Namsangol Traditional Village

Today I visited the Namsangol Hanok Village on the occasion of the Seollal (New Year) Festival. I'm gong to divide this trip into two posts, one on the Hanok (Traditional) Village, including the Seoul Time Capsule, and one on the New Year's Festivities. Well, three if you count the Chungmuro Station post.

Traditional Hanok Village: The photos below show interior views of traditional houses, followed by the ondol, the floor heating system still used today--well, instead of wood fires and forced air, they generally use hot water.




Courtyards, one filled with kimchi pots, the other festooned with decorative ribbons. And decorative Karen. Be quiet, outside the courtyard is a flock of cranes. Just kidding, they're not real! They are red-crowned cranes, long incorporated into Korean culture and art, and revered as a symbol of fidelity and longevity.




I've been listening to too much T. Rex:


This shows a wooden race which carries water down the mountain into the holding pond. It's been a dry winter, but just wait until the snow melts.


The village has another, larger pond, which is frozen over right now and on which small children were seen:

Seoul Time Capsule: Buried in 1994 to celebrate the 600th anniversary of Seoul's designation as the capital of Korea, the capsule contains 600 items and is scheduled to be opened in 2395 AD.