Bagan: you’ve heard this before…

Woke up quite early even for Busan time but just waited because it was too early. Woke up for real around 7:45 for breakfast just after 8:15 of toast with butter and strawberry-sugar jam, watermelon and tea and terrible coffee.

Left around 9 for a day for temples. I can’t begin to describe how beautiful they are. When you think it’s the same as the last you will find something new. Pictures hardly do it justice. Many you can climb to the top via steps or find your own way (climb).

One where I could see the tallest temple (that you could not climb) had 4 Buddha’s (like most) but the main one was original except the hair, the next original but it was black more recently turned gold via donations, the next was teak wood with original body and the last was new because of fighting in the 70s. This was seen after an AMAZING lunch at Be Kind to Animals. Mostly Indian flavors but with Myanmar tourists. Next to us were a hilarious Sigapourian-Indian couple who got all the recipes. I had a wrap which was more of Dhal with a tortilla around it which you needed a knife and fork for. Magda had a Bagan special dish that was the best of the group using a special leaf (curry). I decided the spiciness of low because it was so hot out. Also had lime soda. 5,000 kayat.

It started to rain a bit around 3:30 so we stayed in the biggest temple hoping it would stop but it did not so we went onto the main road back, stopping once to check out some deserted temples and walk to one where you climbed the outside. Koreans were there! Then it really started to rain (5:00?) so we headed back and arrived around 5:30 to be soaking wet L shower was silly but washed my underwear (from squatters with no toilet paper) and sweat handkerchief.

Had dinner at wonderful Tasty which had Nepolise food which I’ve never had was quite good. Lime-Ginger-Juice for 800 and 10 veggie dumplings with soup and spicy sauce for 2,500. Just soup was 1000 it took quite a while but you knew it was fresh because you could hear the chopping and frying.

Woke up at 6:30 to be ready at 7:00 but found out the bus will come to me after 7:30. Oh well. Our bus got stuck in mud for about 30 minutes a truck got stuck when it pulled over to try and help us. We went through beautiful mountains and forests but the road was so twisty I almost got sick. Almost got sick also because an old lady was smoking on the bus (cloves). Lunch was horrible veggies and rice with no flavor.

Global Gathering, Take 2

This past weekend was the Global Gathering. The last one was in October or November, and it was such a big hit that they had another one earlier in the year. As last time, it was not well promoted.

Some ambassadors even showed up! At least that’s who we thought they were. Chinese guys in suits surrounded by cameras shaking hands with everyone at the Chinese stands. The Chinese stand was selling beet for 1,000W too!

Some places were not really selling cultural food, as one stand was selling Peach Ice Tea from Lipton containers and many were selling kebabs and Turkish Ice Cream. I did get some spring rolls, potato pattys, and fritters as well as a Brazilian drink (that should have some sort of rum but instead had vodka) and Mango Lassi.

There were some interesting cooking methods on display as well, such as solar and biking.

For dancing and music, there was….

traditonal Korean–I’ve seen this plenty of times but it’s great to watch the hat dancers!

Brazilian martial arts–started slow but got interesting with this next picture

Brazilian martial arts–hand stands!

Japanese–pretty slow but great costumes

Japanese–I was really impressed with this guy, that flag would weight a ton!

And this guy was really into the Japanese music

Kenyan–looked like me drunk dancing

Ta-Kwan-do
Ta-Kwan-do

Ta-Kwan-do

And finally, Ta-Kwan-do dancing and Break Dancing. I wish I could post the videos but I can’t figure it out (someone let me know how to!). The whole time my friends and I were talking about how amazing they are. Slow-motion kicks above their heads? I’d fall over. Back flips from standing on a hard floor? I’d be too scared to start and just land on my back. We also came to the conclusion that the reason Korea are the best at break dancing is because a lot of kids are raised doing Ta-Kwan-do.

There were also tons of photographs from the 1960s and 1970s vs today which showed how quickly Busan has developed.

And, of course, plenty of cute things to take pictures with…or punch in the face.

Bokcheongdong Burial Mounds and Museum

Getting off at Dongnae or Myeongnyun you head East and go along a road with apartments to your left.

I wasn’t sure what I was looking for  since I couldn’t find anything online about it, as with many things in Korea. I saw this hill to the right and decided to go up.

It had a great view of Busan.

Once at the top, you can go inside the dome and see the burial mounds area. As the sign said:

The Bokcheong-dong No 53, burial dated to middle 5th century AD, is large pit-style grave composed of the main, a later stone chamber type, and the accessory burial, a earlier wood chamber type. Because it was excavated without any disturbance, the No 53 burial showed its complete features with the undisturbed disposition of a large quantity of grave goods. among the wealthy burial goods including ceramic vessels, iron tools and weapons, precious metal earrings and glace beads, the greater part of them is the various types of pottery. the ceramic vessels have, for the most part, relatively simple designs, but some of them are richly decorated or manufactured copying certain objects, such as shoes or lamp. the main body buried with some attendants was suggested to be female from the observation of the grave good association with showed almost no emphasis on the burial of arms and armor. a bulky disposition of pottery imported form Human, the center of Ara-Gaya, makes archaeologists assume that the woman buried in the No 53 grave would be from it.

After leaving the park and crossing the street, there are a lot more buildings related to Bokcheongdong. Like I said, I didn’t make it to everything, so here is what I got:

History Hall

Where there was a miniature of the area inside

I can’t wait to go back and do a super easy ‘hike’ to see the rest.

Seoul’s Traditional Buildings

There were some beautiful buildings that did not fit into the other posts of palaces or shrines, so I present them here. There is another post for more modern architecture and buildings.

A traditional tower behind Jongno Tower.

Bosingak which is a bell tower.

Heunginjimun (Dongdaemun) gate, which is the second largest gate in Seoul and the largest gate that was part of the original city wall.

Bukchon Hanok Village, a traditional village with bits of new thrown in.

There were other buildings that I could not find a name for but were beautiful just the same.

Seoul Museum of History

This museum let me know that I don’t care too much for the dynasty era of Korean history. I tried reading the information but I would get bored less than halfway though reading the sign. That being said, there were some beautiful things throughout the museum.

On the bottom floor there are two exhibition halls, among other things (restaurant, information, gift shop, etc) and the rest of the museum is on the 2nd floor (realistically its the 3rd floor but visitors cannot go anywhere on the 2nd floor).

I first went to the right and there were exhibitions on Jeongdong: a Strange Coexistence and the Universal Exposition of Paris 1900: the Daehan Empire Met the World. The Paris one confused me at first because the sub-heading was not there so I expected some French art…not so much though, it was Korean stuff that was sent to Paris to show the world what Korea was like before 1900.

Below are pictures from Jeongdong: a Strange Coexistence was about the changing times from traditional to Western, which is exemplified in the second picture, of the modern man and the bike. The first picture is of Seoul at the time of 1899.

In the Universal Exposition of Paris 1900: the Daehan Empire Met the World there were many things from the time before 1900 (as the exopsition was in 1900) including the walls that Koreans would put up between rooms and instruments. There were also the chairs that kings were carried on, fans, chairs, pots and drums.

On the floor with the exhibitions, it starts in Zone 1 of Seoul of the Joseon Dynasty, then Zone 2 of The Capital of the Daehan Empire, Zone 3 of Seoul under Japanese Control, and ends with Zone 4 of Development of Seoul.  However, at the top of the stairs there is the Seoul Panoramic Theater, which has a mini-model of Seoul in it. It’s actually called ‘SEOUL: Now and in the Making’ which I thought was a great title for a city display. Very difficult to get pictures of without a tripod because of how bright it is. As I was looking a kid walked in and just went ‘WOAH’ and went all fours and stared down at what he had been standing on as his father and myself laughed.

What I enjoyed in Zone 1 were the models of the city, or models of how life used to be.

Zone 2 is the smallest of the zones and displays the start of modernization/Westernization. One thing that was prevalent was the numbers of foreigners, specifically Japanese,  was increasing–as you can see in the first picture–which lead to Zone 3 quite well. On the floor in one of the three rooms was a map of the Seoul that was before occupation. The final room had a photo show going on with descriptions of the photos. The ones I thought were most interesting were:

• 1907: Report on the national debt redemption movement, the Daehan Maeil Sinmun (Newspaper) and the Hwangseong Sinmun (Newspaper)
• 1907: Japanese army soldiers march in downtown Seoul when Emperor Gojong was forced to abdicate
• 1907: forced abdication of Emperor Gojong and enthronement of Emperor Sunjong
• 1907: Parade of Emperor Sunjong after ascending the throne
• 1097: Uprising of loyal army soldiers
• executing loyal army soldiers
• 1910: Japanese annexation of Korea

Zone 3 had more models, but this time displaying the way things were changing in specific areas, such as Cafes, Barber shops and Billiard Halls. There was also a lot of writing about the changes in culture and how things were under Japanese occupation. Department stores were created, people started to read more as it was a good way to find out about rebellion and young people who dressed in modern styles were basically saying ‘everything you wear is terrible, look at all the money I have, I am better than you because I dress like a Westerner’. At this time World War 2 was going on and Korea had to fly the Japanese flag.

Zone 4 starts with a short sum up of Liberation, US Occupation, and the War. There is a whole museum about the Korean War, so I think they skip over it here because there is no point in going over all the information twice. After that there is information about Seoul growing and expanding in number of people but not size, which lead to overcrowding, bad sewage, shanty towns (and fires in them) and food shortages. This lead into the dictatorship which lead to a lot of construction and helped Seoul become a booming city and Korea a booming country. After that it seemed like the museum skipped a bit, showed a 1970s dress and went to the Olympics, which was a massive deal for Korea to hold, less than 50 years after the Korean War.

Back to the ground floor, there is the Cartographic Achievements of Joseon, which are maps that were collected by a private collector and loaned to the museum for display.

Seoul’s 5 Palaces

Changgyeonggung Palace

This palace was built in 1418, destroyed by the Japanese in 1592, rebuilt in 1616, burnt down in 1830, rebuilt in 1834, leveled for a zoo in 1909, called just a park instead of a palace by the Japanese starting in 1911, restored in 1983. It was the first one I visited and, maybe because of that, my favorite. There was almost no one else there, and it also was not so big that it was overwhelming, which I felt some of the others were.

I went in the Honghwamun entrance (on the right side), then the Myeongjeongjeon and then I took a right and went out to the Inner Palace Site, Chundangji, Gwangeokjeong and Jipchunmun. Headed back into Myeongjeongjeon I went further into the Munjeongjeon, Sungmungdang and Haminjeong, then right to Gyeongchunjeon and Hwangyeongjion, Yeongchunheon and Jipbokheon and Tongmyeongjeon and Yanghwadang.

Honghwamun is a beautiful area that was used for greetings.

Myeongjeongjeon was used as the main hall where state affairs such as royal coronations, royal weddings and, royal banquets were held.

Inner Palace Site used to have buildings for all the women, but these were all taken down during Japanese occupation.

Chundangji is a pond. It looks as if there are two as it gets bottlenecked at one point, but the smaller one (in the back) was always a pond while the larger one used to be for the Kings rice paddies.

Gwangeokjeong is a military training area as it is a wooded area and Jipchunmun is a gate that lead to a small shrine.

Munjeongjeon is a south facing building where the king dealt with routine state affairs.

Sungmungdang is a banquet and classical literature hall. Haminjeong is another banquet hall, but was also used to receive state officials. I’m seeing a lot of similarities between the uses of buildings, but they are different sizes so can be used for different sizes of groups.

Gyeongchungjeon is the queens room (and ‘birth hall’) while Hwangyeongjion was for kings and princes.

Yeongchunheon and Jipbokheon were concubine rooms.

Tongmyeongjeon is the queens bedroom and is elevated because of that while Yanghwadang was used for guests.

Changdeokgung Palace

This is connected to Changgyeonggung Palace though Hamyangmun exit/entrance. This palace was built in 1405, destroyed by Japan in 1592, reconstructed in 1610, destroyed in a fire  in 1623, restored in 1647, and made part of the Unesco World Heritage List in 1997. There were other small fires that only destroyed a building or two. Much of it was inaccessible when I went, which was disapointing to me on a few levels, the one most people don’t think about being: if I can’t see half the palace, why am I paying full price?  After going in Hamyangmun, I went to Seongjeonggak, Nakseonjae Complex, Huijeongdang and the gift shop which was opposite it, then Seonjeongjeon and out though Injeongjeon.

Seongjeonggak is an area where the Prince used to have books and hold talks about them, as well as read them to audiences. It is on the way to the secret garden, which was quite dead when I went on December 23rd.

The Nakseonjae Complex is where the prince and king lived and read alone. The colors are not very bright for the reason  that the king wanted to relax there (I was wondering that when I saw the buildings but was too cold to take out the booklet or stand and read a sign).

Huijeongdang was originally the kings bedroom but became his work area when the other location became too small.

Seonjeongjeon was that other location. It became too small, so the king moved things to his bedroom, Huijeongdang. This is the only building in the area with a blue tiled roof.

Injeongjeon was the throne hall and where most major ceremonies went on.

Gyeongbokgung Palace

I believe this is the biggest palace in Seoul, even though the guidebook does not mention it. It is the one that is at the top of a main street (Sejong-daero and Sajik-ro). Inside it is the National Palace Museum and behind it is the blue house, Cheongwade, where the president lives. It was founded in 1395, destroyed by a fire during Japanese invasion in 1592, reconstructed in 1867 and since there other areas have been destroyed and rebuilt, with the last restoration being Gwanghwamun. It is said that this palace has the best feng shui as it has the mountains in the background. I went in though Gwanghwamun, to Geungongjeon, left to Sujeongjeon and Gwolnaegaksa, back to Sajeongjeon, onward to Gangnyeongjeon and Gyotaejeon, further back to Heumgyeonggak and Hamwonjeon finally going right to Jagyeongjeon and then returning to the main gate. While approaching the gate, there are two statues, as seen below.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Gwanghwamun Gate is south facing and represents summer and fire. It is the largest gate in Seoul, and has three entrances/exits and is a two-story pavilion. There used to be watch towers that were attached, but now only one is left and it is in the middle of an intersection (Dong-sipjagak). They have shows in front of the gate but I’m not sure the times (I twice walked past and it was going on both times but I was across the street and unable to get a good photo). There are also two Haetae statues near this gate, which is a lion-looking creature that is supposed to ward off evil spirits.

Geungeongjeon is the next area you walk into and was the main throne hall were parties were had and other royal pepole were greeted.

Off to the left from there is Sujeongjeon and Gwolnaegaksa which were government offices.

Sajeongjeon is where you go back into the main order of things, and is where the king dealt with state affairs and the name itself means ‘hall where the king should think deeply before deciding what is right and wrong’ which I think is a perfect name and is something all government workers should think of when they do their jobs. This was burnt down during the Korean war and rebuilt in 1988.

Gangnyeongjeon is the first building in the next area and was the kings house while Gyotaejeon is right behind it and was the queens house. Behind her house is a terraced garden called Amisan which was only restored in 1995.

Heumgyeonggak and Hamwonjeon were used for scientific discoveries and Buddhist events.

Jagyeongjeon to the right was the living quarter for Jo who brought Gojgong to the throne. It is the most elegant living quarter on the palace grounds and the name means ‘wish for much happiness for senior royal ladies’

At this point I was too cold to go on AND it was crazy busy–way too many people to appreciate it. I will go back in Spring or Summer and go there right when it opens.

Gyeonghuigugn Palace

This palace is the smallest and is behind the Seoul Museum of History. Entry is free. It was originally a royal villa and was constructed in 1617, destroyed during Japanese occupation, decided upon as a historic site in 1980, and reopened in 2002. Probably due to it’s size, I was one of 3 people there.

After going in the main gate, you will see Sungjeongjeon which was the main hall. I really liked the terraced roof behind the building, and it seemed impossible to see any of the other buildings when I went in.

Deoksugung Palace

This was the last palace I saw, and it is quite near the Seoul Museum of Art and City Hall. This palace was adopted as a temporary palace in 1593 by Prince Wolsan and renamed in 1611 to a palace. In 1904 most of it was lost to a fire, and in 1933 the Japanese colonial government destroyed most of the palace buildings and creates a public park. Looking on the map given to you upon entry, you can see how much bigger (three times the size!) it used to be and how it was impossible for the Korean government to completely restore the palace without destroying buildings, including the Salvation Army. I went in though Daehanmun, then off to the right to Hamnyeongjeon and Deokhongjeon and Jeonggwanheon, then further back to Jeukjodang and Seokjojeon and turning back towards Daehanmun going through Junghwajeon.

Daehanmun is the east and main gate, and was originally titled to mean ‘to be in great comfort’ but now means’ Seoul will prosper’. Once entering you will go over a bridge (you can go around it too) or make a sharp right to the gift and coffee shop.

Hamnyeongjeon (the first building you see) was the sleeping quarters for the king while Deokhongjeon was where he received guests. Deokhongjeon was decorated in Western style and had a chandelier hanging from the ceiling.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jeonggwanheon is behind Hamnyeongjeon and Deokhongjeon and is made in half Western style and half Korean style. I was not a fan of it…but the king served coffee and gave banquets here.

Heading further away from the main gate is Jeukjodang which served as the main throne hall during Japanese invasion.

Seokjojeon is even further back and looks very Western–a ‘symbol of a nation seeking to modernize’. It initally served as sleeping quarters but is now the National Museum of Art.

Junghwajeon used to be the main throne hall, when the gate in front of it was the main gate (south facing).