Details Of Samarkand, Part Four

Walking and capturing.

Great Moments in Soviet Bling Architecture.

Fake storefronts. When Samarkand hosted a big country leader summit, they re-habbed the streets that went from the train station to the summit location. And made up a bunch of phantom stores. A real tree in a wrong place.

The Costco of Samarkand.

A local version of a neighborhood lemonade stand. Restaurant mural. Mountains or steaks?

Magic carpet, on sale.

Details Of Samarkand, Part Three

Several trips were made to Samarkand during the three years Sarah and James were posted to Tashkent. They were hosting visitors, going to conferences, enjoying the quick, two-hour train ride. Twist their arms.

More trips, more details. Apologies for some overlap images from older posts. Sometimes new juxtapositions breathe new life to photographs.

Big statue, small people.

In a sleeper train car, your own, sealed in plastic, linens. Silk Road slow reveal.

Precious cargo on a small bike. A little color in the grey.

Political posters for an upcoming election. Spoiler alert, the guy on the right wins. He always wins. Leftovers.

Pressure washing the past. Cleaning a new interpretation of Silk Road architecture near a convention center campus. 

Meandering Cheonggyecheon River Park

Seoul knows how to reclaim an urban river. Where once there was a dirty channel under a highway, now there's a bucolic stream with green spaces, stepping stones, and an urban oasis park along its banks. Inviting.

Heading in. Entrances and exits are at most street intersections.

Funky art compliments the park. Stepping along. Creative stonework and pretty overpasses.

Relaxing. Grab a step in the shade and enjoy the babble of your friend droning on and on and the nice sound of the flowing water.

More features. Playful stepping stones, lush landscaping.

Your outdoor spa is waiting. Lucky Seoul.

Deoksugung Palace

King Seonjo first used the digs, after Prince Wolsan. Then, Prince Gwanghae moved in. Next came Gojong until his death in 1919. Deoksugung Palace has seen a lot of leaders, a lot of history and plenty of expansion, remodeling. It's a sprawling complex and a great example of Korean palatial, royal architecture. Stroll through the grounds and imagine you rule a country.

The grandest, most perfect building, Junmyeongdang Hall.

Details. Under an expansive roof eave and the side of the hall. Painted to full, colorful glory.

Inside, the lonely throne. "Can we get a few big screens over there?"

Some of the other halls have clever panel designs for closing doors, windows.

Contrasting the fancy Junmyeongdang Hall, the understated, monochromatic Seogeodang Hall.

Traipsing The Seoul City Wall

The Great Wall of Seoul? Perhaps.

King Taejo of the Joseon dynasty needed to defend his turf and so up went a wall. Construction started in 1395, finished in 1396 (quick workers) and fortified during the 15th and 18th centuries (slower workers). Remnants of the wall and some of its mighty gates are still around and can be enjoyed in parks and as archeological sites.

A section of reconstructed wall, looking grand against green grass.

The Hanyang Doseong Historic Site Museum. Basically, a shed protecting raw, excavated sections of the wall.

Hint of the past, stones forming the path of the wall through a park.

Ancient and modern, a section of the wall with the N Seoul tower in the distance. Marking history.

The reconstructed sections of the wall makes for a nice meander.

Ahn Jung-geun Memorial Hall

Sacrifice your life for the future of your country. Ahn Jung-geun did just that action when he assasinated Japanese politician Itō Hirobumi at Harbin railway station in 1909. He was 29 years old when arrested and executed by the Japanese about six months later.

Korea reveres Ahn Jung-geun as a martyr for independence. The memorial hall dedicated to him opened in 1970 and was reconstructed in 2010.

Snazzy, glass box looking building, maybe Modern Martyr?

Inside, the usual timeline bio. Not sure there was a gym report card. Now an adult, mug shot or penny arcade photo with ID card.

Creepy dedication, super creepy re-creation. A model of Ahn Jung-geun's finger tip. He cut the tip off his finger upon joining the independence group, Danjihoe. Eleven other comrades did the same act as a sign of country allegiance. And pain threshold.

Articles of assassination. The pistol Ahn Jung-geun used and the coroner's drawings, notes of bullet directions through Itō Hirobumi's body. Not cupid's arrow.

The beginning of the end and an impressive, life size re-creation of the courtroom. Guilty and now a martyr.

More Dioramas At The War Memorial Of Korea

It's not always fighting and battles and military maneuvers in the dioramas at the War Memorial of Korea. OK, war may be the theme and the subject is some sort of corollary of war. Collateral image?

Big meeting. Left to right, General Douglas MacArthur, Korean President Syngman Rhee and U.S. Ambassador John Muccio. "Whose deal is it?"

Treaty signing day. You can tell who has had enough fighting by the amount of hair on their heads.

General MacArthur receiving the UN flag or fighting over a giant kebab stick.

Touching burial. Nancy Humerstone fought to be buried with her officer husband John in a military cemetery. She won. Peacekeeping, sand bagged.

The big, post-war clean up and scavenging. Impressive effort. Fifty years later, an economic juggernaut, Gangnam style.

Dioramas At The War Memorial Of Korea

Dioramas are a great way to illustrate past battles. Graphic, immersive, and no one dies.

Korean forces on a helicopter assault in Vietnam. Not just an American folly.

Taking cover. A U.S. soldier, Mr. Casual with a gun. "I can maim one-handed!"

Bunker life. "When will lunch be finished?"

A Korean soldier, showing that casual U.S. soldier how to put some effort into shooting. Winter warfare, modeling the latest in officer overcoat.

Sometimes the best part of dioramas, the nondescript details. Someone took the time to place this tree.