Suwon Hwaseong Fortress.; weekend trip

About 380 km drive from Jisepo, between the 5 and 6 hours,  you can find the Hwaseong Fortress and Hwaseong Haenggung. The original structure is built from January 1794 – September 1796 by King Jeongjo. During the Korean War a lot of the structures have been destroyed and the restoration started in 1975.

It is possible to walk around the town on the wall and this will take at least 2 hours. We enjoyed the views and took some closer looks at special buildings which we haven’t seen at other Fortress, so it took us 3 hours. A nice place too start the walk is close to Paldamun. You start with a steep walk .After de Fortress, walk from Paldamun to the Palace. The combined ticket costs KRW 3500.

To find the place, we put in the following telephone number: 031-251-4435.

The hotel was at walking distance from the Fortress and a local market. The name is Hotel Queen (0312428948).

Personal is very kind, the first morning the waited for us to enjoy the breakfast, we didn't know that it was included, and came too late! The car cabn be parked under the hotel at the parking lot. 

Mario del Monaco and Starbucks opposite Cheomseongdae

On a rainy day in Gyeongju, last visit I experienced the same, is it nice to try some coffee shops. This one has a view on Cheomseongdae, the oldest astrological observatory in the Far East.
The coffee and the tea are good, but expensive, KRW 5000 each. It has a unique atmosphere, so I guess that's why.

Past the test.

A little further along the road was a recent opened Starbucks. We had to try some desserts, yummy.
Afterwards we drove a block to see what to visit for the next day.

Andong and Hahoe

In a short time I visited Andong twice, once a on a day trip and the second time a two days visit. It’s a four hour drive from Geoje. The easiest way was to put the telephonenumber of the “Mask museum” (054-8412896) in the navigation system. But in Andong the sign’s are very clear.

The Mask museum is near the entrance of Hahoe Maeul (village). You can park your car and there is a shuttle bus between the carpark and the entrance of the village.. The hightlight was the folkvillage Hahoe, Queen Elizabeth also visited this place, where the people still lives. It’s a special place because the houses faces the river instead of the south, and the second reason is that you can find thatched roofs and larger yangban houses from wood with stone. The surroundings are also worthwile if you like nice landscapes.

But the place has more to offer . Next to Hahoe you can find Byeongsan Seowon. You have drive a bit on a dirt road laeding to the shrine which worship Ryu Seongryong a famous Confusian scholar. Very special are the pillars which have the orginal shape (bending) of the tree.

On the way to the Bongjeongsa Temple, we paida visit to the Hanji paper factory. You can still see how they make the paper and they sell a really huge selection with special colored and patterned paper.

The Bongjeongsa Temple is Korea’s  oldest wooden structure and the biggest temple in Andong.

At the end of the day, around 4 p.m. it’s nice to go to Andong’s Folk Museum. They have a nice display of the life in early age. After closing time you can still visit the buildings, or have a walk along the river and cross the wooden bridge, Wolyeong Bridge. In the evening it’s worth to try the famous chicken dish, Andong Jjimdak. The best place is at the traditional market. We stayed at a so called “love hotel”, Goryeo Hotel, but with us, just families were checking in. The hotel is situated excellent near the centre of the town. From the hotel you can easily walk into the new and the traditional center of Andong. They don’t serve breakfast but there are many coffee shops which opens early, recommended is “Mammoth” in the center. For the next day we saved the Dosan Confucian School and the Icheon-dong Maayeoraeipsang or the Stone Buddha or Amitaba Buddha along road number 5 to the north. This sounds easy, but we took some wrong arms of road 5. But look for signs for the village Icheong-dong and you will find it.

There are a lot more things to visit, but life is all about making a choice!