A few weeks ago we went to check out The Hwaseong Fortress in Suwon. It is about a 45 minute drive from where we live and we brought Pip along for the hike! The interesting thing about this Fortress is that it contains a city on the inside, instead of protecting the land like I have seen with many other ancient landmarks. Korea sure knows how to utilize their space.
The Hwaseong Fortress was built in the late 18th century by King Jeongjo of the Joseon Dynasty to honour and house 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 having failed to obey his command to commit suicide. (wikipedia)
And now for the photos:
We had to take our shoes off through parts of the Fortress that they are trying to preserve:
A peephole to Korea! This is looking at the city surrounding the Fortress:
Zak and Pip getting snowed on!
I don't know how many stairs we climbed this day, but it was definitely a lot to reach the top!
We all three got to ring the bell at the same time, you ring it three times, once for your parent's health, once for your family's good fortune, and once for yourself. It was pretty loud and Pip did not enjoy it as much as we did!
And finally King Jeongjo:
And something else interesting we saw as we were passing through the inner city was a car being steam washed! It gets so cold here that you don't get your car washed with water, but with steam instead.
Thanks for reading xxx
