Korea: Suwon

Although getting to Suwon from Seoul should be cheap and easy, we somehow managed to make it a two hour long ordeal where we had to get a taxi from Gwangmyeong KTX just to get back to the subway.  We did eventaully make it, however, and with our usual plan "see stuff", my boyfriend and I made it a memorable day trip.

Most of the day was spent wandering through Hwaseong Fortress, which still encircles the center of Suwon.  It was built in 1796 and is actually one of the first examples in Korea of paid labor.  Lots of it was destroyed in the battles of the Korean War, but it's still full of history, a beautiful place to walk around in, a place to experience galbi in restaurants (the city's signature dish), and to hike around in the mountainous area.  Hwaseong Haengung Palace is typical of most Korean palaces, but its location near the mountains makes it worth wandering through.  The fortress is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

We learned to shoot a bow and arrow at the archery demonstration. It was full of children and all in Korean, but we just pointed and shot (and missed).

Overall it was a beautiful city and a nice easy day trip from Seoul. The thing you have to love about Korea--the resting places on the fortress walls wasn't just a dirty bench.  It was a floor where no shoes were allowed.  You could lie down, literally take a nap, and feel rejuvenated enough to keep up with the ajummas hiking faster and more gracefully than you.