Apartment buildings lined freeway to Seoul
Korean man in front of his home at Village
Farmers Dance at Village
Traditional wedding ceremony at Village
Korean kids enjoying Americans at the Village
A street at Namdaemun Market
We posed at Seoul's river walkAfter traversing a lock four feet narrower than the Panama Canal, the Regent Mariner made her maiden stop at Inchon (Seoul’s port). We had only eight feet to spare and our Captain Phillippe put us perfectly through without a rub on either side or any help from the locks in the form of mules or lines.
With 48 million people living in South Korea, 4.5 million of those reside in Seoul and 2.5 million in Inchon. People and high rise apartment buildings literally lined the one hour corridor between Seoul and Inchon. As our bus ride took us along the modern freeway between those two cities, we heard much of Korea’s history. The country was controlled by Japan until 1945. Of course, since 1950, the country has been divided with Communist North Korea having an active army of over 10 million…and its people starving. South Korea, on the other hand, is very progressive, well-educated, and cosmopolitan. Their army is 600,000. With the four (and perhaps several more) tunnels the North Koreans have dug into the DMZ, South Koreans live constantly with the threat invasion from the north. Tunnel four is 6 feet tall x 6 feet wide and one mile long long. We hope to have photos on at http://www.jerryjanice.shutterfly.com/ soon, from folks that went there yesterday.
Our tour guide for the day was a wonderful 64-year old woman named Park. She walked through our bus and profusely thanked three men for serving in Korea in the 1950s and ‘60s. Then she said, “See what you gave us? Hope and success. Yes, we are still threatened every day by the North Koreans, but we know that you stand with us.” She pointed out that she was, of course, referring to the U.S., U.K, and Australia passengers on board.
The Korean Folk Village was our major destination for the day (http://www.koreanfolk.co.kr/). The setting is Korea from 1700 to the 1910s. We saw housing, farming life, pottery production, paper making, silk spinning, and blacksmithing…all in actual working exhibits. We attended a traditional wedding ceremony which had been arranged by the couples’ parents…the groom and bridegroom would have never met beforehand in those days. The entire village setting was much like Williamsburg or Sturbridge Village in the U.S.
Jerry, in particular, was a hit with the mobs of school children who were also spending the day at the village. They asked his name and where he lived (in perfect English). The hundreds, perhaps thousands, of children had brought their sack lunches and plastic blankets for picnicking everywhere on the grounds. We had wondered where we would all eat lunch, but ours was Korean barbequed beef with vegetables, Kim chee and rice enjoyed in the Korean restaurant within the Folk Village. It was delicious and cooked right at our table.
The second stop on our tour was in Seoul at Namdaemun Market. It is a very traditional Asian market area with ginseng being the most available item! We walked down extremely crowded narrow streets lined on both sides by stores selling just about everything imaginable. The streets were shared by people, motorcycles, ladies carrying stacks of trays on their heads, men pushing crates on their carts, women selling edible items out of baskets on the cobblestones, and even a few vehicles. There was, obviously, a pecking order to who had the right of way! We strolled along the streets, observing people, and even made a couple of purchases (chopsticks and pink ribbon…big spenders).
Our last stop of the day was a recently uncovered river walk for a photo opportunity. Next stop: Beijing, China
With 48 million people living in South Korea, 4.5 million of those reside in Seoul and 2.5 million in Inchon. People and high rise apartment buildings literally lined the one hour corridor between Seoul and Inchon. As our bus ride took us along the modern freeway between those two cities, we heard much of Korea’s history. The country was controlled by Japan until 1945. Of course, since 1950, the country has been divided with Communist North Korea having an active army of over 10 million…and its people starving. South Korea, on the other hand, is very progressive, well-educated, and cosmopolitan. Their army is 600,000. With the four (and perhaps several more) tunnels the North Koreans have dug into the DMZ, South Koreans live constantly with the threat invasion from the north. Tunnel four is 6 feet tall x 6 feet wide and one mile long long. We hope to have photos on at http://www.jerryjanice.shutterfly.com/ soon, from folks that went there yesterday.
Our tour guide for the day was a wonderful 64-year old woman named Park. She walked through our bus and profusely thanked three men for serving in Korea in the 1950s and ‘60s. Then she said, “See what you gave us? Hope and success. Yes, we are still threatened every day by the North Koreans, but we know that you stand with us.” She pointed out that she was, of course, referring to the U.S., U.K, and Australia passengers on board.
The Korean Folk Village was our major destination for the day (http://www.koreanfolk.co.kr/). The setting is Korea from 1700 to the 1910s. We saw housing, farming life, pottery production, paper making, silk spinning, and blacksmithing…all in actual working exhibits. We attended a traditional wedding ceremony which had been arranged by the couples’ parents…the groom and bridegroom would have never met beforehand in those days. The entire village setting was much like Williamsburg or Sturbridge Village in the U.S.
Jerry, in particular, was a hit with the mobs of school children who were also spending the day at the village. They asked his name and where he lived (in perfect English). The hundreds, perhaps thousands, of children had brought their sack lunches and plastic blankets for picnicking everywhere on the grounds. We had wondered where we would all eat lunch, but ours was Korean barbequed beef with vegetables, Kim chee and rice enjoyed in the Korean restaurant within the Folk Village. It was delicious and cooked right at our table.
The second stop on our tour was in Seoul at Namdaemun Market. It is a very traditional Asian market area with ginseng being the most available item! We walked down extremely crowded narrow streets lined on both sides by stores selling just about everything imaginable. The streets were shared by people, motorcycles, ladies carrying stacks of trays on their heads, men pushing crates on their carts, women selling edible items out of baskets on the cobblestones, and even a few vehicles. There was, obviously, a pecking order to who had the right of way! We strolled along the streets, observing people, and even made a couple of purchases (chopsticks and pink ribbon…big spenders).
Our last stop of the day was a recently uncovered river walk for a photo opportunity. Next stop: Beijing, China
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