Rakkojae Hahoe Hanok Hotel
The day started with a nice breakfast at the hotel. I went for the korean breakfast, which included beef bulgogi, pajeon and kimchi, and Mike had the western option.
After breakfast we had another little wander around the grounds.
Andong Hahoe Folk Village
After checking out, we followed a walking trail from the hotel complex to the Hahoe Folk Village. This village dates from the 13th century and is a World Heritage site because it preserves Joseon period-style architecture, folk traditions, valuable books, and an old tradition of clan-based villages.
People still live and work in the village so we picked up a map that included a route we could follow around the key spots
The buildings were a mixture of tiled and thatched. Originally the tiled buildings belonged to aristocrats, and the thatched buildings were for their servants
There were lots of swallows living in the eves, and the village mascot was also a swallow
650 year old sacred tree
Hahoe Mask Dance
The village is also famous for it’s traditional mask dance and there is a performance every afternoon
The play was in Korean, but English, Chinese and Japanese subtitles were shown on the screens above so we were able to follow what was happening. It was entertaining!
After the show we wandered back into the village. We spotted some signs for a ‘green citrus’ iced drink so stopped to try. The weather forecast had been for rain but it had actually turned very sunny and hot, so a refreshing cold drink was appreciated!
We spent the rest of the afternoon wandering around the outskirts of the village enjoying the countryside views
After a relaxing day we walked back to the hotel, with another iced drink stop on the way and got a taxi back to the station. We had an easy quick dinner at Lotte Burger, Korea’s equivalent of McDonald’s, before taking the 2.5 hour train journey back to Seoul
Nine Tree Hotel
We returned to the same hotel we started our holiday, where we would be staying for another 6 nights, Our room overlooked Jogyesa temple and it’s lantern display.
