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First visit in Seoul

Seoul, South Korea

The next day we started to visit Seoul a bit and visited in the afternoon the Gyeongbok palace.

Gyeongbokgung Palace entrance

The guards luckily let us in,

so we could see how beautifull the place is...

On the way back to the hotel, this petrol station caught my eyes.

Korean Petrol Station

written by

thetourist on August 26, 2010 from Seoul, South Korea

from the travel blog: No news, Good news! in South Korea & Hong Kong

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First thing first....

Seoul, South Korea

After a loooong travel, the first thing was to get some strength by going to a local restaurant. It was a succession of small dishes one better than the other. This is just a small example.

First Korean dinner

written by

thetourist on August 25, 2010 from Seoul, South Korea

from the travel blog: No news, Good news! in South Korea & Hong Kong

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Out of the city

After having taken the fast train at 300 km/h from Seoul to Daegu, I'm ready to enjoy another 2,5 days more in the south. That will allow me to see more traditional side of Korea.
The visit of the Byeongsan seowon (seowon means private school) was a first stept to understand Korean traditions. This confucian school is the leading one for the memorial of masters and education (respect of the older, respect of the parents, ...). Students were coming here since 1572.

Alcohol was not allowed in (not good for concentration). Women were not allowed for the same reason.

written by

thetourist on August 29, 2010 from Andong, South Korea

from the travel blog: No news, Good news! in South Korea & Hong Kong

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Korean barbecue

Andong, South Korea

Time to eat... again. This time trying the local version of barbecue. Like the shabu shabu, it is a fun way to do it. The fire is in the middle of the LOW table (the copper tube you are seeing is a heat extractor) and you cook everything yourself. You may wonder how you cut the meat? No, not with the sticks. A very friendly and helpful woman is taking care of that for you with ... scissors.
Then you put a leave (can be sesame or lettuce) in your left hand, catch the meat using the sticks with your right hand, dip it in a salt crystals, put it on the leave, add a slice of garlic, spicy korean red sauce, roll the leave and eat it. Doing this without spilling anything on your clothes get you 10 extra points...

written by

thetourist on August 29, 2010 from Andong, South Korea

from the travel blog: No news, Good news! in South Korea & Hong Kong

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Ahoe village

Andong, South Korea

The visit to Hahoe Village (translating to “Village Enveloped by Water”) was promising. The fact that it was added to the UNESCO World Heritage List under the category of “Historic Villages in Korea” recently (July 31, 2010) is maybe a sign. In fact you have there the opportunity to see a traditional village and also the Hahoe Byeolsingut Tallori (Korean traditional masked-dance Drama)

Unfortunately, someone opened the water and it started raining non-stop like in the Forrest Gump movie, so the masked dance was cancelled. That's a good reason to come back!

written by

thetourist on August 29, 2010 from Andong, South Korea

from the travel blog: No news, Good news! in South Korea & Hong Kong

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Fish

Andong, South Korea

On the way south east of Daegu, before visiting Gyeongju, the former capital of Korea, a stop in Gampo on the seaside for some raw fish restaurant.
It' s very easy, ..., just choose from the menu here

The procedure is the same I explained before for other dishes. You will put the fish in a leave, adding some spicy korean red sauce. No need to explain that everything is fresh (you can chose the fish you want from a tank outside) and excellent

written by

thetourist on August 30, 2010 from Andong, South Korea

from the travel blog: No news, Good news! in South Korea & Hong Kong

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Bulguksa temple & Royal Tomb (Chunmacheong)

Andong, South Korea

The Bulguksa temple is said to be the nicest temple of Korea. It really is. Specially when you think that it has been built in 751 and destroyed 2 times during japanese invasions.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bulguksa_Temple

Some prayers are attached to those red globes on the ceiling of the temples.

Here, some "details" I liked during my visit.

Then a small visit to the royal tombs (Chunmacheong). The small hill you see here is where the tomb is. One has been opened to show to the public. This is the one of an unknown king from the Silla Kingdom. You can see replicas of golden jewels, weapons found there with the king.
I was told that servants and the whole family were buried alive with the king to assist him during his journey. That has changed afterwards.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cheonmachong

Chunmacheong (Royal tombs)

Before going back to Daegu and before the next storm, I enjoyed the view of this beautiful Field of lotus flowers.

written by

thetourist on August 30, 2010 from Andong, South Korea

from the travel blog: No news, Good news! in South Korea & Hong Kong

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Last lunch in Korea

Seoul, South Korea

Close to the Incheon airport (the airport is on a island) and on the seaside, it was time to try another barbecue. This time with sea shells, clams. To be honest, I don't know almost any of them. As always, you can choose what you want from the tank.

And the lady is preparing everything for you. She gives you a glove to hold the "burning" shell with your left hand. The right hand concentrates on fighting with the sticks as usual.

Very tasty and fun again.
That concludes the trip to South Korea. It was an interesting experience. One thing I'd like to mention. Everybody we met there was very friendly and there was always someone to help (without asking for it) in case.

written by

thetourist on August 31, 2010 from Seoul, South Korea

from the travel blog: No news, Good news! in South Korea & Hong Kong

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