My Korean Adventure #4, Walk-abouts.

Monday:
My husband had to work, so I toured Suwon on my own.   A lot of the signs are in English which helped, some.   I was told if I took a business card for the hotel all I needed to do was hail a cab and show him the card.  The driver would know what to do.  With that in mind, I packed my backpack with water, my camera, a general map, and a vague idea of where I wanted to go.  My son told me I should go towards the Suwon train station and I wanted to go see the Olympic park.  It was a beautiful sunny day.  Off I went into the wild blue yonder.   I took photos with my phone to give me some idea of where I was.

McDonalds delivery mopeds

Suwon Stn, a destination for today

I had lots of time.  My curiosity took me in circles.  Whenever I saw something interesting down a street, I turned.  Eventually I would see a sign pointing me back in the direction I was supposed to go and I would follow it for a while.   I realized I had left my battery to my camera in the hotel so this day's pictures were all taken from my phone.  Oh well, it worked well enough.  I did find the Suwan station and Olympic park (which was 3 blocks from the hotel).   The cab ride home was a lifesaver.  No clue how to get back.

Park with an amphitheater

Pedestrian overpass with elevator.

From the top of the overpass.

Olympic park.

Monday night we had dinner at a nice restaurant, Japanese style.   I wore a dress.  Good thing I brought a sweater.  The food was very different, but this being an adventure, I tried it all.  Not too bad.

Dinner

Tuesday:

Feeling pretty good after a successful first day, I decided to go to Hwaseong Fortress.  The map provided by the hotel indicated that it was only about a twenty minute walk.  Turn right out the door, two blocks, make a left,  half a mile and there it is.   Well, the map was missing about a dozen or so streets.  Still, undaunted and not in a hurry I zigged, zagged, explored, and eventually found it.  Not at all what I expected, yet had a great time and met an older gentleman who spoke very good English. 

First building of the fortress.  The road goes around it, both sides.

Market place at the entrance to the fortress.

A woman selling her crops on the street.

Down the alleyway.

Looking across the street to the main entrance.

Me, almost to the top of the fortress.

This 'thing' is people powered.  They are sitting on bikes.

One of the buildings.  Very intricate woodwork.

Golden statue up the hill.  I hiked above and beyond.

The back wall.  Apartments right across the street.

I remembered my battery this trip and took about 200 pictures.  What struck me most was the juxtaposition of old and new, like the picture above.  The building in the background was someone's house.  The wall, that of the fortress.  The gentleman I met told me the Japanese burned down the original fortress and this is a replica, only about 200 years old.  It must have been field trip day because children were everywhere  

Catching dragon flies.

Children on a field trip.

Human sculpture.

My trolley companions.

This is at the very top, back of the wall.  You can see for miles.

Yes, after this long day I took a cab back to the hotel.  Had a great time wandering around, watching people, trying to talk to the children, but most of all, enjoying God's creations.

Loved the details.