Korea - Visit to the ancient fortress

Our last day stay in Suwon city before heading to the next destination and going to Seoul.

Yeonmudae centre in front of the archery field

One of recognised UNESCO World Cultural Heritage is in Korea on this site. Hwaseong Fortress. Constructed during Joseon dynasty in 1794 (King Jeongjo, the 22nd king) and in 1796 King Jeongjo moved the tomb of his father, Crown Prince Jangheon from Mt Baebong in Yangju to Mt Hwa in Suwon (now it is called Hwaseong city). Nicknamed the flower of castles because of its fortress structure and towers surrounding the city. Now it is a historical city that is surrounded by towers and tall wall.

Archery practice field

In the fortress, you can practise your archery in Yeonmudae, ride its train (they called in trolley, maybe because of its size) from Yeonmudae and striking the Bell of Filial Piety in Nam-chang dong for well wishes. They also have cultural performances but it only held on weekends. This fortress is also frequently chosen for filming of traditional costume dramas.


Dongbukgongsimdon (North Eastern Towerwatch)

View from the top of Dongbukgongsimdon. Left is Yeonmudae Information Centre and right is Dongjangdae Military Command Post which is the main post where orders were issued and training centre of the soldiers.

Hubby and myself walked from Dongjangdae (military command post) to Dongbuk Gongsimdon (North eastern watchtower). After a walk in the watch tower and took few snaps on the top of the tower, we heading back to the Yeonmudae Information Centre which is in front of Dongjangdae to take our train ride surrounding the Hwaseong Fortress. 1500won for adult and 700won for children. We took about 20 minutes ride in the train, site seeing the important towers and entrances of the fortress.
The trolley


Imagine under a temperature of nearly 0 degree Celsius, riding in a train with a moderate speed, we nearly freeze to death. After the train ride, we have to take a path down the hill to the bus station where our bus waiting for us. The train stopped at the information centre next to a tall King Jeongjo’s Bronze Statue. This statue is overlooking the city, it feels like the king is towering and proctecting the city.

That walking path already take us about 15 minutes duration. My tour in Korea was nothing, but dressed and undressed my winter clothing in bus, walking in my thick winter clothing in cold weather and feel the strong cold wind on my face. Nevertheless I enjoyed the experience. Once a while I have the tendency to touch my nose and ears to make sure they are still attached! Lol!

The map of fortress. We did not tour the whole fortress otherwise may take us many hours to finish the whole fortress.