We got an email this morning from our friend June, saying that she and her boyfriend Park would like to take us to the Korean Folk Village in Yongin, about a half hour south of Seoul.
"Sure", we said..."let's go"!
The Minsok Folk Village was built to show the national culture of Korea to international tourists. But there were a lot of Koreans there too! The village is composed of real houses and buildings that were relocated and reconstructed from different parts of the country. The idea is to re-enact life from the Joseon period which lasted in Korea for five centuries from 1392 to 1897.
Check out the fancy stonework on that wall.
And this wall too!
The structure of their old buildings is amazing.
So, the idea of this village is to show a recreation of life in Korea dating back centuries ago. There was one section of it dedicated to day to day life, but another section was a lot of entertainment and shows that they had going on. We spent about six hours at the village, but it's really not enough time to see it all. You really need to show up when it opens and stay until it closes. And even then you might not see it all.
It's reasonably priced at 15,000 won ($17.25) and you can add on another 9,000 won ($10.35) if you want to include admission to the small attached amusement park as well.
This fellow is making shoes out of straw!
Amazing!
We actually didn't spend much time looking at the re-enactments. There were some shows that we wanted to see, and they lasted about a half an hour each. We spent the next two hours or so watching these various shows!
Korean Folk Dance.
Couldn't resist a shot of these two kids across in the audience. Too funny!
These guys were really good. I should have got a video for you! The ribbon coming from their hat swirls around them as they are twirling through the air. Really neat stuff!
Meanwhile, the guys in the background are banging on drums and making music. Great show!
Next up was a tightrope guy. He was amazing. He could pretty much run across this rope! And the most interesting thing? We're guessing he was over 70 years old!
Not a young man to be doing this kind of thing!
Oh look, he can do it with a pot on his head too!
Then, it was over to the equestrian arena...
Wow!
Yup, nothing to it. We can all do this while the horses are galloping around the ring!
And this little guy slept through the whole thing!
More neat old buildings.
Ruth.
Then, they did a re-enactment of a traditional wedding. This is not something you would see nowadays, this was what it would have been like a few hundred years ago!
The officiant.
The bride.
The groom.
Check out the colors on this structure!
After the wedding, the bride is carried away in this thing! Her new husband was on a horse in front of her.
There's the bride.
June and Park like to feed us. They think it's interesting seeing what Korean foods we like and don't like. Most of it we're really good with, and they make the most delicious BBQ pork on a stick. The tofu dish? Not so much...!
More food! Each dish at the folk village cost between 5,000 ($5.75) and 8,000 won ($9.25). We bought a few different dishes and shared them.
June and Park.
Guess who?!
Kevin, beside a Korean totem pole. Bet you didn't know they have totem poles in Korea!
Ha!
We spent the last half hour or so at the amusement park. Too funny. We went on this big swinging thing and we sat at one end and June and Park sat at the other so that we could take pictures of each other. It was hilarious!
Oh...what's up next?
Yep, the little roller coaster. It was kind of lame and it was over in about 30 seconds. More for the kids I think!
End of another great day in Korea.
Tomorrow we're doing a bicycle tour of the Han River than runs through Seoul. They are big on bike riding here and there are bike paths everywhere. This is a guided tour, and we're looking forward to spending a few hours out getting some exercise. Should be fun!
Another non stop fun day, you are really getting to see the sights.
ReplyDeleteWell not quite a non-stop day as we did relax all morning at the apartment which was something that we really did need. We sure made up for it in the afternoon though!
DeleteLove your pictures and experiences, keep them coming!
ReplyDeleteThank you Kay, I don't think you will have to worry about that, we have lots of adventures planned over the next little while.
DeleteAwesome stuff. I think the "kid's roller coaster" would be just about my speed. I don't do that roller coaster thing any more.
ReplyDeleteThe "kid's roller coaster" reminded me of the one that they had at the Ottawa Ex (I am sure it is the exact same configuration, too), which I went on as a teenager and at the time, that was the biggest one I had ever been on until I went to Disney World in Florida and went on Space Mountain. We love roller coasters, the bigger, the better!
DeleteVery interesting. I especially liked the dancers with the ribbons on their hats.
ReplyDeleteOut of all the shows that we saw, that was the one I liked the best, those guys were amazing!
DeleteThanks for another interesting account of your travels. Love it.
ReplyDeleteYou are welcome, glad you enjoyed it!
DeleteThanks for sharing! You both look great in your Tilly clothing.
ReplyDeleteThank you Peter, we sure were happy to have them on, as the sun was pretty warm yesterday.
DeleteWhat a great day!
ReplyDeleteYes, it sure was!
DeleteHey Peter...you took the words right out of my mouth!! The Tilley clothes look awesome!! We can feel your spirits soaring from here!!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Doug and Nancy, we are definitely enjoying them. We are very impressed with how lightweight they are and how great they look.
DeleteSo nice to have locals as tour guides to show you around - they look like a fun couple!
ReplyDeleteB&C in PA
June and Park have been amazing. They are very patient with us because of all the questions we ask about the country and the culture. Yes they sure are fun, we are constantly laughing together.
DeleteKevin and Ruth had been searched about Korean cultures already so we learned from them a lot. haha.
DeleteAnd we can be your guides when you visit here, Connie, Barry! :-)
June you are so funny! You still know way more than us and you speak Korean, we can't! ;-)
DeleteYou would have fun with Connie and Barry, they are a wonderful couple.
Great experience! Love this kind of exposure to local culture. Its interesting to see the clothing in the traditional wedding has not changed much to today.
ReplyDeleteWe still really want to go to the Hahoe Folk Village, apparently it is so much better than this one. We will try hard to visit it near the end of our visit in Korea.
DeleteYes, the clothing doesn't seem to have changed a lot at least for the mothers of the bride and groom. The ceremony was definitely very different, although Brady and Jiwon didn't have a traditional wedding so it is a little hard to compare.
Hello Esther.
DeleteThank you again for inviting me to Brady and Jiwon's wedding. It was so beautiful! Hope we can have a chance to meet before you leave.
Looks like great weather is on your side! The food looks delicious! I hope Ruth gets some recipes she might like to try on us! :)
ReplyDeleteThe weather has been perfect, we really couldn't ask for it to be any better.
DeleteI have a simple recipe book that was sent to us in Saskatchewan for Korean cooking but I didn't bring it. I will keep my eyes open for it here and if we meet up in Mexico, I will try out a recipe or two for you and Juan.
We enjoy visiting open air museums like the one you went to. The shows and re-enactments are always fun, and they provide insight into the local culture ... especially the culture of yesteryear.
ReplyDeleteWe enjoy some of these open air museums, especially when you know that they are really good ones. At this particular folk village the shows were very good except for the one which was a fusion one called B-Boy Dance which was anything but traditional. This one we actually walked away on because it was loud rap kind of music with a break dancing exhibit. We couldn't quite understand what it had to do with a traditional folk museum.
DeleteGreat photos and great times! Keep the blog coming!
ReplyDeleteThank you Nan! We really are enjoying ourselves and all these new experiences.
DeleteI saw this post after today's! You guys are just the greatest for experiencing as much as possible of the culture, food and activities everywhere you go. Keep the news and pix coming - we all love them!
ReplyDeleteThank you Mary-Pat! We are trying to fit in as much as we can because who knows if we will ever make it back here and we just don't want to waste a minute. We already know that four weeks isn't going to be enough time to do all the things that we want to do and see.
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