bumper to bumper traffic we were headed out of the glass and cement downtown and into the countryside and to a Traditional Culture Theme Park or as it is called The Korean Folk Village. This park is an amazing experience and highly recommended for anyone visiting Seoul. It has everything traditional, from the many different villages of yesteryear to cultural shows which really bring their history alive. We had a few hours here but if you are going, plan a good day if you really want the full experience. A couple of huge highlights, Jan, out of over a thousand people, was poached from the crowd to help in one of the performances and did a incredible job - no she did not have to get on the shoulders of a unicycle clown. The second performance was that of a traditional wedding. What is usually a demonstration wedding, but as we were there on a Saturday, it just so happened that we saw an actual wedding performance, amazing, it was our guides first time seeing an actual ceremony. Locals will do this to save some of costs associated with a putting on a huge wedding - if they agree to a traditional ceremony here they can save a lot of money - but of course the downside is to have many "uninvited" guests (us) clicking away with our cameras. A very special experience for us to witness.
Next was a brief stop at the old city walls. Built in 1396 by King Taejo to protect and safeguard the city residents this magnificent wall extends about 10 kilometers and encompasses many parks as well as ceremonies. Many different ranking groups (identified by the different coloured uniforms) began to arrive as we were leaving as they were setting up for a parade that night. One really needs more that a few days here to really experience this amazing city. We returned to the ship for a spectacular sail away which included the lock system here to control the tidal movements and the many new cars waiting for export - my estimate would be an inventory of about 15 thousand waiting for transport. A short but great visit here for us in Seoul. BTW - if visiting Seoul and you are a small group, I would highly recommend using the services of Exclusive Tour Korea, there web site is www.exclusivetourkorea.com.
Hope you enjoy day 2 pictures of our adventures here.
Oh... and I should mention my big surprise and disappointment regarding the peace sign. I was told by our guide that it has nothing to do with peace - it means cheese, as in to say cheese when you have your picture taken. Boy was I wrong - thanks Miae for clearing that up - I kind of like my idea better.
No comments:
Post a Comment