Korean Folk Village, Seoul

...on board the bus. Korean bus drivers are known to make sudden swerves and slam on the breaks every few minutes.

What to see and do:

You must see the Farmer's Dance at the amphitheater. The first performance starts at 11am. There are about 15 performers in traditional costume who dance, play drums and do acrobatics. It's fascinating to watch the guys with the coloured strands of material hanging from their hats. The ...
...finished, you can watch the Korean Seesaw performance. It sounds rather dull but it's pretty cool because these guys bounce up and down doing some astonishing moves while 12 foot up in the air. This is only 10 minutes long and then out come the acrobats who do acrobatics on the tightrope. If you miss any of the performances, there is a chance to watch again in the afternoon. Shows start at 3pm.

Another must see is the Traditional Wedding ... more

This is an open air museum situated on the outskirts of Seoul.

Cost:

Adult 11,000 won (6 GBP), O.A.P's 9,000 won and children 8,000 won. Prices include all the performances going on inside the village.

How to get there:

You will need to take a bus, as the subway doesn't extend that far out of Seoul. You can catch a bus from Gangnam and the journey takes about 30 minutes. The cost of the bus should be around 1,500 won (80 pence). Make sure to sit down as quickly as possible once on board the bus. Korean bus drivers are known to make sudden swerves and slam on the breaks every few minutes.

What to see and do:

You must see the Farmer's Dance at the amphitheater. The first performance starts at 11am. There are about 15 performers in traditional costume who dance, play drums and do acrobatics. It's fascinating to watch the guys with the coloured strands of material hanging from their hats. The strands must easily be 5 meters long! These strands twist and turn elegantly through the air with the nod or flick of the dancers head. You wonder how they don't get dizzy after doing this constantly for the duration of the performance, which is 30 minutes long.

After the Farmers Dance has finished, you can watch the Korean Seesaw performance. It sounds rather dull but it's pretty cool because these guys bounce up and down doing some astonishing moves while 12 foot up in the air. This is only 10 minutes long and then out come the acrobats who do acrobatics on the tightrope. If you miss any of the performances, there is a chance to watch again in the afternoon. Shows start at 3pm.

Another must see is the Traditional Wedding that takes place in House No.22 at 12pm and again at 4pm. Get there early if you want to get a good view or seat. Korean weddings don't seem very joyous, everyone looks rather solemn. What I really like most of all, is not what is going on, but the costumes, which in mind are beautiful. It seems that the bride spends most of the ceremony hiding behind the sleeves of her Hanbok (Korean dress).

If you like horses then you might like to watch the equestrian performance at 1pm. I never watched it myself because it gets very dusty when the horses are trotting around the small arena.

Before and after the performances, have a wander around the vast area of houses that have been uprooted from around Korea and re-erected in the village. There are 260 traditional houses built over 243 acres. You can view houses from various decades and areas of Korea. There are farmer's houses from central, north and south, a manor house from the south, a provincial governors' office, a noble man's mansion, handicraft workshops, market place, folk museum and art museum. The last two places that I mentioned, you have to pay extra for, about 3,000 won each. There's also a small children's play area with little fairground rides to keep the young ones happy.

Korean houses were built and had differences depending on the social class of a person, as well as culture of the area and natural resources available. You will see traditional Korean rooms which have multiple functions. Not all the rooms have a definite purpose. Tables and mats were used which could then be folded up and removed from the room depending on the need. Underneath the wooden floors are stone flues. Hot air was vented through the flues to provide heat. This under floor heating is called 'Ondol' and is still used today in Korean homes, only now the under floor heating has been modernized by gas and electricity and linoleum floors.

Don't forget to try out some traditional Korean snacks at the Market Place. If you're lucky, you might even get to see Gimchi being made. I guess you might be wondering what the hell that is! Well, if you're in Korea you will soon learn that gimchi is a dish that is served with every meal, including breakfast. It's also an ingredient in other popular dishes. It is basically made from a fermented vegetable, mixed with chili and lasts for months. Because of this it could easily be stored in pots over the winter months. Still today, Korean women make tons of the stuff around November to keep them going during the winter when it is harder and more expensive to buy the vegetables. Today there are more than 150 gimchi varieties. Don't let the smell put you off, you can not leave Korea without having a taste!

To wash down that gimchi, try one of the tea shops. Koreans drink teas partly for their medicinal qualities, and because they believe some teas help focus the mind. The most widely drunk tea in Korea is Green Tea, but why not try Ginseng, Citron, Jujube or Ginger Tea. All can be drunk either hot or cold.

You can easily spend a whole day at the Korean Folk Village. What I have always done, is take a picnic with me. There are lots of gazebo's spotted around. They make ideal places to shelter from the intense sun, take an afternoon nap or have a picnic.

What to wear:

Good walking shoes, sun hat, parasol, sun screen, sun glasses if visiting during the summer months. Wrap up very warm if visiting in the winter.
 

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