After a hectic and muddy Saturday I left Ric behind and took the train 30 minutes north to Suwon to visit Jenny Burns.
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Jenny at the bottom of the steps (that disappear into the trees)
No further pictures were taken of us because we were so gross. |
We went to Hwaseong Fortress and climbed what felt like 3000 steps, stopping half way to shelter from a crazy storm. The fortress is really impressive; the walk of the walls if 7km long and that's after/if you survive the steps! Needless to say we didn't walk the entire length as by the time we reached the top we'd both sweated away a third of our body weight! Along the walls there are plenty of ornate huts and temples and the view of Suwon from the top is stunning, even in the smog and the clouds. There's even a giant bell that you can ring by banging it with a huge wood log. The fortress circles the city centre but is pretty difficult to spot from street level due to all the high rise buildings, from the top however you can how it's just nestled in with among all the apartment blocks and shops.
Interesting
Grandad fact provided by Burns herself: the fortress was built by King Jeongjo in honour of his father who had been murdered by his Grandfather!
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| Suwon skyline. |
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| Large bell. |
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| Temple |
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| Suwon. |
The fortress was nice and it was even nicer to catch up with Jenny and share our teaching tales and travel plans. Hopefully being seeing more of her soon!
