The wife and I did a little hiking around Namhansan-seong Fortress (see also here) in Seongnam on Sunday. The weather was great, so I managed to get some photographs that didn’t entirely suck.
Funny quote: As the wife and I are walking along the wall, my wife (who, as most people who read this blog know, is Mongolian) comments that the walls weren’t all that impressive (this was by the East Gate, where there isn’t a whole lot to see). So I say, “Perhaps, but there’re still more impressive than anything your people built.” So the wife says:
“My people didn’t build walls. We made other people build walls.”
I thought this was cute, considering the sign and all.
5 Comments
Great Photos. Love your wife’s response. heh.
I remember Chief Wiggles talking about the soldiers that came from Mongolia. Every high level mucky muck wanted them as their body guards. They had a reputation of precision, dedication and ruthlessness.
And not exactly too efficient were these walls either. Of course, when it came to sailing and swimming, they were as adept as the 통조림 기병마사, aka “tin-can horsemen” the Mongolians met on the western side of their Empire.
“I thought this was cute, considering the sign and all.”
What does the sign say (we don’t all read korean here)?
“Beware of Dog”
Great photos, and Solonga’s reply was… to be respected
What i find really interesting about the Namhan-sanseong is that within its extensive walls are NINE Buddhist temples (five now functioning, four are only ruins) — these were monk’s drafted as army soldiers to defend the nation, following the good performance of warrior-monks in the Imjin Invasion — one temple as administrative headquarters, and then one temple each for the monks of each of the Eight Provinces (Pal-do). This arrangement seems to be unique in all of Korea…
When I lived in Songpa-gu, a day hike around Namhansan-song was a favorite weekend activity. An easy hike up, nice views, especially after a cleansing rain, and a plate of delicious spicy chicken stew waiting at the foot of the mountain.
A Chinese friend, not surprisingly, yawned at the sight of a fortress wall hardly bigger than a nobleman’s fence. Korea was my first overseas destination, so I gaped in wonder at every traditional Korean structure. If I had been to China or Japan first, I might not have been so impressed. I simply appreciated Korea for what it is, rather than comparing it to its neighbors.