Sunday, May 10, 2009

071125 - Namsangol Hanok Village

Hanok means Korean traditional house. This village has managed to restore few traditional Korean houses from the past of common citizen to kings during Joseon Dynasty. The admission fee is free.

When I entered the front gate, I saw a calming pond on my left and next to it is a building and stage where performances are held.


Coincidently I saw a booth giving out free beer to quench my thirst in this cool weather. I just can’t resist and feeling guilty for not taking it, haha.


In one of the traditional houses, you can have traditional tea and refreshments for visitors. It was full house and I could not have the opportunity, too bad.

Then I walked along a path leading to the Millennium Time Capsule in remembrance of Seoul’s 600 Year Anniversary. Buried in 1994, it is anticipated to open four hundred years later. I calculated 600 plus 400 equal 1000, yes its one millennium.


View of Millennium Time Capsule from the top

A traditional hut

The roof of the traditional house, it interesting to find this area standing between the tall buildings in the background

Traditional house belong to various social ranks of the society


During the winter, the bedroom floor will be warmed by the burning wood under the floor.

The kitchen for one of the houses and do watch out your toes from the fire!

One of the many living halls

Porcelain pots for preserving Kimchi.

In the old days, kimchi was placed in pots and dug into the ground to keep it “refrigerated”. The pots were then protected by a small hut like this one.

A newly wed bedroom

An ancestral shrine, where you place tablets and hold memorial services, I guess it will look something similar in Jongmyo Royal Shrine.

I guess this should be the king study room

Before leaving the Namsangol Hanok Village, I went to the beer booth again to get another dose. Haha, I love Seoul!!!

I decided to take a 15 minutes walk to Myeongdong, to prevent the expansion of my beer belly.