We had a comparatively relaxed start to the day and after breakfast we departed Gwangju at 09:20 and headed south-eastwards for about an hour towards Suncheon. The landscape along our route comprised many small mountain ranges with lush, fertile valleys between where rice and cotton are the main agricultural products. The number of tunnels we passed through on our travels this morning would have been in the order of dozens!
Residential area viewed from or hotel room at Gwangju
We arrive at Suncheon at 11:00 and parked adjacent to the Naganeupseong Folk Village where we have several hours to explore and have lunch.
This historic village is enclosed by a rectangular fortress wall of length 1.41 km and around 4 m average height. The wall was originally built under the order of Naval Commander General Kim Bin-gil as an earthen fortification against Japanese pirates. This occurred during the reign of King Taejo of Joseon in 1397. The wall’s construction in stone then commenced in the mid-1400s and was completed in 1626.
Stone wall, at entrance to Naganeupseong Folk Village
The enclosed village occupies an area of 2.3 hectares and inside the wall are about 90 households and despite its tourist significance, the homes are mostly occupied. Typically, these private residences are made up of two or three separate thatched buildings surrounding an enclosed courtyard and usually a vegetable garden.
Most of the homes had fruit trees too and the spring blossoms of the peach, plum and cherry trees were just appearing.
Naganeupseong Folk Village, Suncheon
Vegetable garden, Naganeupseong Folk Village
Naganeupseong’s Walled Village was listed on the UNESCO World Heritage tentative list in 2011.
The thatched roofs are made from rice stalks and have successive layers of thatching making the roof covering a very thick and effective thermal insulator.
Monica took us on a preliminary introductory tour of the village and we then had a coffee break and a light lunch before commencing our exploration of the site.
We wandered along the narrow paths between the homes and then climbed up onto the wall and slowly strolled to the highest point which required climbing some quite steep and uneven sized stone steps. At this lookout point we had an impressive view of the whole village and its multitude of thatched roofs.
Steps from village to top of wall
We subsequently followed the perimeter wall around to the starting point and rejoined our fellow travellers. The glorious blue sky and no wind conditions made our visit to this historic location a thoroughly enjoyable and interesting interlude.
Gingko trees beside wall, Naganeupseong Folk Village
Naganeupseong Folk Village with surrounding fortress wall, Suncheon
To complete our day’s journey, we had just over an hour’s drive down to the coastal city of Yeosu where we gleefully met the ocean again, or more correctly we encountered the South China Sea. These being the first maritime views since leaving Seoul.
View from our room at the Shilla Stay hotel, Yeosu
The twilight hours in Yeosu were spent taking a cable-car ride high across the harbour and return.
View from cable car platform, Yeosu
The views of the complex waterways of Yeosu’s harbour were spectacular. Between the various land points were the two impressive suspension bridges namely the Dolsandaegyo and the Geobukseondeagyo bridges. The panorama across the harbour entailed a view of several small islands, fish farms and numerous large freighter vessels awaiting docking. One of the closest islands is Odong Island and it has a walkway and road across the 200 m to the island.
View from cable car
View from cable car
View from cable car
View from cable car platform
View from cable car platform
Sunset from cable car platform
We returned to our Shilla Stay hotel where we had a pleasant evening meal overlooking the harbour and the bright city lights.
Today has been a great day of travel and sight-seeing made especially enjoyable by the perfect weather.
Tomorrow we move on to South Korea’s second largest city of Busan. This will entail a good deal of travel time so we need to have a fairly early start tomorrow morning.