We made it a few miles up the road to the Suwon Fortress again to see more of this amazing fortress. Our course this time was to begin at the Bell of Hyowon and end at the Paldalmun Gate. I searched for the closest parking lot to the bell and found one on the map that looked super close! Once we parked, and I studied the map, I realized it was the closest parking lot, but required a long hike up an insane amount of steep stairs. With the little monster strapped to Kevin's back, we ascended together.
The stair kept going on and on! I felt so bad for Kevin because there were so many! Sure the parking lot was close, but yikes! It felt like it was straight up a mountain.
We were very happy to reach the top and the bell! The Fortress is really a mini-version of the Great Wall of China, with intermittent bells and beautiful temples. The large bell, which is literally about 15 feet tall, was at the top, and is a common miniature item on many of the awards the airmen get here.
There are three meanings when you ring the bell in the culture here:
1) First toll - to show gratitude and respect for one's parents
2) Second toll - to wish for one's family's health and harmony
3) Third toll - to wish for the realization of your dreams
We paid extra to have each one of kids do the first toll...
The Hyowon bell is amazing. It was so detailed and with a noble effort we were able to ring the bell multiple times in order to capitalize on the blessings of the toll.
We continued on and walked up and down the wall of the fortress to different defense towers. Our first stop after the bell was the Seojangdae Command Post. It was a huge open post with a few steep stairs. The command post overlooked the city and was such a beautiful site!
Right next to the command post was the Seonodae Crossbow Platform. This had the most insane stairs of all because there wasn't a guard rail and each stair was super tall. It was neat seeing the sections that were used for the crossbows.
We then walked down to the Seonamammun Secret Gate. I asked the kids if they wanted to walk through the gate and see the Pavillion that was deeper in the fortress, but the heat was getting the better of them and they all decided to move forward.
The pathway to the Paldalmun Gate from this point was more and more stairs. The kids had fun jumping from stair to stair.
We finally reached the Paldalmun Gate only to be disappointed and find out it is in the middle of a circle intersection. It seems this particular gate is not open to the public, and only a majestic view to behold from afar.
Once we got to our destination, we decided to take a side road back to the parking lot. This little side road was filled with neat shops and cute restaurants! We passed by a super cute field that had windmills and a bench with a large heart on it. As we were looking at the field a group of Korean women will giggling at us and gestured for them to take a picture of our family. We stood there while they took about a hundred pictures.
We continued to walk down the street and just loved all the little art shops and displays on the walls. This was the best wall, the tiles were cemented into the wall!
Since we were all hot, we stopped in at a smoothie restaurant called Gong Cha and got all the kids a smoothie to help cool off. We have found that after long hikes or walks in the heat here, if we get the kids an ice cream, its a hue moral boost! And ice cream is so delicious and pretty inexpensive here.
As we were hiking we found this lucky little gem of an experience that we hadn't planned on. Having a large buddhism culture here, we noticed this huge golden statue on the hike. We eventually figured out how to get to it, only to find this gigantic golden buddhist statue.
Although there is a large christian influence here, the buddhism golden statues that dot the land at these temples are always amazing to see.
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