Anyways, one of the places I was recommended to go to by a family friend was the walled city of Suwon (Line 1, #4). It's accessible by taxi or by subway/train though you have to change trains in between and it can get pretty confusing since the train stations are always so large. So, instead of going to the North Korea/South Korea border, I went to Suwon with Cynthia, and in total it was about a 90 minute train ride from Sinchon.
We bought some sushi at the food court at the station for our lunch later, because we weren't sure what sorta shops there were in the walled city. We then headed out of the station (via exit 4) and were greeted with what looked like a busy yet small town/city. The Suwon tourist information center is just there as you come out from the exit. The people were very organised and professional, and we were given maps and bus information to get to the walls.
Paldalmun gate
From the bus stop right outside the tourist information center to Paldalmun 팔달문, where the big roundabout is, we could take buses 11, 13, 36, 39. From there, we then had to figure out from the maps provided how to actually get to the perimeter of the wall.
The wall from outside
It actually took us quite a while to get inside the walled city as we had to walk along the perimeter of the wall for about 10 minutes before we found a small road in. It was a fairly pleasant walk in the dry cool Korean winter air, and we passed many gates and towers that formed part of the wall's defensive purpose. When we crossed through the wall via that small road, we were greeted with a whole small city operating within the walls There were motorbikes, cars, restaurants, a small river and various other things you would normally see of a civilised place. I guess I wasn't really expecting that.
The view of the city from inside one of the watchtowers
We walked along the perimeter of the wall, this time on the inside, and took pictures as we headed up towards the peak of a small mountain that was there.
After an incredibly steep and tiring climb up the stairs to the peak, we were rewarded with a view of the city. It was there that we realised we had to pay for our entry (after walking for about an hour...) The ticket costs 3500W (the Hwaseong package includes a museum visit), which you pay either one of the museums within the walls, or at the peak where we were where a large bell is located.
Bell pagoda-thing
After taking more pictures, we started our descent down and made our way to the Suwon Hwaseong museum, where we learnt about the construction of the city in Suwon and some of the city's history.
Cute little figurines and models
We wanted to have Suwon galbi 수원 갈비 (marinated pork chops) for dinner, but we couldn't find any place selling it. Instead, we went into one of the many crowded restaurants selling fried chicken that Korea is known for and had a oily, yummy meal!
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