Seeing Everything Under Miss Sun

Arriving 10 early before leaving for Russia, has given us time to see Seoul and some of South Korea. It's has been made easy by engaging a tour guide named Sun and her driver, Mr. Moon! The first tour was the historic sights of Seoul which included a visit to the magnificent Jogyesa Buddhist temple where we were in time to hear the resident Monk chant daily prayers. The temple dates back to 1300 and is unusual as they were normally built up in the mountains and it has been allowed to remain in what is now the heart of the city.

A stop at the National Folklore Museum gave us an overview of the country's development under the various dynasties and some understanding of the culture. It was fascinating to see the similarities to our own pioneer development as well as the diversity of such an ancient land. The next stop was the Gyeongbok Palace, home of a former Emporor where we watched the Changing of the Guard and met two women in the traditional Hanbok dresses.

Changing of the guard

Next we went to see the residence of the current ruler, President Park Geun-Hye, the first woman President of South Korea. The official residence is called the Blue House after the color of its roof.

The Korean War which started in1950 and ended in 1953 is touchingly commemorated at the War Memorial Museum. A huge variety of military equipment such as airplanes, tanks, ships, rocket launchers, etc. are displayed around the grounds but the most moving are the statues honoring the sacrifices of both the soldiers and civilians during this terrible time in the country's history. One particular work of art represents a South Korean officer encountering his North Korean brother on the battlefield.

We were surprised at the number of US forces still deployed in the country. According to the Armitist Agreement signed at the end of the war, they must maintain no less than 28,500 and nor more than 1 million troops in the country.

Canada's participation of deployment of 26,000 of her troops is acknowledged in this recent addition.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Posted with Blogsy