Saturday 1 May 2010. I am fated never to see the Secret Garden. On the previous two occasions when I have tried, it has been closed. Until recently, I think it has only been possible to visit the Changdeokgung as part of a guided tour, but it is now possible to go in unguided and … [Read More]
Royal Ancestors and Ancient Remedies (page 3)
2010 Travel Diary #5: National Museum of Contemporary Art, Gwacheon
Saturday 1 May 2010. It’s the weekend, and Seoul Grand Park is busy. The funfair rides are full of fun-seekers, and there’s a queue to get in. There’s even a queue to get in to the car park of the National Museum of Contemporary Art: not, I would have thought, the most popular destination. But … [Read More]
2010 Travel Diary #4: The Yongin Folk Village
Saturday 1 May 2010. Today is a tourism day. We head out to Yongin, just outside the famous city of Suwon where the UNESCO-registered Hwaseong Fortress is situated. Yongin contains a folk village which opened in late 1974, at the height of the Saemaeul movement when modernisation in the countryside was bringing to an end … [Read More]
2010 Travel Diary #3: Moon Vases and Kim Gun Mo
Friday 30 April 2010. As usual, my arrival through Incheon Airport is swift and stress-free. Morgan, my interpreter, is there to meet me, my rental phone is ready for pickup at the SK Telecom desk, plus this time I have the added luxury of a driver (though the hotel limo-bus I usually take is also … [Read More]
2010 Travel Diary #2: The Schedule – where next?
My schedule, prepared with great care by the KOCIS team at the Ministry of Culture Sports and Tourism, contained a balance of sights and interviews that I had requested for my intended articles, together with sights which they thought might be interesting for me or which are on the normal programme for their visiting journalists. … [Read More]
2010 Travel Diary #1: Royal Ancestors and Lee Young-ae
It is always an efficient process arriving at Incheon Airport compared with most destinations I can think of. Immigration and baggage reclaim takes no time at all. I am met at the exit from immigration by Morgan Park, released from her university programme in Advanced Interpretation and Translation at Joong Ang University. She is to … [Read More]
Royal Ancestors: Preface
About this travel account These pages contain the record of nine days in Korea at the beginning of May 2010. The trip was at the generous invitation of the Korean Culture and Information Service, part of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism. The visit was part of their programme for meeting the needs of … [Read More]
Royal Ancestors: the index
The diary of LKL’s 2010 trip to Korea at the invitation of the Korean Culture and Information Service’s Foreign Media Fellowship programme. Preface About this travel account A note on intangible cultural heritage Introduction 1. Royal Ancestors and Lee Young-ae 2. The Schedule Friday 30 April: Arrival 3. Moon Vases and Kim Gun Mo Saturday … [Read More]
Royal Ancestors – the Live Tweets
8 March: Just heard some good news. Time to start planning a trip to Seoul in early May # 13 April: Really looking forward to my Korea trip later this month. Jongmyo rituals in Seoul and springtime herbs in Sancheong, Gyeongsannamdo. Perfect. Provided the volcanic ash lets up.# 18 April: Will the 30 April Indieful … [Read More]