Hwaseong Fortress

A few weeks ago on my trip to Jeolla Nam Do, I met a lady who lives in Suwon. It was big joke on the trip because her name is also Cheryl M and she is also Canadian so I kept referring to her as the other Cheryl M. Anyway, Suwon is a city just south of Seoul and she told me about these fortress walls that surround it. Since I love fortress walls I decided that I must check it out. When I looked it up in my trusty Lonely Planet book I discovered that not only did it look beautiful but it was in fact a Unesco World Heritage Site. I decided that I must pay it a visit. I called up my friend CJ, and sure enough she was game for the adventure.

We caught a train to Suwon and 1 1/2 hours later we were there. We knew we had to go to a place called Paldalmun which was the south gate into the fortress, with steps leading up to the walls, but we weren't exactly sure how to get there. We headed for the tourist info booth where we met a very kind man who spoke no english. Somehow we managed to explain what we wanted and he gave a small slip of paper with the bus number that we needed to take. We were off - but where to catch the bus. Outside the train station was a row of taxi's but no buses to be seen. I did however see a man in a straw hat, with a map and I assumed that he was going to the same destination - so we followed him. Sure enough he led us right to our bus. We were a little concerned that we wouldn't know where to get off the bus but it turns out you couldn't miss it as there was a giant stone gateway in the middle of the road. Also the straw hat man got off here so we knew we were in the right place.
Hwaseong fortress was built in the late 1700's by King Jeongjo to house the remains of his late father, Prince Sado. Prince Sado was locked by his father inside a rice chest where he died. It was punishment for disobeying his command to commit suicide. Parents were so unreasonable back then. High above the fortress are the walls that total a distance of 6km around the perimeter.

At Paldamun we climbed the very steep stairs up to the walls where we began our journey under black skies and the threat of rain. Despite the grey skies the weather was very hot and humid and within no time we were exhausted but determined to walk the entire length. Off in the distance we could see a fairly large mountain with a pagoda at the top and we knew at some point we would have to climb it. We journeyed on toward the mountain ever fearful of the sky that was getting darker and darker.

The wall itself was very beautiful and well maintained. Every so often there would be look out stops with pagodas and cannons all strategically placed for the soldiers to keep watch for the enemy, the Japanese. Given the height of the wall we had excellent views over the city. After about an hour of walking we noticed the sky getting even darker and we started to feel a few drops. At this point there were some stairs taking you off the wall and I noticed some shops selling umbrellas. Since I wasn't smart enough to bring mine I thought I had better go and buy one. We still had at least an hour of walking. I bought a lovely pink umbrella and we climbed back up the stairs and continued our walk. Sure enough, simply because I bought an umbrella, the skies cleared and the rain stopped. We continued on with that mountain looming in front of us.

We had been walking for almost 2 hours when suddenly we were there. At the mountain. There were stairs straight up to the top and it seemed like an endless climb. To make it more difficult the stairs were cut from stone on the side of the hill so they weren't exactly even or evenly spaced. Somehow we made it to the top, did our Rocky dance to the amusement of others there, and looked out over the city. Down below was the fortress and we knew we had reached the end.

We walked a little further where we found the stairs down and signs to the entrance into the fortress. Outside the fortress there were crowds of people and some sort of festival going on. We got there in time to see this crazy man doing tricks on the tightrope. We watched for a little while and then decided that we were too tired and hungry to stay any longer. We made our way back to the road where we caught the bus back to the train station and the train home to Daejeon. Soemhow we managed to right bus to the train station as this time we were without the services of straw hat man.It was a fun day and definitly worth the time and effort.

Since I have complained about them a few times I have included a picture of a squat toilet. This way those of you who have never seen one will now know what I am talking about when I complain. I have actually gotten used to them and they are not so bad.