Korea
- Return to 김해시 (27 Jun 2009)
- Korean Independence Day (15 Aug 2009)
- Uirimsa Valley (18 Oct 2009)
- Return to Gubok-ri (31 Oct 2009)
- 창덕궁 Changdeokgung (25 Apr 2010)
Looking our from near the top of the mountain at the end of 의림사 Uirimsa Valley, looking southeast. From here you can see 진동면 Jindong-myeon, 저도교 Jeodo Bridge in 구복리 Gubok-ri, and even out across the sea to 거제시 Geoje.
The main road through _tag;ruby lang="ko">전주한옥마을_tag;rt lang="en">Jeonju Hanok Traditional Village_tag;/rt>_tag;/ruby>. It's a little tourist area with various street vendors and a few museums. It's a nice place for a little stroll.
Koreans love getting their picture taken by this large tree in these beautiful autumn colors.
Another lake with a board walk, but this one has attracted many Korean families with their children.
The main entrance to this small palace. All palaces feature this artifical stream we must cross for a ritual cleansing before entering the palace.
The start of the 청계천 CheonggyeCheon stream running through downtown Seoul. Water is pumped to here and the stream starts with a waterfall. As you can see, it also proves to be quite popular among locals looking to escape the heat.
The 흥녜문 HeungNyeMun, the second inner south gate to 경복궁 GyeongBokGung (Palace Greatly Blessed by Heaven), the main palace of the Kings of the Joseon Dynasty before the Japanese Invasions of the 1590's.
The main stone courtyard in front of 근정전 Geunjeongjeon, the large throne hall where the King formally accepted audiences. The original building was burned down during the Japanese Invasions of the 1590's and this building was built in 1867 during the reconstruction.
A close look at the stream at the entrance to the palace. Crossing over the stream before entering the inner palace is to symbolically cleanse visitors before they meet the King.
There were a couple automated ticketing machines available at ChangDeokGung Palace, in Seoul, but this sign above them clearly dictates in English "For Korean Nationals Only"... Now, really, why couldn't it read "Only in Korean Language"? And then why couldn't they add some common internation languages (primarily English and Japanese)? It's just so Korean to make foreigners feel unwelcome...
대한문 Daehanmun, the main gate entrance to 덕수궁 Deoksugung Palace. The gate had been located in the middle of the busy street running between the palace and Seoul City Hall, but has been moved as the street's been widened.
The main throne hall of 덕수궁 Deoksugung Palace with the King's (er, "emperor") residence behind in neo-Greco-Roman architechture.
흥인지문 Heunginjimun, the east gate of the fortress wall which surrounded Seoul. It is also refered to as 東大門 동대문 Dongdaemun (East Big Gate).
_tag;ruby lang="ko">객사_tag;rt>Gaeksa_tag;/rt>_tag;/ruby>, an old Buddist Temple in the center of Jeonju. Actually part of the central shopping district, the temple draws a crowd of teenagers who are there just hanging out.
Trying to be like a real city, they put changing color lights on this bridge over the river in 무주 Muju.
대구타워 Daegu Tower, or alternatively 우방타워 Ubang Tower, a tall tourist attraction providing a view over the city. Many Korean and Japanese cities feature such point-less structures.