[24.11.2011] Korea Trip Day 4 Part 1

So hey guys! Now we got around to another day. I had been planning to go and see the traditional Korean Houses (which is called Hanok in Korean) the past few days, so I decided to venture out and go see what i could see.

Basically there is 2 different places where you can find the traditional korean homes. But I couldnt find the first one of it which is basically a set of houses set betwee other normal houses. Basically even in Korea the traditional houses are becoming extinct.. 

So I decided to go to another place which basically housed all the other houses...

Along the way I found some art in the Subway station. 

 Basically, I wanted to go to Namsangol Traditional Park to see the houses and after leaving the subway station, I saw this and thought that it was it... 

Turns out I was wrong and I had taken a left too early and ended up at a restaurant .. hehe I shouldve went a bit further and to end up here...

Basically this place houses a lot of the traditional houses and also has a nice time capsule buried in the compound.

The place is really beautiful and I must say that with the small stream going through its SPLENDID!

I think the picture above does not capture the' moment ' (no more kodak.. sorry) of the place that well, so i recommend for you guys to check out this video..

So whats at the village you ask? Frankly.. Houses! Lots and lots of old traditional houses. But these houses are not like normal terrace houses..These houses were rebuilt after the traditional houses of the Joseon Dynasty and belong to the various social classes from peasant to king. These places help to show how the daily lives of the people were during that time. 

So after walking around, I managed to see this... and decided to have a go at a traditional tea ceremony...

Desert.. Traditional candy... and you can make it into your own design... just press into these molds 

Here's a video of the tea ceremony.. I had several but I dont think you want to see it all.. 

Anyhow at the place you get to see how it looks like from back then.. and the kitchen... Apparently back then the husband and wife stay at home together and during the day the husband will leave the wife and work in a separate building and only come back at night.. (thats what the lady told me.. ) and the most important aspect of these traditional Hanoks is that they can also have heating... Basically to heat a house, you light a fire underneath the house at and it warms up the floor where they sleep.. pretty ingenious right? 

Some photo's of people in the traditional hanboks..

Here also they give you a chance to see and try out their traditional games .  Check out the vids...

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I dont know why its ice... but it was cold...

The fire i was talking about..

some caligraphy action going on

So as I said before, there is a time capsule burried in this area... You can see that the place was burried with lots of grandness and had lots of statesmen giving their wishes and they were inscribed there for all to see. As I was walking around here i managed to bump into a Malay family that was on holiday there.. haha and for some reason, us Malaysians were sooo happy to see each other and talk in Malay! haha.. I guess its the Malaysian unity.. when we are away and separated thats when we want to be together and connected I guess.. hehe.. 

Stuff burried in there... 

 So afterwards, it was starting to get cold so I decided to go somewhere else that will be a lot of fun... 

How do you get here? If you are heading by train, take the subway line 3 or 4 and exit at Chungmuro Station Exit 4 and walk for about 5 minutes and you are there!