South Korea – Suwon

Once outside of Seoul, the non-Korean-speaking tourists would be left to their own devices as to how they communicate with the Koreans and find their way around.  That was Suwon to me.

In Hanja, Suwon means “the origin of water.”  Suwon is the provincial capital of Gyeonggi-do, 48 km south of Seoul.  There were really only two things to see there: the Korean Folk Village and a “faithfully restored fortress of Hwaseong” as described in the Lonely Planet.  Regardless, it was a day trip worthwhile to make, as I had an adventure in learning the regional railway system of South Korea.

I had a bit of a trouble finding Suwon on the metro map.  I learned that I had to change at Guro, and waited for at least 20 minutes for the train to Suwon.  The whole ride took 1.5 hours and by the time I was there the last bus to the Folk Village has departed.  I hopped on a taxi instead.

The Folk Village was nice in the sense that it was carefully landscaped and the winter scenery in the background gave it a wonderful appearance.  On the edges of the roof were formed ice hanging down like stalactites.  The houses showing the ancient village life of South Korea were cool, and I was thankful that many were heated, but after all they were constructed for tourism.  I was pleased with some good pictures that I took, mainly of the winter scenery.

It was dusk hour when I finished at the folk village and I decided that I must eat before seeing the fortress.  The driver finally found the restaurant that the Lonely Planet recommended but it was closed.  I then went for a short walk at the fortress, and as said in the Lonely Planet, the 5.7km-long fortress was very nicely restored.

The fortress of Hwaseong was built between 1794 and 1796 during the reign of King Jeongjo of the famous Joseon Dynasty that I kept hearing about in the palaces of Seoul.  It was also an effort to make Suwon the second capital city.  There are four main gates, of which the Paldalmun was the most famous and a designated national treasure.[1]  It almost felt like seeing the fortress of Xi’an, an ancient capital in China.  The similarities notwithstanding, the fortress of Hwaseong was built with the best technology existing, “encompassing the strong points of both Asian and western elements.”[2]

Dusk has befallen and the cold was becoming unbearable.  I was not quite able to communicate with anyone there, and indeed few were around at the eve of the Lunar New Year.  I saw a restaurant open right across from the fortress.  The easiest way to order was to point at what the other patrons were eating.  I spent an hour savoring galbi, a full rack of grilled beef ribs.  I was greeted with incredulous looks of the owner as I paid.  I did eat a lot for a small-built Asian woman.

I took one last look at the Paldalmun as I was about to leave.  It had a stately appearance at night hour as it glimmered under the floodlights.

I no longer remember how I made it back to Seoul that evening, as pretty much all of Asia was preparing for the Lunar New Year.  Yet I did, in one piece and satisfied with the day’s excursion.

[1] Introduction of the fortress of Hwaseong, Joinusworld.org.

[2] Id.