Tapgol Park and the March 1st Movement

Tapgol Park ('Pagoda Park') is located in the center of Seoul very near Insa-dong, a community and shopping district known for its traditional works and for tourists.

Tapgol Park contains stone relics unearthed during Seoul's modern construction.  No one is certain where all of the relics came from, but a few are famous and well known.

This monument was erected in 1467 or 1471 depending on what source you use to commemorate the construction of Wongaksa temple in 1465.  The temple was built in this area.  The turtle is carved from granite, and the tablet is carved from marble, rarely used in Korea at this time.  There are inscriptions on the front and back of the tablet discussing the Buddhist incarnations that led the king at the time to have Wongaksa built.  This monument is about 4 1/2 feet wide and 16 feet tall.

This marble and granite pagoda was also built for Wongaksa in 1465.  It is 12m in height (about 36 feet).  Because of the glass and a barrier around the case, I could not photograph the intricate detail of the this piece.  It is amazing.  There are 10 levels, several of which depict the life and works of Buddha.  His likeness is carved in detail and three dimensions on several of the small levels.  It is far more beautiful than my sorry photo.

Tapgol Park is also the site of the March 1st Movement of 1919, a student and activist uprising in Korea demanding independence for the country.  Japan 'colonized' Korea in 1910 and committed quite a few atrocities which the Koreans feel they still have not admitted to or apologized for.  This is one of the leaders of that movement, who helped write and read their Korean Declaration of Independence.  After the gathering, its leaders notified the police of their treason and were arrested.  What followed was a large uprising that the police were unable to quell.  The military was called in, and protesters were killed.  This lasted for many years, with a few leaders lucky enough to escape to China and continue their quest for Korean autonomy.  Korea was one country at this time, not divided like it is now.

There were several of these bronze bas-relief statues commemorating the March 1st Movement, aka Samil Movement.  'Sam' is the pronunciation for the number 3 and 'il' (more like 'eel' for those of us from the southern United States) is the pronunciation for the number 1, so literally 3-1.  The fellows holding the weapons are Japanese military.

 The signs around these monuments were not in English (there often are English, Chinese and Japanese translations on the Korean historical markers), so I am not sure, but I think this one depicts the one female leader of the March 1 Movement, 'Maria' Kim, with one of the many male leaders.  Ms. Kim was arrested, imprisoned, tortured, and, as a result from the wounds of her torture, died in 1944, only one year before her country would see a chance for autonomy.

This monument shows the students overpowering the police.  Many of the early independence meetings were held in an American Presbyterian church still standing near the park.  Some church members definitely assisted in the beginnings of the Samil Movement but not so much in the actual fighting.  I have not heard of any American church members arrested, etc.

As I have said in earlier blogs, if you want to know more, check out Wikipedia.  From what I have read, Japan maintained their control until World War II, when the Korean people were told they would have independence 'eventually'.  And then the Korean War happened, how I will leave for someone who is actually a historian, and here we are today.  I will say that all of the Korean people I have asked want reunification for the peninsula, but all also believe a major war is the only way that could happen, and no one wants that.

Boryeong Mud Festival, May 2014

Boryeong Mud Festival!

Early in our stay in South Korea, Bill and I were told of the 'Mud Festival', a must-see attraction for all!  Boryeong is on the west coast, so the body of water is the Western Sea if you are Korean and the Yellow Sea if you are Chinese.  (If you are Japanese, the body of water that lies between your country and Korea is the Sea of Japan.  If you are Korean, this same body of water is known as the Eastern Sea.)  Our local USO tour group, Koridoor, offered several trips to the Mud Festival so we signed up.

As has always been the case, we were the most elder folks of our tour group.  There actually was one other couple nearly our ages; Bill works with him, and they were in Savannah at one point in his career.  When we got to the Mud Festival, we realized it was definitely a younger crowd's attraction.

Inside the fence were the mud rides.  Seriously.  Outside the fence were mud stations.  Seriously.  There were fonts full of this silky mud that people painted onto themselves.  Seriously.

Bill wasn't into painting himself all that much, so he had some slung onto him.  He was really fine with it, although he looks a bit unhappy here.  

I decided mud would make a fine suncreen since I had forgotten to bring any.  The day was overcast, but we all know sun burns happen even on cloudy days.  I covered myself fairly liberally, even more so than shown here.

We briefly walked inside the fenced area where the mud rides were, but the lines were so long and the 'rides' looked less than safe for two overweight middle aged folks, so we chose to watch.  There were mud slides, mud races, mud fights, warm mud baths.  The mud at Boryeong is said to have medicinal properties, and there are several cosmetic lines that use the mud in cleansers and masks. There were several products sold in stands around the area and along the beach.

A large ship is in the channel here in the Western/Yellow Sea.  There were also some rocky areas along the beach, but sand made up the majority of it.

The sand here is darker and more coarse than the sand on Tybee, HHI or Jekyll.  The water is much cooler, too!

There were quite a few people and are many hotels on the beach.  It is a popular festival for tourists and Koreans alike, and a popular vacation area for the Korean people.

We decided to cruise the beach area, so we started walking.

We saw hotels.

We saw a Korean folk music band.

They had a good sound and were very thrilled to have us watching and clapping along.

After several minutes of play, they encouraged tourists to try out the instruments.  Several westerners put on the drums and took the gongs and did their best.  It was fun to watch!

On a street a little more inland, there was a band of Andes Mountain Indians (that is what their sign said) who were dressed elaborately and played traditional instruments.  Their songs were not traditional always, because Bill and I both noticed a Simon and Garfunkel tune in their repertoire!

While we listened to Andean Mountain music (or not!), I had a milk ice with red beans.  Don't knock it until you try it.  These things are delicious, and although they are likely far from low calorie, they can't be as fattening as ice cream.  Please don't rain on my parade here.

I also found the colored mud face painting booth.  I wanted a bit more elaborate mask, but it was busy, so this is what I got.  I like the blue best.

Every hour or so, the huge stage that was set up on the beach would come to life.  The MC spoke English and Korean.  Above is a female dance group, looking rather sharp in their hip hop outfits, but I am afraid their dance moves would have been considered amateurish by western standards.  A few of the girls obviously did not wish to be there.  Just trust me on that one.

The highlight of this show for us was the limbo contest.  The MC asked for folks to come up, men on one side and women on the other.  Each person was allowed to introduce themselves and tell where they were from.  There were as many Koreans as there were other nationalities, from American to Australian to British.  The fellow on the right of the limbo pole covered in mud is American but his Korean was flawless.  I was impressed and jealous of his command of the language.

This young woman won the contest.  She was very good, and I think she could have gone lower if she had had to.  She won several prizes, and the best fellow did as well.

There was also a DJ and loud, fast music, and then the water cannons started firing.  Nope, I am not into that, so I was out of there.  It was a fun day, but Bill and I agreed the Mud Festival is a young person's event, and we likely will not attend in 2015, but we were glad we were able to experience it.

Gyeryongsan National Park

On Father's Day, our local USO tour group went hiking at Gyeryongsan National Park, a mountainous park just northeast of us.  Prior to purchasing tickets, I asked David, the young man who works at the tour desk inside the USO, if he thought us old folks would have any problems on this hike.  David knows us pretty well at this point; I like their tours, and we kind of stand out:  we are often the most elderly participants on these adventures!  David's recommendation was to stop at the last temple because the final kilometer to the summit (2500 feet) was straight up.  Thank you, David, for the warning!!

 Here is Bill with backpack and hat and ready to trek (Korean borrowed word for hike) the mountain.

All of the national parks we have visited have cities or small towns/communities just outside their entrances.  Some areas have a commodity they are famous for--the ginger grown there or honey made there.  This community did not seem to specialize in any one thing, but some of the restaurants were beautiful.

Here is our group, ready to rock and roll.  I am in the center, wearing a hat.  Bill is in the back somewhere, hiding.








This is Vincent, our tour guide.  Korean men often wear capri length trekking pants.  Sometimes I will see men in town wearing these, too, and it always makes me take a second look.  Of all the different things I have seen in Korea, men in capris make me look twice.  I am not sure what that says about me.

The entrance into the park was so flat and deceptive of what was to come.  The beauty was consistent throughout our trip.

A Korean group was coming out of the park as we were going in.  We were there about 10 am, and the hike to the summit takes about 2 hours at a steady pace, so these folks got started early.  For most Koreans, 10 am is early, unless you are a farmer.

I just loved the railing on this bridge.  All of the parks we have seen thus far in South Korea have Buddhist temples, giving me the impression that parks are as much a worship area as they are a 'communing with nature' area.  The railings make the Buddhist-feel stronger.

This is the first temple, Gapsa.  There are a total of 4 temples in the 29 square mile park.  We saw 3.  The park is also known for endangered animals that live there.

It may be difficult to see, but center left of this photo is a Buddhist monk in traditional garb.  He is wearing a straw hat and there is a fellow just in front of him, making him look very large when in fact he is not.

 Inside one of the sanctuaries at Gapsa.  There were hundreds of little gold colored Buddhas all over the walls.

The inner courtyard at Gapsa.  It was a large temple.  Some sanctuaries are posted 'no photos', and I try not to take pictures while people are kneeling inside.  We may enter the temples, shoeless of course, and I have done that, but again, not if people are worshiping.

Small Buddhas on the outer wall of Gapsa where people place stones and ask for guidance in life.

It doesn't look that steep, does it?  Yeah, hike it when you are 50 plus, then let me know how steep it felt.

Some areas were packed dirt, most were rocky, and then there was this bridge of sorts, square rock pilings to walk over a creek.  Pretty cool.

Temple #2 has a name, but I am not sure what it is.  This temple had Buddha paintings adorning the walls.

Prayer requests hang from the ceiling.

On the floor to the left is a bag of rice...

and here are bananas and soju (rice liquor, like Golden Grain; you could run a vehicle on this stuff)  left as offerings.  The monks will take the food items and use in the monastery except for the soju unless there is a ceremony where alcohol is used.  Some sects of Buddhism do allow the monks to drink alcohol, but I do not know if any of the Korean sects do.

You know I was birdwatching at this point.  We got behind our group at the very beginning because I had zero intentions of keeping up with those folks.  Bill usually passed me when I stopped, then I would catch up.

Sometimes he would sit with me, and he helped me find a blue and white flycatcher I kept hearing at the creek.  It was right in front of us, very beautiful.

I also sighted a Varied Tit (like a chickadee back home but has a rufous body and buff on head/neck), Eurasian Nuthatch (like our red-breasted), and a Yellow Throated Bunting (I don't have a comparison for this one).  The park is known for having Ruddy Kingfishers during the spring and summer, but those birds are rare sightings these days.

Taking a break from trekking and birding.  Although the temperatures at the foot of the mountain were hot, the tree cover and elevation made it feel much less here.

OUR summit.  This is the last temple on this trail.  Bill had lunch at the base of the temple grounds while I walked up some more to explore.

It is just pretty and peaceful.  I saw the Yellow Throated Bunting here.

I kept walking up...

This is the highest sanctuary.  People were kneeling inside, so I did not take interior pictures.  











This is the view from my personal summit where the highest sanctuary building was located.  There was a small dirt trail going behind the sanctuary where a few people where going up more.  I was not so inclined, ha, ha.

On the main temple grounds, the sanctuary's theme was painted Buddhas.  Under the eaves where different Buddhas painted doing vairous tasks...

and inside were hundreds of miniature painted Buddhas.  I was told some were wooden and some were like paper mache. 

For those of us with bad knees, coming down a mountain can be as grueling as going up, but we made it.  I noticed at the bottom of the trail was this cistern.  The water comes from the turtle's mouth, and there are blue ladles to use for drinking.  I assume this is for the monks and not tourists.

 I could visit this park every day.  It was just that lovely.  And we ate some delicious squid pancakes after our trek!  Yum!  Not like breakfast pancakes, y'all, like savory pancakes with green onions and all the great side dishes with vegies and tofu.  Bill tried mahkuhlee (I am sure I am not Romanizing the word correctly), a carbonated rice wine.  I had tried it previously.  It really is pretty good, but is definitely for sipping.  I think it was a fabulous Father's Day although William may have a different opinion.  It certainly was one to never be forgotten!