Gyeongbokgung Palace, Bukchon, and Miso

On Sat., Drew could finally escape from work and see the city. First, Drew, Mike, and I went to the largest, most popular palace in the city called the Gyeongbokgung Palace. This palace was originally built in 1395, but was burned down and rebuilt a few times. Even though this is the largest palace in Seoul, (its campus covers at least 50 acres) it is still tiny compared to the Forbidden City in Beijing. Back in those days, Korea was seen as a little brother to big brother China, so everything they built had to be on a smaller scale than what was in China. Mike explained this to us. If the Forbidden City had 9 stairs in a staircase, the Korean palace could only have 7, and so on. This rule was applied to even the smallest of details, such as how many bolts could be in the front gates. Mike brought along a really nice camera, so we got some good shots of everything. Some even of us! 

The front gate. Built to impress. No one is breaking down those walls!

More serious guards! This guy certainly wasn't going to break character. 

The gate inside of main gate. Hehe. Through this gate is the main throne room. 

I know by the character on the left that this is a gate. But, I can't remember if this is the main gate to the entire campus, or just the gate before the Throne Room. Mike and Tina! Help! Same bright, intricate paint job as at the other two palaces. Same wood screens and geometric patterns. 

In front of the main throne room was another large courtyard where ceremonies were held. On the courtyard were these stone tablets that looked like headstones. In actuality, they are place markers, designating where the different ranks of the government should stand. There were stones 1, 2a, 2b, 3a, 3b, 4, 5, etc. The higher up in the government you were, the lower your tablet number. The one in the foreground is stone marker 10. 

The throne room! The ceilings were amazingly high. And another enormous chair. 

Beyond the throne room and the living quarters was a lovely garden. There was another square lake with a circular island, but this one had a beautiful building. Very picturesque. 

A brick wall inside the palace. Cool designs. 

This is a building on the campus that isn't painted. The architecture is the same, but without the paint it looks very different huh? 

This building was a large second story pavilion used for hosting guests and parties. 

Myself and Mike.

The entire courtyard in front of the throne room is walled in like this. 

This is outside of the main palace gates looking at one of the major avenues in Seoul. The palace gates are in front of us. 

After the palace, we meet up with Tina and explored the quant neighborhood of Bukchon. The houses all had historic architecture, with stone walls, tiles roofs, and wooden accents. It's a lovely place just to walk around. I do feel bad for the people who actually live in these houses though, as their whole neighborhood is overrun with tourists every weekend. At least they have high walls for privacy. 

Glamour shots! Looking good, hunny!

Is this a squirrel? A bear? I don't know, but he's cute. 

Myself and Tina.

To end the day, Drew and I went to a theatre show, a musical using traditional instruments and costumes. It was really great. Even Drew enjoyed it, which is saying something. The entire storyline was sung through at the very beginning with English subtitles, so we knew exactly what was going to happen and could understand everything that was going on. During the rest of the show, there wasn't any singing, only music and dancing. But, the story line was so iconic that I bet even without the initial subtitles, we could have followed the story no problem. The dancing was incredible. I've never seen such simple moves be so elegant and expressive. Facial expressions and hand gestures told you everything you needed to know. 

During intermission, a small group of actors were on stage doing entertaining acrobatics and tricks, like spinning a plate on a stick. Well, they decided they needed some volunteers from the audience, and they hand picked myself and another plump white guy with almost a mullet. I think our two families were the only Westerners in the audience, hence why they picked us. So, I was pulled onstage to help them perform some of their tricks.  I was smiling like an idiot and blushing the whole time. I managed not to mess up anything, so I guess it was a success. For a moment, I was sure Drew had organized the whole thing to embarrass me, but no. :) After the show, in the ladies room, a little old Korean lady came up to me and said, "You, stage, very good job." Maybe I have a future in show biz after all....

The actors from the show are standing, with some audience members in front for a photo. The leads were the lady in red and the man in dark blue. 

 You may be wondering by now, "Hey... you guys seem to be doing a lot of fun stuff, but you never eat! Never fear. I have been saving up all of the food pictures for a massive food post. The food in Korea was so good, I think it deserves its own post. Something to look forward to tomorrow!

The DMZ

On Friday, I took a guided tour in the morning to the DMZ, the demilitarized zone or buffer between North and South Korea. This tied together everything that I learned from the Korean War Museum a few days earlier. There is actually a line called the Demarcation Line or DML that runs along the 38th parallel. It designates the exact border between North and South Korea. Then, there is a 2km buffer zone on either side of this line where no military from either side is allowed to go. This 4km wide track of land that runs across the entire width of the Korean Peninsula is the DMZ.

First on the tour, we stopped at the Wooden Freedom Bridge, a bridge that connects North and South Korea, over which prisoners of war were exchanged after the Korean War.

This is the now blocked and barricaded entrance to that bridge. 

Also nearby was an old train from the Korean War. This is the back of it; the engine is at the front. As you can see, the train is riddled with bullet holes. It was so damaged that it was left to rot somewhere, and the South Koreans found it and brought it to this site to show the destructive power of the war. 

Also at this site was a large unity bell. More memorabilia from the Mines of Moria. I will go more into this topic later, but unity was a word I heard alot during this tour. Isn't it ironic? Don't you think?

Next, we stopped at the Dorasan Station. There is train line that goes between North and South Korea, but currently no trains are being sent between the two countries. Apparently, back in 2008, a South Korean lady who was on a tour to the interior of North Korea was shot and killed after she mistakenly stepped out of the safe tour area and into North Korean military area. So, since 2008 no trains have been going between the two countries, and the guided tours into North Korea have stopped as well. But, if trains were running, this train station would be the last South Korean station the train would go through before hitting North Korean territory. 

President Bush actually visited the station when it opened in 2002, signing his name on this cement slab here. "May this railroad unite Korean families." Unite again... He has a terrible signature by the way. Is that really a B? It looks like someone's ribbon twirling got out of control.

After the station, we went to an overlook into North Korea itself. The South Korean soldiers were really particular about where we could or could not take pictures. When you walked up to this overlook, you could stand behind this yellow line about 50 feet from the edge to take a picture. You could walk those 50 feet and stare at North Korea, but no pictures allowed. So, the pictures I have are terrible, but it's all I got. The actual view into NK was much better. This is the building just in front of the overlook. Unification eh?

                                     

This picture is particularly interesting. See the faint black stick with a flag on top? That is actually a radio destruction tower. It destroys all radio waves, cell phone signals, wifi signals, everything going in or out of NK. Hence why all of the citizens in North Korea live in total media darkness and don't realize they are living in a brainwashed $h*th@le. Pardon my french. These towers are all over NK, plunging it into the pre-digital age. 

One difference between NK and SK that was very noticeable from this overlook was the lack of trees in NK. SK was full of rolling hills covered in forests. NK had the hills, but no forests. Looked like a furless cat, and you know those things aren't pretty. Apparently, the majority of trees in NK have been cut down and used as fuel for cooking and heating. Sounds like the stone age to me. In the middle of this pic is the very clear demarcation line. Noooo touchy. No touchy. 

Lastly, and most excitingly, we went to the 3rd infiltration tunnel. This was a tunnel dug by NK in the 1970s to orchestrate a sneak attack on SK. This tunnel is one of 4 tunnels found. How many exist in total? Nobody knows! The NKs could spring out of their hand-dug tunnels at any second, invading all of SK.... It actually is very scary when you think about it. Come on, Colorado School of Mines. Where are those geoseismic thumper trucks when you need them! 

This is a diagram of the actual tunnel. The majority of it is within SK's side of the DMZ. The three blockades are still on the SK side, and just the tiny left-hand-side tail is in NK. We were allowed to walk all the way to the right most blockade. Once the SKs realized the tunnel existed, it took them a year using a state-of-the-art tunnel drill to reach this tunnel. So how long were the NKs at work with their dynamite and wheelbarrows before SK found this? Yikes, a long time. Shawshank redemption anyone? It would take a man 20 years to dig a tunnel out of there with only a spoon. Yep...

                                      

This is the actual tunnel. Spooky! It wasn't tall enough for the average westerner to stand upright, so we had to crouch over the whole time while inside. The height of the tunnel changed randomly throughout, so as you were walking along, you'd hear pop! ... pop! pop! Or the westerners hitting their hard hats on the ceiling because they weren't ducking low enough. Funny enough, when the SKs accused the NKs of building this tunnel, this was the resulting dialogue.

SK: You built a tunnel to sneaky sneak into SK.
NK: No we didn't.
SK: Well, somebody built this tunnel. It didn't magically appear by itself.
NK: You built it.
SK: We built this tunnel to sneaky sneak into our own country? Come on. All of the dynamite holes were drilled from North to South, and the tunnel was sloped, designed to drain collecting water out of the tunnel and into NK. CLEARLY it was you. (So CLEARLY I can't drink from the cup in front of me...)
NK: OK, fine, we built the tunnel. But not to sneaky sneak. It's actually a coal mine. See all of the coal dust we smeared everywhere?
SK: Our peninsula is made entirely of granite. You put that coal dust there.
NK: That's our story, and we're sticking to it.
SK: 0.o

The underlying theme to all of this that I have conveniently ignored until now is this optimism by the SKs of unification. Every site we went to on the tour had the slogan "one day Korea will reunite." It made me daydream about if, when, and how that could really happen. Alot of families were separated during the split, so it makes sense that unification is wanted. However, SK is now a prosperous developed country, and NK is a 3rd world country with 25 million starving people. I'm pretty sure it's not just NK saying you can't leave, but also SK saying you can't come in. How is SK supposed to handle that? They can't just throw open their doors and say, come eat us out of house and home all 25 million of you. But, they can't morally turn people away either. 

Also, when will NK get the picture that they need help? When will the people realize what's going on and revolt? Is that how unification is going happen? The people say "this sucks, we want change, RIOT!", the US storms in on the platform of democracy, another war. Hmm, I think NK has nukes and they seem crazy enough to use them, so that might not be the best plan. What is the plan? Does anyone have a plan? 

Or will things continue on as they have been for the last 50 years, a conflict knowingly ignored, kind of like China and Taiwan? What do you think?

Changdeokgung Palace & Jongmyo Shrine

On Wednesday, Tina and I spent most of our day touring two UNESCO world heritage sites, the Jongmyo Shrine and the Changdeokgung Palace. Both places actually felt a lot like a college campus. There were numerous buildings all with different purposes.  There were beautiful grounds (the Shrine alone covered maybe 50 acres) with walkways all surrounded by a large stone wall. Reminded me of Regis alot. 

The Shrine is a place to remember the fallen kings and queens of the Joseon Dynasty, the same dynasty that built all of the palaces. I don't think the actual bodies are buried here, but there are memorials instead. The first thing you see when you enter the grounds is this awesome stone road. The king walked on the right third of the road, the prince walked on the left third, and the spirits walked down the middle. Commoners (such as us) aren't allowed to walk on this sacred road. 

                                    

When a king died in the Joseon dynasty, the court mourned for three years. (Three years! Sheesh. But when you think about how these kings ruled for life, 30 or 40 years, a 3 year mourning period seems more appropriate). After those three years the tablets that were made with the king's name, ruling dates, and accomplishments were enshrined in a room in the long building seen below. This building was originally built in 1394, was burned down by the Japanese, and then completely rebuilt in 1601. So, that building is over 400 years old! Wow! The courtyard was really impressive too. It was huge with no shade whatsoever. Obviously, someone was going to suffer in remembrance of the king during his memorial ceremony.

The building has 19 rooms, one for each of the fallen kings. (I think only 2 kings in the entire Joseon dynasty don't have a memorial here). There are also 30 queen memorials here. Hmm 19 kings and 30 queens.... This wasn't the only building in the complex, just the most impressive one. You can only see the Shrine if you are on a guided tour. Tina and I didn't realize this, so when we arrived a Korean tour was about to start, and the English tour wasn't for several more hours. Tina knows a fair bit of Korean, so we hopped on the Korean tour and she translated for me. Another pair was doing something similar just from Korean to Mandarin. The tour guide actually reprimanded the other pair for not talking in Korean, and to go to the back of the group as to not disturb the other tour guests. (0.o) (that's a panda with confused eyes).  Needless to say, Tina and I were scared of this woman. Plus, we needed to leave early to make the palace tour on time, so at one point we sneaked away and hurried for the main gate, terrified she would chase us down and scold us. Enshrine us in our own room of shame...

Next was the Changdeokgung Palace. Out of the three palaces I saw, this one was my favorite. It is considered special because the layout is not in a typical geometric pattern, but instead is asymmetric and follows the contours of the land around it. It also has a large "Secret" garden which was stunning. The garden itself was walled off within the palace, so only the royal family could go there unless specifically invited. Loved these walls. 

The heart of the garden has a large square pond with a circular island in the middle. The Earth was thought to be square and the sky was thought to be round. So, this scene depicted their entire universe. Next to this pond was a library. The king was come here to strengthen his mind or to relax. Also, back in those times, men had to take exams to get a good spot in society. Their final exam was taken here in the presence of the king. No pressure or anything. 

Overhanging that same pond was a building from which the king could sit and see clearly the fish, water lilies, and lotus flowers. 

To get to the library, one would have to pass through a gate. Only the king was allowed to pass through the main gate. His council members, servants, etc would pass through the smaller gates on either side. Those gates are very small, so one must bow to go through them. 

This is an example of how elaborately decorated all of the palace buildings were. The painting details were incredible. And this level of detail was on every building in every palace we went to. That's alot of man hours. 

Our tour guide here is wearing a traditional Korean gown. There is a huge poofy skirt that begins very high up on your torso. Then they have a jacket thing that covers the top half. This dress in particular is plain, most likely for a working person and the material looks heavier. We passed many shops in town that sold very elaborate ones, with beautiful colors and patterns, made from lighter flowier material. Apparently this traditional dress is still worn for important ceremonies or gatherings. Our guide was very cute and witty. She is standing under a gate that has the inscription Never Die Gate, or longevity gate. The stone itself is made from one solid piece. There are no seams or hinges. The kings would make a habit to pass through this gate to try to lengthen their life. She goes through the gate twice a day! Ha! 

We are now out of the secret garden and in the main grounds of the palace. Again, more elaborate detail, tile roofs, and wooden shades. Also notice how this room is elevated off the ground. Seems smart to me; no bugs, snakes, mud etc. 

This is the queen's living quarters. She has a front circle drive! How cool is that! Also notice how large the foundation is here. All of the buildings were like that. The Koreans used (and still use) a heating system called ondor. They make a fire and then pipe the hot smoke through pipes in the floor, then release the smoke in a chimney out back. The result is a warm floor that then heats the rest of the house. Because of this system, Koreans actually prefer to sleep on the floor, especially in the winter, and that is the warmest spot in the house. 

This is inside of the king's council room where he would meet with his advisors and discuss important matters. 

This is inside the actual throne room, used for ceremonies and to meet foreign envoys. Notice how much grander it is that the council room above. 

That's a big chair huh? The funny thing was, these people were actually very small back then. Men averaged 5'3'' and women averaged 4'9''. The king must have needed a huge costume and several pillows to fill out this chair!

This is the front of the throne room. It looks like it has two stories on the outside, but the inside, as seen above, is one giant space with immense ceilings. 

During the Joseon dynasty, all of Seoul was a fortress, encircled by a huge stone wall. Much of the wall of torn down by the Japanese during their occupation from 1910ish to 1935ish. However, there are four main gates, all of which still stand. The gate below is the South Gate. The dark stones are the original stones, and the white ones are the newer ones. Isn't it beautiful! Could you imagine walking through those gates back in the day, seeing the immense city of Seoul on the other side? Incredible!