The day of the trip to Ganghwa Island arrived. After trying to communicate to Mr Kim that Emily would also be coming he still looked slightly surprised when there were three rather than just two of us.

We piled into the back of Mr Kim’s car and began the 30 minute drive to Ganghwa island. The scenery was beautiful. It was amazing to see how the rapidly the landscape changed once you left the city. Crossing the bridge to the island Mr Kim pointed to a mountain in the far distance and explained that the mountain was actually in North Korea!

Looking across at the mountain it struck me that geographically we are living so close to North Korea, yet life across the border is a whole other world. South Korea is a normal, increasingly americanised (not necessarily a good thing) country. I found this article on the BBC website about people trying to leave North Korea. It was a reminder of just how different things are a relatively short distance away from where I am living. The recent happening with the nuclear weapon testing in North Korea have only served to hit this fact home.

We arrived at the Ganghwa island and after a discussion in Korean between Mr Kim and his wife (which none of us could understand) we turned into a side road and pulled up in a car park. Mr Kim told us to stay here and have a look around and he would pick us up in 45 minutes. It seemed we weren’t going vegetable picking after all but what lay ahead proved to be just as interesting. We were at Samnagnseong Castle. An old temple that had so much history and so much to write about that it is on a separate post here.

After spending a very pleasant hour looking around the temple at Samnagnseong Castle we joined Mr Kim and his wife for a coffee near the car-park before heading off across the island. On the way back home (to Kumdan, Incheon) Mr Kim took on something of a sightseeing tour of Ganghwa Island.

The tour began at this rather unusual looking beach (picky below). It was certainly different to the over commercialised tourist worshiping sea fronts so often found in England. All that appears to be along here is a few shops and a couple of restaurants, just like there are everywhere else in Korea.

The other thing that struck me about this beach was the sand closely followed by the mud flats. It was very odd to see a couple sat at what should be the shoreline gazing out over a massive expanse of mud!! I’m sure the sea was around somewhere but the tide was out a very long way. However the boats in the background of the picture suggest that when the tide is in the water does actually meet the sand.

After visiting the beach Mr Kim took to look at some rather odd buildings (pickys below).

Gangwha Island
Emily and Rob pose under the entrance to this building. Mr Kim told us it was a hotel.

Inside the entrance to this hotel were some of the oddest attempts at art I have ever seen. My favourite is below. See the photo gallery for more examples of random art.

When Mr Kim told us he was going to take us to see an upside down house on the way home we literally thought he meant a house where the bedrooms were downstairs and the living rooms upstairs. We have all see houses like that, nothing really to get excited about. What I certainly didn’t expect to see was this:

And on that bombshell I must leave the PC room because dad is going to call me in 15 minutes and I really should be at home already. Over and out.

* Posted by j150vsc on 09/10/2006.