Return to Korea

and once again I escape from the hotel

So I've just been back to Seoul again, and once again, I have been wandering around taking photos. I'm much more comfortable with the place now and have been a bit more adventurous...

Updated: I forgot the picture of the man with the dead pig. How could I do that?

Changing the guard at Gyeongbukgung Palace.

Hyangwonjeong, the Pavilion of Far Reaching Fragrance.

A shamanic ritual in the grounds of the palace (put on for the tourists). The man is balancing on a rail, chanting, with a dead pig slung across his shoulders, chanting. Yes, it is a real pig (and really dead).

The centre of Soeul is full of haechi, the mythical creatures that have been guarding the palace for centuries. (And, since early 2009, have become part of the city's official corporate image.)

The Tancheon river, which runs near my hotel. The water was full of ducks and herons; the cycleways full of people.

The rooftops of Doksan.

The mountains south of Soeul.

The view northeast over south Soeul from Mt Samsung. For some reason, whenever I climb mountains here, it always ends up being cloudy.

Sunset over Doksan.

Monks at a the Hoapsa Temple.

Some of the haechi are more dignified than others.

Two forms of aviation.