As the number of weekends left start to diminish I’ve been trying my best to see the oreo cookies of sights here in Korea. The two weekends posted were great cultural experiences as I went on the UNESCO tour, but not much happened that was blog worthy or pithy, so I’ll spare you much of the chronological narrative and allow you to simply enjoy the photos.
Part of the 5.6 km wall in Suwon
There was one funny story I will quickly share. While I was visiting Suwon, the fortress city, I was in need of some directions and approached a kind looking female. She worked at a bakery and I asked her if she knew how we got to the start of the wall. This young woman, quite begrudgingly asked, “Do you speak Korean?” I apologetically said that I didn’t, to which she inhaled and rolled her eyes. She hummed and hawed and seemed to be searching her database for the few basic words she knew. She definitely gave the impression that the ensuing conversation was going to be extremely difficult. “Okay, so you can get there on bus number 34 or 37. The bus stop is kitty-corner to the 7-eleven, you’ll probably have to wait no more than two or three minutes. After about 7 minutes or so on the bus, you’ll easily see where you get off. I hope that helps.”
These mounds of grass are the Korean equivalent of pyramids. Obviously these old kings were really important... either that or they really had a thing for breasts. (And that's how you completely disregard and disrespect thousands of years of history and culture.)
I love this sign, which is obviously a warning for falling rocks. Now for those of us who can't read Korean, I love the message the picture tells us. If massive boulders break loose and reach terminal velocity, make sure your child resorts to the tried and tested 1960s approach to nuclear warfare: duck and cover. Meanwhile, you fear not because you've got a feather in your fedora and you also have the ungodly strength to impede rocks as they plummet under that steadfast force known as gravity.
The hoards of tourists made it a little difficult to embrace the spiritualty of the temple. I'll bet it's hard to reach nirvana and escape to different spiritual planes of existance with all of us tourist hussies around.
Reverently,
Wilson
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