Travel diaries

2012 Travel Diary #22: The Burial Grounds of the Royal Joseon Placentas, and why underfloor heating is not always good for you

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by Philip Gowman on 3 December, 2012

in Colonial period | Gyeongsangnam-do | Joseon Dynasty | Travel diaries

1 April 2012. Yes, it’s 1 April, and no, this article is not an April Fool’s joke. Sunday in Sancheong town, and the National Assembly election campaign is in full swing. All along the main street, the ppongtchak trucks are parked nose to tail, probably about eight of them. All of them blare out loud [...]

Tagged as: Death and burial, Hadong-gun, Japan, Korea Trip 2012, Sacheon-si, Sancheong County

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2012 Travel Diary #21: Seong Cheol’s birthday, Park Chan-soo’s museum and Gaya period tombs

by Philip Gowman 26 November 2012
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31 March 2012. The impact of the love shots is still fogging my brain when Mr Yoon arrives at 9:30 in the morning. Today, he is accompanied by his wife, who is to join us for the morning. It is, after all, a Saturday, so Mr Yoon is working overtime on behalf of the Sancheong [...]

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2012 Travel Diary #20: Rabbit Stew and Love Shots

by Philip Gowman 7 November 2012
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30 March 2012. The ice on the mountain trail the previous day had given me metaphorical cold feet about proceeding upwards beyond Beopgyesa to Jirisan’s summit. During the night, the wind and rain outside our comfortable cabin in the temple compound confirmed the decision that we would head downhill, rather than up, in the morning. [...]

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2012 Travel Diary #19: Beopgyesa Temple and those Japanese feng-shui stakes

by Philip Gowman 16 October 2012
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Beopgyesa Temple (법게사) is the highest in Sancheong County and at least the third-highest in Korea. The good people of Sancheong believe that Beopgyesa is the highest temple in South Korea, a claim which is supported by Beopgyesa’s entry on the Cultural Heritage Administration website, where the following text is to be found: “It is [...]

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2012 Travel Diary #18: The hike to Beopgyesa

by Philip Gowman 30 September 2012
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29 March 2012. The road through Jungsan-ri stops in a car park beyond which are the Jirisan National Park office and a barrier across the road. Jungsan-ri is the start of the shortest (but not necessarily the gentlest) trail to Cheonwanbong, Jirisan’s highest peak. We are permitted to proceed through the barrier, shaving a boring [...]

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2012 Travel Diary #17: On hiking in Korea

by Philip Gowman 21 September 2012
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29 March 2012. “Have you got proper hiking boots?” That’s the standard question from concerned Koreans when I told them I was going to walk up Jirisan. I was familiar with the Korean custom of dressing properly for hiking. You can’t miss the hikers on the subway, and indeed heading out to Gwacheon on line [...]

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2012 Travel Diary #16: Silla pagodas, Korea’s first beautiful village, and Nammyeong’s tomb

by Philip Gowman 19 September 2012
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29 March 2012. Today is the day we start the ascent of Jirisan, but first there’s a couple of local sites of interest that I need to visit. First, the two Unified Silla dynasty stone pagodas, which are now the only remnants of Dansoksa, a temple built in the middle of the eighth century. The [...]

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A visit to Min Young-ki

by Philip Gowman 29 June 2012
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When I visited Sancheong for the first time in 2010 one of the items on my agenda was a visit to Sancheong’s finest potter – and indeed Korea’s most renowned tea-bowl maker – Min Young-ki (민영기). Unfortunately owning to a diary mixup Min Senior was not there, and instead I had a very pleasant meeting [...]

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Some regional foods in Sancheong

by Philip Gowman 28 June 2012
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Sancheong: the name of the county literally means Mountain Purity. So the foods of the region use ingredients from the mountains – especially fresh herbs – and the clean rivers. Here are some of the foods I have sampled during the course of a few visits to the county: Fruits While fruits are not unique [...]

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2012 Travel Diary #14: Mugwort pancakes and bronze age dolmen

by Philip Gowman 25 June 2012
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28 March 2012. It’s time to leave Tongyeong, and head off to Sancheong, where I have happily spent much of my time in Korea in recent years. We set off along the main Tongyeong to Seoul expressway, which passes alongside the Gyeonghogang river and thus cuts through the heart of Sancheong County. I am told [...]

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2012 Travel Diary 13: Jeon Hyuck-lim, Magician of Colours

by Philip Gowman 22 June 2012
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28 March 2012. It’s my last morning in Tongyeong, and like the previous two days, the air is crisp, the sky clear and the sea calm. I wish I could stay longer. There is an inviting jogging track, starting at the Chungmu Marina Resort, which takes you some of the way along the shoreline of [...]

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Some regional foods in Tongyeong

by Philip Gowman 16 June 2012
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Korea is a foodie paradise, and while you can get by very nicely on bibimbap and bulgogi, there’s so much more to discover. Here’s some of the treats I discovered down south on my recent trip – and thanks to Suzy in Seoul for some of the recommendations for Tongyeong, given over some splended smoked [...]

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2012 Travel Diary 12: Yun Isang’s music at TIMF 2012

by Philip Gowman 12 June 2012
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27 March 2012. Just how popular is Yun Isang’s music? At best, it’s an acquired taste, and one which I have yet to acquire, though I do know people who say they like it. In conversation with Alexander Liebreich, artistic director of the Tongyeong International Music Festival since 2011 and chief conductor of the Munich [...]

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2012 Travel Diary 11: The Tongyeong International Music Festival

by Philip Gowman 9 June 2012
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27 March 2012. The Yun Isang Memorial Hall is a short walk from the ferry terminal which serves Tongyeong’s outlying islands. I had come there to attend a symposium attended by the two composers-in-residence and the Musical Director of the Tongyeong International Music Festival, which is now in its 10th year. It grew out of [...]

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2012 Travel Diary 10: Mireuksan and meonggae – a morning on Mireukdo

by Philip Gowman 31 May 2012
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27 March 2012. Having experienced the sea, islands and much of Yi Sun Shin the day before, today was the day to try Tongyeong’s highest peak, Mireuksan, which shares its name with the island of Mireukdo. There is a cable car which takes you to within a few minutes’ walk of the summit. We arrive [...]

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2012 Travel Diary 9: Yun Isang — Victim of the Cold War

by Philip Gowman 29 May 2012
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26 March 2012. For most big Korean cultural events there’s a glossy brochure with a welcome message from various officials and dignitaries. And for the most important events you might expect a welcome message from the Minister of Culture. It is a measure of the sensitivity of the Tongyeong International Music Festival’s association with Yun [...]

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2012 Travel Diary 8: Yun Isang, Sancheong and Tongyeong

by Philip Gowman 27 May 2012
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26 March 2012. The day has been devoted mainly to exploring some of the Joseon dynasty naval history in which Tongyeong played its part. But we’re also in Tongyeong to attend the Tongyeong International Music Festival, focusing on concerts which have music by Tongyeong’s most famous musical son, composer Yun Isang. In preparation for the [...]

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2012 Travel Diary 7: Yi Sun-shin — military genius, hero, poet

by Philip Gowman 24 May 2012
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26 March 2012. The brief ferry ride from Tongyeong to Hansando traverses the sheltered sound where Admiral Yi Sun-shin won a famous victory over the Japanese navy on 14 August 1592. On the day I crossed, it was difficult to imagine the tumult of a battle in which 47 Japanese ships were sunk and 12 [...]

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2012 Travel Diary 6: Tongyeong harbour

by Philip Gowman 9 May 2012
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26 March 2012. It’s another beautiful crisp spring morning. The sea is calm, the sky is cloudless, but the temperature out of the sun is not far above freezing. The light is perfect for a few early photographs of the view from the hotel and from its waterside terrace, though it’s tricky to take a [...]

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2012 Travel Diary 5: the Trip to Tongyeong

by Philip Gowman 5 May 2012
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25 March 2012. Seoul’s Express Bus terminal is rather confusing. Even my Korean companion is struggling to figure out where to buy the tickets, what the difference is between a standard and a deluxe bus, and where they go from. We eventually work it out, and I’m glad she decided to tag along with me. [...]

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2012 Travel Diary 4: Walking the palace trail with the RASKB

by Philip Gowman 3 May 2012
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25 March 2012. It’s a cold, sunny morning, like the day before. I’ve booked myself on a walking trip of Seoul’s palace area, courtesy of the Royal Asiatic Society, Korea branch. We’re due to meet outside the Deoksu Palace at 9am, hence in part my reluctance to over-indulge the previous evening. It’s a pleasant day [...]

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