NAMSAN PARK (Part II, N Seoul Tower)

bus to N Seoul Tower

     From the Namsangol Hanok Village, we walked straight to the main road and took an eye catching bus to Seoul Tower. We opt to take the bus and walk to the tower instead of  the cable car. A lot of Asian and European tourists indulging in their cup of coffee boarded the bus with us.

Not more than fifteen minutes and were almost at the tower. A short hike should take you there.  Good, comfortable shoes is a plus in this steep, tiring trek to the top and stopping for a shot is a good excuse to catch your breath. Like the previous year, I was desperately gasping for air when we got to the tower.  We went there a little late on purpose to see the tower's colorful lights since I didn't get to see it like that, the first time I was there.

     First thing we had to do was grab some food! So we went into the very packed cafe and tried to get us a table while my husband was ordering food. I was lucky to get a table with a good view of the wall with the Love Tiles. These tiles are sold at the souvenir shop adjacent to the cafe. Couples buy these, write their messages and stick them to the wall. Some even put picture stickers on them. While waiting, the grizzly bear mascot passed by and mingled with the crowd for a while.

the grizzly bear mascot and the
love tile wall

                                               

the love tile wall up close

     After several minutes, our food arrived. My husband ordered

our dinner

some spicy franks, fries and cappuccino. My coffee addiction is now rubbing off on him. He paid around 30,000 KRW for these, if I remember it right. Forgive me for the blurry image as a result of some arguments about the camera. And I lost the energy to take another shot out of extreme starvation.

     We headed to the view deck after dinner to take a look at the

city lights and the famous padlocked fence. Couples who visit write their names on locks and put them on the fence to signify that their love is locked forever. But now they put a lot of items with it from key chains to cellphone covers to plastic mugs.
     

     Another attraction on the deck is this cutesy bench which draws lovers together and a huge metal heart which also has a lot of locks inside. People put a lot of effort just to have these locks on the deck, huh?

     We agreed not to go to the tower's observation deck since we've both been there before on different occasions. But if you wish to  experience a very futuristic elevator ride and get a view of Seoul 1,574 feet about the ground, all you have to do is pay 9,000 KRW for the entrance

     After more photos around, we stopped a few minutes to get a glimpse of the city. Then we headed back to Chungmuro Station, via the Namsan tour bus we took earlier from the Hanok Village to the tower, for another long journey back to Pyeongtaek.

a view of Seoul on a winter night

waiting for our train at Chungmuro Station

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How to get there:

Chungmuro Station (Line 3 or 4) exit 2 or 4, take bus #02 or #05

Itaewon Station (Line 6) exit 2, take bus #03

Admission Rates:

Adults- 9,000 KRW     

Youths and Seniors- 7,000 KRW    

Children- 5,000 KRW

Children under 3 years- Free

NAMSAN PARK (Part I, Namsangol Hanok Village)

         Last stop for the weekend (February 10, 2013), Namsan Park.

     Unconsciously getting through the wrong exit in Chungmuro Station instead of exit 3 which is right in front of the village made us go through unfamiliar, steep alleys. I could hardly catch my breath and keep up with my husband's pace. I was already getting a hunch that it's going to be a bad day for us until we got lost again uphill looking for the Seoul Tower and the Korean Folk Village. It's not all bad that we got lost. We realized we went up the opposite side of the mountain as we saw the Namsan Tower and not the familiar Hotels I saw a year ago.We stumbled upon some places in the mountain that we both haven't seen before. There's this neat looking house which seems like a restaurant, or atleast what my husband thinks it is. There's this shrine which has a sign that reads Waryongmyo. After a lot of searching and long trek, we found the Namsangol Hanok Village.

Seoul Tower on the Background

neat!

Waryongmyo 

     We went in through the rear gate since we got lost and saw the Seoul Millenium Time Capsule. We learned that it will be opened on November 29, 2394, Seoul's 1000th anniversary as the capital of South Korea. 600 items which represents Seoul and the lives of

An old pavilion

the citizens were buried when they celebrated Seoul's 600-year anniversary. We passed by a serene stream and some ponds which are somewhat relaxing after that long, exhausting walk. We saw the an old pavilion where their ancestors used to enjoy the scenery, write poetry and paint, but we sort of missed the Namsangol Traditional Garden since it's winter. The native plants and flowers that I've been wanting to photograph were all covered with hay to protect them from the very cold season. Then, finally we saw the Namsangol Hanok Village.

     A line of tok (traditional Korean rice cake) vendors welcomed

us and and old well. My husband bought me some tok for snacks and we took a picture at the well. The toks are made of glutinous rice and flavoring and bean paste or peanut paste for filling. Some are ok but there are some flavors I can't recognize.

Facts about Namsan:

     Namsan (남산- south mountain) used to be the southern border of Hanyang (present day Seoul) back in 1394 (Joseon Dynasty period), thus its name. At the northern foot of the mountain is the Hanok Village. There were valleys and pavilions in the area during the Joseon Dynasty making it a good place to visit during summer. At present, five Hanok houses were moved at the Namsangol Hanok Village to give the new generation a glimpse into the lives of their Korean ancestors.

Five Traditional Houses:
Carpenter Yi Seungeop's House

     Originally located at 36-2 Samgak-dong, Jung-gu, Seoul, was a big mansion composed of eight buildings. But now, only the inner quarters (anchae), outer quarters (sarangchae) and the middle gate remain.

Gim Chunyeong's House

     Owijang Gim Chunyeong lived here during the late Joseon period. This was continuously occupied by his family until his grandson, Gim Hongi who was the last resident of the house. Originally situated at 125-1 Samcheong-dong, Jongno-gu, Seoul, this was built in the 1890's.

Min Family's House

     What we see here at present is only a part of the house owned my Min Yeonghwi which used to have several buildings.The anchae was moved to the Hanok Village in 1998 and the sarangchae and byeoldangchae were rebuilt. This house was originally at 30-1 Gwanhun-dong, Jongno-gu, Seoul.

Yun Taek Yong's Jaesil

     Presumed to have been built by Haepung Buwongun Yun Taekyeong, emperor Sunjong's father in law when Empress Junjeong became the Crown Princess in 1906. This house's original location was in 224 Jegi-dong, Dongdaemun-gu and was also moved at the Namsangol Hanok Village in 1998.

Yun Family's House

     The original house was at 47-133 Ogin-dong and belonged to Yun Deokyeong, Empress Sunjeonghyo's uncle. It was too old and fragile to be transferred to Namsagol Village, thus a replica was built. The decorative pillars of the anchae indicates that only the upper class can afford this kind of house.

     I often see pictures of these houses from outside which made me very curious about their interior. The details of the furnitures amazed us. And it's quite impressive that they were able to preserve them. We saw colorful fabrics made into beddings, cushions and traditional clothes.

     Outside were kimchi jars and some traditional kitchen utensils. A big, Y-shaped wood caught my attention. It looked like a huge slingshot. We learned that it's something used to pound rice by stepping on one end on a rhythm.

           

     If you wish to have some souvenirs, there's a shop just outside the houses near the well which sells Korean fans made of paper, key chains, cards and other cute replicas of traditional items.

     On our way out, we found some life-size pictures of Hanbok (traditional Korean clothing) for the visitors' photo-op. As expected, we took advantage of the opportunity. And we found the supposed to be entrance of the village.

              

                 Village Map

Village Gate

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How to get there:

Chungmuro Station (Line 3), exit 3 or 4

Admission rates:

free

Operating Hours:

April to October      - 9am to 9pm

November to March- 9am to 8pm

     *closed every Tuesday