A Culture Buff In Andong's Hahoe Village.

I'm such a sucker for historical and cultural heritage sites, so when I read about Andong's Hahoe Village from a blog, I made a mental note to visit it someday. That fateful day came during Buddha's Birthday, May 21st. It was the start of the 3-day holiday here, so there's a mass exodus of Koreans moving out of the city. Roads were jammed and it looked more like a never-ending parking lot. Patience was never my virtue, so you could just imagine how incredibly annoyed I was, sitting in the car for long hours, while listening to metal music. The weather was hot that day, the hottest this year, and very humid too. I really didn't feel like walking, but when I first saw the thatched roof houses, I was motivated a little bit. But that was temporary as the thatched roof houses were actually restaurants, and the journey to get to the village was far from over.




We had to climb a hill to get there. From where I stood, you could see Nakdong River partly hidden by pine trees.

We passed by a forest too, and along the way you could see wooden statues like this.

They have rest areas like this too.

Finally, we arrived in the village. This is the first tile-roofed house I saw.

Houses here have their own addresses cause believe it or not, people actually live here. It's nice to know that while city people are going nuts over 3D TVs and fancy cellphones, some still chose to conserve their heritage and traditional living cultures.

This village is the birthplace of Ryu Seong Ryung - a very significant person in Korean history. He was the Prime Minister during the Japanese Invasion (1592-1598), and was the one who promoted Lee Sun Shin from a small county magistrate to Naval Commander. We all know how well that turned out. Lee Sun Shin is probably the best Naval Commander of all time, and if not for Ryu Seong Ryung, there wouldn't be a hero as venerated and idealized as Lee Sun Shin among Koreans today. This is is house..

Here are some of the ancient houses we saw, most of it are important folk sites.

At one of the houses there, we met a calligraphist who is willing to write any person's name in Hanja for free. He also writes old proverbs which you could frame and hang in your walls.

The name Hahoe means "river turning around". Nakdong river flows around the village, hence the name of the village. See the top of the cliff? That was our next destination.

We took a boat to cross the river and climbed to get to the edge of the cliff. At the top you'll see the whole village, bordered by Hwa-san (Mount Hwa) in full view.

It took a few hours to see the whole village. And even though it was so hot I even got a sunburn, it was well worth it. I learned a lot about Korean History and tradition that day, it helps that I have a great guide who is willing to carry my girly handbag all through out the journey... : )

*More of my adventures later...