Day 7 … a “sort of” fast train to Suwon and then back to the War Memorial

Last night we decided to book some train tickets on the Bullet Train so that we could visit Suwon. We had hoped we could give Claire the experience of 300km/h. So we were up and off to Seoul Station and, after finding a coffee and a morning snack, we boarded our train. We had some great seats … love when you get allocated seating … and sat back to enjoy the ride. 

Unfortunately … despite being a fast train we only managed to get to about 150 km/h and after just 35 minutes we were gathering our belongings to disembark at our destination. We have visited Suwon twice before … once with our older gen (Mum and Dad will forever wish to forget the blood sausage) and once with the boys on a later trip.

Arriving at the station we headed out to the street and flagged down a taxi driver to drive us to the North Gate of Hwaseong Fortress. The fortress was built in 1796 to protect the city inside which was intended to be the new capital of Korea. A small “temporary” palace was built within the fortress walls. The fortress has 4 main gates, artillery storage, archery pavilions, guard pavilions, and a beacon tower.

We walked a section of the fortress wall. It is spectacular in any kind of weather, grey skies or blue, hot or cold. The ground was icy underfoot due to the snow yesterday, so made for very slippery walking (thankfully no one took a spill). There were sections that were relatively flat and other sections that were steep climbs with stairs made for giants. We made our way to the command post … high on top of the mountain, before heading down to the palace below. The views were wonderful … even though the skies were overcast and a little hazy.

 

We visited Hwaseong Haenggung, the temporary palace. It was very quiet at the palace so we were able to wander peacefully and take photos without having to dodge anyone else. There was a lot of snow on the palace roof … making for some lovely photos.

We then headed back to the main road to hail a taxi to take us back to the station in order to catch our return train to Seoul. Both of our drivers were fantastic … very quiet … but they drove efficiently and safely. We gave them a tip even though tipping is not common in Korea. 

Heading back into the station we headed to our platform to await our train back to Seoul. This time we didn’t book a fast train but just went via the “express” train … which only took us an extra 5 minutes. The journey back to Seoul was smooth … oh the train system is so efficient, clean and reliable in Korea.

We arrived back to Seoul Station and decided to modify our plans for the rest of the day. We had originally planned on a revisit to Namdaemun Market but having arrived back in to Seoul Station we decided to head to the War Memorial (which we planned to do tomorrow) as we were already effectively half way there.  So we changed subway lines and headed to Samgaki Station which is the closest station to the War Memorial. 

 

We headed straight for some food … given it was already 2.30. We went to the restaurant on site … again one we had previously visited with the family. We all happily devoured a delicious pork tonkatsu (mmmmmm) and took a moment to rest the feet. Then off to enter the War Memorial. Built in 1994, it is a grand building, both inside and out and entrance is free to all the exhibits.

We took the time to wander the exhibits … which included the early wars (dang Japan just kept invading) and went all the way through to the Korean War. War Memorials are sobering experiences. War is so futile … so much waste … so many needless deaths. 

 

When we left the War Memorial we stopped to view the Two Brothers statue. For those who don’t know, the 11-metre-high sculpture shows two soldiers in a desperate embrace as they stand on a split dome landscape. The info panel tells the fictional story of two brothers meeting in battle during the Korean War: the elder an officer of the Republic of Korea (South Korea); the younger a North Korean soldier. As they recognise their fraternal love and reconcile, the statue symbolises the desire of the two peoples of Korea for reunification, while the cracked dome represents their ongoing division.

 

And then it was time to limp our way home … with feet feeling a bit weary (and with more blisters on my toes). We reversed our train journey, light blue line and then the dark blue line … popping back out at Jonggak Station. Then a quick walk back to the apartment … with a detour for me to do a little shopping in Insadong.

Ian and I decided to have a classy dinner back in our room whilst Kim and Claire headed back to 153 for something more substantial.