Jongmyo Royal Shrine

Jongmyo Royal Shrine
Jongmyo Royal Shrine is a place of worship for the kings of the Joseon Dynasty. The Royal Shrine was built by King Lee Sung-Gye, the first in that royal line in 1394. It is now designated a UNESCO World Heritage site and there is an annual ceremony that is held here every year in May to honor the dead monarchs and is considered the oldest complete ceremony in the world. The music played at the ceremony is over 600 years old. There are several buildings on site, including The Main Hall, The Hall of Eternal Peace, and other facilities. The site and buildings contain the memorial tablets of 19 Kings and 30 Queens in 19 Spirit Chambers.

The Shrine was really cool, not only is it all of the things above, but the Main Hall is the longest free standing structure in Korea! It was really cool to go see the architecture, and it was a beautiful day. We took a lot of photos and got to see some really cool heritage stuff. The history in the area was really interesting.

We went here on Sunday afternoon. It was a gorgeous day as we entered the Shrine. There are a multitude of buildings that comprise the Shrinal area. When we got to the Main Hall, Katie Cormier decided to take a picture of the birds, but in doing so she ended up chasing them across the front area of the Hall (picture below). Kim and I studied the architecture of the building.

Upon leaving the Shrine, we continued to walk around the area where the Shrine was. We were walking down the street when we came upon 500 police officers in riot gear and shields. It was very interesting. They were just standing there. We wondered why, and contemplated going further. After going further, and then turning around and saying "well, I mean, they're just standing there, maybe they're filming a movie" we continued to go to the market area. When we left the market area we noticed there was a huge HUGE protest going on in the streets. Not knowing Korea, we didn't know what they were protesting. We started heading for the subway when we noticed there were flags of Che Guevera in the crowd of people. Katie and Kim felt scared, once we were in the Subway, we went a few stops and got off and ate a a place called Kraze Burger. It was delicious, except the price of a drink was the price of large french fries. But it was worth it. The day concluded back at home all in one peace, exploring more of Seoul and filled with excitement and fun.

Blog post finished!

Next Blog Post: Autumn Foliage Trekking from November 1 and 2.
Should be interesting and full of stories!!!!

Jongmyo Royal Shrine Pictures

Gate to the Main Hall


Katie Chasing birds for pictures.....


Main Hall



Kim and I in front of Main Hall


Katie in the Subway station


Longest Building in Korea - Main Hall







Me and the gate to the Main Hall in the Background



Me and Katie at a gate


Plaque for UNESCO World Heritage Site


Oldest Well in Seoul

Caving and Ferry Riding

This was a very adventurous and cultural weekend.
It all starts on Saturday when we went on another Adventure Korea trip, this time: Autumn Foliage Caving and Ferry Riding. The fun Saturday starts at 6 am with a wake up and breakfast and then off to the 'Express Bus Terminal' to meet our bus. The bus ride to the Ferry Ride was a lengthy one, but very fun. Once getting to the lake for the Ferry Ride (which is very popular on this man made lake), we boarded and began to enjoy the beautiful scenery. They took us to the Chungcheong-Do area of Korea.

The lake is Lake Chungju and it is an artificial lake created by the Chungju Dam in the mid-1980's. It's considered the best lakeside resort area in the country and we were on the most popular Ferry route: Chungjunaru course. The mountains were beautiful and nice, with the changing leaves. It made for an excellent 2 hours and 10 minutes.

We met up with two Korean men who spoke English and they asked if we wanted to share their Chicken lunch that they brought on board the Ferry. We said sure, that would be great, so they brought it over and we all had a Korean style lunch on the floor of the upper deck of the ferry. It was a great morning, the sun was shining, the trees were changing, and we were meeting new people. They work for GE (which is now a Korean company as GE sold the assets from what I could gather).

We went caving at Gosu Cave, which is a huge limestone cave and the most famous in the area. It is 1,300 m cave was really fun to walk through and go exploring. It was all on a pathway of stairways and such, but was interesting to go see. There are about 120 different stalactites and stalagmites in the cave.

We then proceeded to go to "Dodam Sambong" which is an island in the NamHan river and it has three peaks. They were described to us as "Three funny shaped rocks" by the tour guide, which was amusing. It was a nice little climb to a viewpoint and then again to the Stone Gate which created wonderful views of the river.

Saturday when getting home we decided to venture to Itaewon, which is one of the communities in which there are many Westerners. The community was created as it is around the American Army base and in the centre of Seoul. It sprawled from there and is known as one of the places to 'Go out on the town' in the city. This was my first time in Itaewon and it proved to be a very successful evening. Getting everyone to meet up (Me, Kim, Joey went to meet Annette, Jerick, and Katie Cormier) who came from the other direction on the subway line. It was an interesting night, but we weren't out too late, because we got up the next day to go sightseeing!!!

In my next blog article: Jongmyo Shrine.

Caving and Ferry Riding Pictures

Dodam Sambong - "Three Funny Shaped Rocks"

Kim and I after a little hike up a mountain - Three Rocks in the Background.


Inside Gosu Cave


Before climbing up the hill. At the view point.


1 tree - 2 colors of leaves. Notice the Red and Green. All from the same tree!



Me on the Ferry


The 2 Korean men and one of the guys kids and us (Joey, Genna, Kim, and Me)



Me and 2 Korean guys


The ferry ride!


Mountains from the ferry ride.

DMZ

This weekend I got to visit the DMZ (Demilitarized Zone) that cuts Korea roughly in half. It has served as a buffer zone since the signing of the 1953 ceasefire agreement that ended the fighting during the Korean War (although the war itself has officially never ended). Located near the 38th parallel, it cut the peninsula roughly in half but separated the natural resources (in the north) from the breadbasket (in the south). Surrounded by barbed wire and untouched by humans for over 50 years, the area has become an unintentional wildlife refuge, as migrating birds and other wildlife thrive here.

The DMZ was a really cool experience and thing to see. It was eye opening as a way to see how hostile the country was in its past. The museums and interpretive centers surrounding things such as the Third Tunnel and the imminent attack of the North on the South

Imjingak
This village was pretty interesting. It was built to console North Koreans who got stuck in the South. Around Imjungak is a Peace Bell (pictured) that was built in 2000 as a commemorative Bell. There is also a Freedom Bridge (also pictured), the discontinued Kyongui Line, where the sign says, “The train wants to run". The Freedom Bridge also used to exchanging the prisoners after Korean War, so its been called "Freedom Bridge" The suspended Kyongui Line will be reconnected within 2011. We had a great time in this area before being bused to:

Third Tunnel
The Third Tunnel is the third tunnel that was discovered to attack from the North to the South. It was built in such a way that 10,000 armed North Korean soldiers could attack Seoul within 1 hour. It was discovered in 1978 and dimensions are: 1.95 m high, 2 m wide, and 1.6 m long.

We got to go down about 300m into the Third Tunnel. It was 73m underground. The angle that the tunnel is built at is 3/1000 of an angle, so it is basically flat, except that water doesn't go stagnate. It was cramped and kind of creepy down in the tunnel. The walls were covered with charcoal which was applied to give some possibility to the North Korea to claim that the tunnel was part of an abandoned mine.This showed a very realistic picture of the lengths North Korea would go to to attack the South. Very scary.

Mt. Dora Observatory
The Mt. Dora Observatory was really cool. It was a foggy day, but we could see some mountains and a good view of the Demilitarized Zone. We weren't allowed taking pictures right from the Observatory part, we had to stand behind "The Photo Line" to be able to take pictures.

Dorasan Station
Dorasan Station is the northernmost international station located over 700 meters from the Southern Boundary Line of DMZ. It was really cool to go see. The Train station was built against the wishes of the Government, and the capital was raised by private donors. But, when the train station opened, the Top officials from Korea, and George W. Bush came for the opening ceremonies (again, see pictures below with George Bush holding the marker upside down when signing the train track beam). The tracks were guarded by a South Korean MP and seemed to be heavily secured in the area. I also got a special stamp on my passport from this train station.

All in all the trip was awesome and was a great day. This trip was only the single day as there aren't any hotels or accommodations around the DMZ for security reasons.

Next trip: Autumn Caving and Ferry Riding. Should be a lot of fun. Again only one day! Check back next week........

DMZ Pictures.....

At the entrance to the Third Tunnel. Couldn't take pictures inside, so this is as close as we could get.



Trying to unite....



Dorasan Train station payed for solely by donors with no Governmental help. The plaque to commemorate donors.



I wonder where the DMZ is?





South Korean Soldier outside the Third Tunnel



Kim pointing to George Bush at the opening of the Dorasan Train Station. He is holding the Marker upside down, I wonder how he's going to sign it?




MP at Dorasan Train Station guarding the Train passageway to North Korea



Me pointing to the North Korea Station, Kim to the South





The photo line. We weren't allowed to take pictures of the DMZ or North Korea



Fence for the DMZ





Butterflies on Flowers





Cultivating something that smelled like Licorice




DMZ and North Korea behind us. We had to stand in front of the Photo Line (see the line above)



Peace Bell



Freedom Bridge




Freedom Bridge (that's blocked off)



Canada helped South Korea




United States helped South Korea

River Trekking and Buddhist Temple Stay......

This weekend was very fun, we went river trekking and also spent it at a Buddhist Temple in the Gangwon-do province in Korea. We went to the Bubheungsa Temple which is 1400 years old. It was very interesting and beautiful in the midst of the mountains. The days were packed with lots of fun.

As the weekend begins, I made my way from the Gwacheon Government Complex (where I live) to the Ssangmun station where Katie and Kim live. From there we went to a really cool Korean BBQ restaurant where there was a giant hole in the table. After ordering our beef, they put hot coals into the middle of the table and a metal covering where we were able to cook our own meat. It was very good. The meal also included many side dishes and I was accompanied by Kim, Katie, Jerick, Annette (two of the foreign teachers at Kim and Katie's school) and some Korean teachers from the school also. In total there were 10. It was very fun.

The next morning we woke up early, met everyone and proceeded to go to the Hongik University Subway station where we were meeting the Travel Company (www.adventurekorea.com) and we boarded the bus. From here we went to go river trekking (some pictures below), and a little hike. It was beautiful, peaceful, and serene.

After the trekking we moved on to go to the Buddhist Temple where we were greeted by monks and others. We were given Buddhist clothing and we changed for the weekend. We then proceeded to do a walking meditation through the woods. This was very calm and relaxing as well as gave us the ability to take in all of the nature and be aware of our surroundings. We then came to an opening where there was a breathtaking view of a mountain (again, pictures below).

From there we ate dinner, vegetarian, as Buddhists do. And then proceeded to an Evening service where we participated in the reading daily bow and the Prajna Paramita Sutra. After that we had a Tea Drinking Ceremony with a dialogue with Sunim (Monk) on Dreams. They introduced Buddha's blessing power on the subject of Jeokmyulbogung's spiritual power which enshrined Buddha's ashes. We then reflectd on our past, current, and future life while giving inspiration power and confidence to our lives. We then made a dream pouch where we inserted our dreams and used it for the rest of the weekend.

In the evening we went to the upper Temple and completed 108 bows to realize our dreams while clearing our minds and concentrating on finding ourselves. It was the bed time where the men went to one room and slept on the floor and the women did the same.

Wake up: 4:00am.
Yes folks, you read correctly. 4:00am. And, for many of you who might not believe me, I did wake up at that time. Yes, a little ruffled and cranky, but I was up! It wasn't long, however, until I was un-cranky when we had the morning service at Jeokmyulbogung. There we had the prayers and service as well as had Sunim teach us how to meditate properly. And it was time for the Sitting meditation where we whole-heartedly concentrated on our one wish or having a clear mind.

It was very interesting to have a proper Monks meal, this traditional meal usually takes Monks over an hour to complete and consists of 4 bowls, napkins, chopsticks, and a spoon. The bowls are cleaned, the meal is prepared and ready, the food is eaten, the bowls are cleaned and all in a ritualistic fashion and manner. Everything has a way to be done and followed.

We then had fun activities after this. We made lotus lanterns (again, see photos below) and I now have mine in my apartment (Kim pestered the monks till they let her make 2.......I blame it on the lack of scrapbooking and her need to release her inner creative self), and then we beaded monks prayer beads. 108 beads in total. I, obviously, forgot mine (I don't know how) at the Temple, so am without. But, there could be another Temple stay somewhere else before the year is up, you never know!

We had closing ceremonies, a group photo, and headed back on the bus.....more towards civilization, but less towards inner peace. My weekend at the Buddhist Temple was very eye opening and I feel I learned a lot, not only about another religion and another culture, but more about myself. The weekend gave time to think, relax, and concentrate on what was really important and to set goals and dreams that are completely attainable. And that dream pouch I talked about above. I hope my dream does come true.

The weekend was really one to write about, it was a great way to spend my first Saturday and Sunday in Korea and I'm pleased to a tea the fact that I signed up and went. It was a very fun experience and a good way to introduce the culture of Korea.

My eyes are open, my mind is open and I'm ready for adventure, if this is only the beginning of my year, I can't wait for the rest!!!!!!

Stay tuned for next week. I'll be visiting the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ)!

Pictures Now, more to come later

Monk taking us for a Meditation Walk



Us making Lotus Lanterns.....




The Beautiful view from the Temple





The mountain from the Meditation Walk




View from the Temple area




Us bowing with the Buddhist bell in the Background





Kim, a Monk (Sunim), and I




A Row of Lotus Lanterns





Kim and I and the view




Beautiful trees and mountains



I don't have much time now as I'm very tired after the weekend. I will make a post probably tomorrow. But here's some pictures for now!!!!!

Seoul Day 1

Weird Pepsi cans in the vending machines.....50 cents




Liquid Sugar from Starbucks



Food from the market




Graeme and Cormier reunion



Me and Kim in Katie's apartment



Me in front of statues and fountain area in Gwacheon




Day 1 in Seoul has been really fun. Because of the time difference, I couldn't sleep as long as I would've like, so waking up at 6 am, showering, we went walking around Gwacheon city and the market area within the city. Then I got some Starbucks Coffee and tried to acquire a cell phone. I had to leave that part up to Kim. I now have a cell phone.