Suwon Fortress

A couple of weeks ago, we had a random day off for Memorial day. It was a Thursday... and what on earth would I use a random Thursday off besides for sleeping? Well, instead of resting, Nyeasha, Melissa, and I went to Suwon to explore the Hwaseong Fortress. The Hwaseong Fortress is a wall that surrounds the center of city of Suwon, which is the provincial capital of Gyeonggi-do. This fortress was built from 1794 to 1796 by King Jeongjo of the Joseon Dynasty to house and honor the remains of his father Prince Sado, who had been murdered by being locked alive inside a rice chest by his own father King Yeongjo after failing to obey the command to commit suicide. Disturbing. We walked around forever and were tired and sweated the whole time, but it was such a fantastic day. Here is a little of what we did...

 

Long distance shot of the fortress in front of us.

Massive bell behind us.

 

Enormous Buddha statue.

Side shot.

DRINKING MOUNTAIN WATER OUT OF A DRAGONS MOUTH! Every fiber within me was refreshed.

 

Suwon.



Massive city!

Top of the fortress.

Me being a tourist...

At the top of the fortress, this little tunnel led out to this beautiful forest...

Forrest of enchantment, we could have sat here alllllll day....



Side of the wall...

 

Love this picture :)

 

 

Pimp my ride Korea... the Dragon Tram!

This tram saved us hours of walking! We were happy.

While waiting to do archery, we walked across the street and to watch this awesome fighting show! There was taekwondo, sword fighting, horse riding, etc.



I LOVE HORSES. LET ME JOIN YOU.

 

Time for archery. Nyeasha being boss.



Melissa showing her skills.

Pretending like I know what I'm doing.

Just call me Legolas.

 

Panorama of fighting performance, archery field, and wall.

Walking the wall.



Being Korean and using an umbrella on a sunny day!

River running through the city.



Flowers make any place magical!

Suwon market!




Walking through the streets and being waved at by Korean men.

They opened a new food mart in Suwon Station and we grabbed Japanese for dinner. From the back to front, we had takoyaki (octopus balls), okonomiyaki (Japanese pizza/pancakes, also those are fish flakes on top), and yakisoba (Japanese "chow mien"). It was DELICIOUS!



Cute cupcakes from another part of the food mart!

I loved this day and everything we did! It makes me so happy remembering how great it was :)