Global-Mariner

                                              KOREA

                                                               - images from a traditional village - 

                                                                    HAHOE

Page added:  2021-12-06  

Hahoe is one of "those Places" - - - -

Before I arrived there, I had been "on the road" for several months, and had not seen a European face for a long - long time, - and I started to "worry" a little bit about it.

I had been "hiding" myself from the World in magnificent mountain scenarios, with wonderful temples - and I had explored far away islands.

Coming back to "civilization" for a short while when passing the big city of Andong, I finally ran into two European faces, - and they seemed to be just as exited as I were about this rare encounter, - but it was no success at all - - - 

The two European looking gentlemen actually turned out to be Americans, and they looked quite "funny" in their immaculate coat and tie outfit with perfectly ironed, snow white shirts, and with their black polished - and spotless - shoes - they simply did not fit in - and did not belong there - 

They were not there because they wanted to be there by their own free will, but because they had been assigned to go there in order to teach the Korean people some kind of religion -, and as it might be expected, they did not like the Koreans at all.

This was quite contrary to my own opinion:  I loved Korea, - and I had absolutely NO desire to change the high moral standards and deep filosophy of the Korean people, - and I saw absolutely NO meaning and NO sense in giving them a new religion that did not fit in at all - - - -  Actually - instead I wanted to learn from them - - -

My "worries" for not having seen European faces for a long, long time disappeared at once after that encounter, - and the following day everything was back to normal, when I took the local bus to near a small village called Hahoe, - where absolutely no European faces disturbed the perfect harmony, - and again I had everything to myself - - -

Hahoe is a remote village, where time seems to have stopped for more than 500 years.  Actually it is so traditional, that the Korean Government had decided to proclaim it a national treasure.

This is fully understandable, because Hahoe is indeed very picturesque, and obviously a photographers dream.  It's is the most picturesque village I have seen in Korea.  In fact it is so good, that Korean film makers often use this village as scene for historical movies.  No need to build expensive replicas in the fancy film studios in Seoul, because Hahoe is the real thing - right in front of your eyes - - -

That - however - does not mean that modern obstructions does not exist in Hahoe.  The farmers use motorized machines, - and of course there are also TV's and cars and all other things that the population in the big, modern cities enjoy, - but in my pictures I have displayed on this page, I have carefully avoided those 20th. century inventions.  

So - please take a trip 500 years back in time - and enjoy Hahoe - as my camera lenses saw it on a misty and rainy , but truly wonderful day, - way back in the month of april 1996 - - -