화성 (Brilliant Fortress)

(Weeping Cherry Tree - Janganmun 'north gate')

This past week we were fortunate enough to experience what the Koreans call a sandwich day, or a day off in the middle of the week. So, wanting to take full advantage of our holiday, few and far between as they are, we rounded up a group of friends and we all headed down to the brilliant Hwaseong fortress in Suwon, a city 48 km south of Seoul.

(Cross-bow Tower - Rachel, Bridgette, Alison, Jeff, Nate, Jess, and Alicia)

('Romantic' Korean poses under the cherry trees - Alicia, Jess, Bridgette, Alison, Rachel and Vanessa)

Interesting Facts -

• Hwaseong was built from 1794 to 1796 by King Jeongjo, who is featured on the header of our blog.
• King Jeongjo constructed the fortress to honor and house the remains of his father, Prince Sado, who was forced to commit suicide by being shut in a rice chest by the previous King.
• The wall is 6 kilometers in length and four to six meters high.
• The wall took 700,000 man-hours to build.
• It cost the national treasury 870,000 nyang, the currency at the time, and 1,500 sacks of rice to pay the workers.
• King Jeongjo put so much time and effort into the construction of Hwaseong because it was his intent to make Suwon the capital city of Korea. This obviously failed.
  
• The fortress was designated by UNESCO as a World Heritage site in 1997.

(Only in Korea!!)

(Shhh... don't tell Jen!)

Please note that we do not always pose in such ridiculous manners. We are sporting these stances in the name of education. We are attempting to illustrate and help you to further understand the culture and society that we live within everyday. 'Innocent' and 'romantic' poses are a way of life in Korea. Image is everything over here. These poses say it all.

(They have such small doorways over here.)

(Changnyongmun 'east gate' - Rachel, Jess, Alison, Bridgette, Erik and Alicia)

To find out more check out wikipedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hwaseong_Fortress

Kimchi

As Spring has now arrived in Seoul it seems that everything is getting cleaned out, prepped up or cut off. Kimchi's mane is no exception. A few weeks ago, we took him to the vet to get his tri-annual haircut. When we dropped him off he looked like an old man. Well, actually he looked more like a professor. With his shaggy unkempt hair covering his dark little eyes and his beard so long it trapped almost anything that dared venture near, professor, as a few of our friends like to call him, was a very fitting name.

When we ventured down to the vets to pick Kimchi up, we were shocked to find that the groomer had changed our little professor into the adorable dog that we now call Jenny. Long flowing ears and a curly soft tail, all he needs to complete the look are two pink bows and a stuck up attitude.

Yet, no matter his 'do' we sure love him.

Namhan San-seong, South Han Mountain Fortress

The second most important holiday in Korea, Lunar New Year, was a great time for us to get together with old friends and new friends for a weekend retreat. A little break from our concrete jungle meant we all headed out of the city to Namhan San-seong or South Han Mountain Fortress.

This ancient fortress, which contains fortifications that date back to 672, was built on the western edge of Namhan mountain to protect Korean dynasties fromTang China.

Most of the structure that exists today was planned, beginning in 1624, when the Manchus were threatening Ming China. In 1636, the Manchus invaded and the king fled with his court and 13,800 soldiers to Namhan San-seong. Here they were well defended and the king enjoyed the protection of a bodyguard composed of 3000 fighting monks.

The Manchus were not able to take the fortress by storm, but after 45 days of siege the food supply inside ran out, and the king was forced to surrender, giving his sons as hostages and shifting allegiance from the Ming.

-Our Group-

**Check out Wikipedia @ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Namhansanseong**

Indonesian Finale

Here are just a few shots that we thought were worthy of the blog that somehow never made their way on. This will be the last of the pictures from Indonesia. As you can probably tell we highly enjoyed our time in Indonesia and we are counting down the months until we will be heading back!

- Ganung Abang, Bali, Indonesia-

-Sanur, Bali, Indonesia-

-Sanur, Bali, Indonesia-

-Ubud, Bali, Indonesia-

Lombok

-Bangsal, Lombok, Indonesia-

Lombok is a world onto it's own...

It is a world where horse carts greatly out number cars, women carry baskets full of food on their heads while holding a squirming child on either hip, the McDonald's does not get enough business to stay open and time virtually stands still.

-Along the road side, Lombok, Indonesia-

We often saw men and women carrying large loads of grass and greenery down the sides of the narrow roads. We were told that these bundles were for their livestock. Often they would have a load tied to each end of a pole which was carried over their shoulders while balancing yet another potato sack of greens on their head.

-Mataram, Lombok, Indonesia-

This shot was taken on one of the main streets in Mataram during the noon heat. We weren't sure what was more intense, the heat or the foreign smells. The aroma of stale sweat, warm manure, incense from offerings, side street vendors and rotting heaps of trash all mingling together was a little overwhelming to say the least.

In the end this experience brought a whole different meaning to the words, 'traffic jam'.

Diving and Snorkeling

-Sanur, Bali, Indonesia-

While on Bali and on the Gili Islands, we checked out the scuba diving and snorkeling scene. We'd heard that Indonesia had the most abundant waters in the world... While we were disappointed with Bali's dive sites, note the sign above as false advertising, we found an abundance of undisturbed marine life just off the northern tip of Gili Air, Han's Reef.

-Gili Meno-

-Sanur, Bali-

Han's Reef was the perfect place for Trev to try his hand at diving. While viewing and identifying hundreds of different kinds of fish and sea creatures, thanks to the help of the locals, we some how managed to avoid all viewings of the deadly sea snakes that are known to be a common sighting in this area of the world.

-Gili Meno-

-Gili Trawngan-

After our first day in the water, we were throughly disappointed that we didn't have the time to get our diving certification. But I think that the next time we have a vacation in hospitable waters, certification will be on the top of the 'To Do List'.

-Gili Air-

Gili Air - Island Life

-Sunrise Cottages: complete with day-bed, hammock, mosquito netting and a salt-water shower. Our home on the island. -

Gili Air, literally translated as Island of Water, is secluded and easy-going. It retains a rural charm, is filled with coconut groves, lined with white sand beaches and has dramatic views of both Lombok's Mount Rinjani and Bali's Mount Arung. Easily enough to stroll around the perimeter in an hour, we found Gili Air to be the one place we had been searching for in all our travels.

At Sunrise Cottages breakfast consisted of banana pancakes, fresh squeezed orange juice and a basket of island fruit.

A local girl in the middle of a sandball fight.... how can you tell there is a surfer influence on the island?

Walking on the beach just before sunset on the west side of the island.

I was wondering why this crab was sitting so still to have his picture taken... then I looked closer... he was dead!

The only road on Gili Air, this sandy path served well for the rare horse-cart and passerby on foot. Oh to have a world as locked in time as this place.

Strolling in the coconut groves you were always sure to find two things; Cows peacefully grazing, knowing that they are safe to live a long life, and free range chickens rummaging through the tall grass. If you were quiet enough and luck was on your side you might even catch a glimpse of a four foot Monitor Lizard. We were fortunate enough to see two in our time on the island! A relative of the Komodo Dragon, the Monitor Lizard is known to reach up to seven feet in length and are stronger than an alligator of equal size!! But don't worry, they are relatively harmless.

Leaving the island on a packed to the brim, rickety old boat. Thank goodness the water in the channel is calm in the early hours of the morning.

Looking west towards Bali's Mount Arung was always a great start to a laid-back evening of sipping iced cappuccinos under a beach hut and watching the moon glimmer on the open ocean.