The Road from Andong

I wish I had taken pictures of breakfast this morning, it was all on little trays that were premade. I think they were trying to make it American, but it was really just plain. No coffee, an no where near a Starbucks so some of us were a little desperate. I found sweet black iced coffee in a can that held me over for the day.

First we went to a Confucian Museum. This Museum stores many ancient texts and metal printing blocks, which were being used long before anyone else used such things. Now they are stored in specially designed rooms here and can be accessed online at www. confumuseum.com I think of it as a sort of Library of Congress for ancient Korean manuscripts. It was interesting, most of the exhibit explanations were in Asian languages only, but I did get some cool pics of the diaramas about the 5 Confucian ideals. There was a station where we got to make prints the way they were done during the Chosun Dynasty. There were also some that you could buy, they are really pretty! Next we went to Dosan Seowan, a Confucian school built about 1575. The founder of this school is on the 1000.00 wan bill, about $1.oo. This is where many of the printing blocks were stored for a long time, until they were moved to the new sight to be stored in temperature controlled rooms. The school is on a mountain side, with beautiful views and buildings, it seems a great plce to meditate and think. We had a traditional Yongban lunch, which our guide translated as being the a sort of lunch that Koreans would have at ceremonies to honor their ancestors. Everything was served on brass dishes and it was quite extravagent. The building was beautiful and we sat on the floor, unfortuneatly it was VERY hot and there was no breeze inside which made eating hot foods less than fun. It all tasted delicious, but few of us tried the whole fish that we were served! For dessert we had a sweet rice drink that was orange colored but tasted like ginger. Our next stop was along a road where we climbed up a gentle incline to a gorgeous view of the traditional Korean Village of Andong Hahoe. People still live here. The village is surrounded on 3 sides by the Kakdonggong River and it is nestled between mountains so the village has never been invaded. Several of the houses are named as National Treasures and the Hahoe Mask dance which was our next stop is still performed here. This drama is a village ritual that pokes fun at the ruling classes, so they wore masks to keep from being identified. Dinner was held at an outdoor Galbi (Korean BBQ) place. Tables were set up outside, the grounds were beautiful and the food was both fun and delicious. Beth grilled the Kimchee too, which was surprisingly tasty. I tried soju for the first time, a Korean liquor that is very strong, some people did more than try it and I was surprised at how well they walked away! We checked in to the Hilton here in Gyongju, our room has a great view!