진주 / 합천

Two weeks ago I took a trip down to Jinju and Hapcheon, near the southern coast of Korea.  For the first 2 weeks of October the city of Jinju hosts the 진주 남강 유등 축제 (Jinju Namgang Lantern Festival).  It was a 4 hour bus drive from Seoul's Express Bus Terminal to Jinju, but well worth it.  The festival originates from the 16th century battles between Korea and Japan, where floating lanterns were used to prevent Japanese troops from sneaking through Korea via the Namgang River.  In addition to the many floating lanterns, there were land-based exhibitions of traditional laterns and opportunities for kids to make their own.    

Overlooking the floating laterns

 The lanterns were very intricately detailed.  In addition to lanterns depicting elements of Korean culture, there were lanterns representing about 80 different countries, including one depicting the Statue of Liberty.  They even had a fire-breathing bird!

Statue of Liberty in the background

The next day I stayed in my friend's hometown of Hapcheon.  My friend describes the city as Sigol (the countryside), although in reality it's probably equivalent to about a small to mid-sized American town.  It was nice to get away from the hustle and bustle of Seoul.  The city was much quieter, less crowded, the air was clean,  and at night you could actually see the stars!  From my friend's house it was a 40 minute bike ride to the Hapcheon Film Set.  It was a really nice scenic view, but being out of shape and having to ride in blue jeans (because I forgot to bring a pair of shorts) made the trip a little difficult, although I'm pretty sure I lost at least 2 pounds that day.

Bike Trail in Hapcheon Park

Biking through farmland

The Hapcheon Film Set is the site of filming for many famous Korean movies and dramas, including the critically acclaimed 태극기 휘날리며 (2004) film about the Korean war.   The set was essentially divided into two parts.  The first section depicted the city of Seoul in the 1930's and 40's during the Japanese Occupation.  As a result, many of the signs on the buildings were written in Japanese.  They did a really good job making the set look realistic as possible - from the Japanese writing and old style architecture, to 1930s vehicles parked on the streets.  It made me feel like I had actually stepped backed in time.

Seoul in the 1930's

In front of Seoul Station (circa 1940)

 The second section was a war zone set used to film war scenes.  I'm not sure, but I'm guessing that this is where they filmed the war scenes for Taeguki.

 I took a Korean Film Course at Yale my sophomore (I'm not sure if it still offered), and it was really cool to actually see the places where they filmed many of the movies depicting important events in Korean history.  I would definitely recommend this place to any Fall Light Fellows / Korean movie buffs.  Getting to Hapcheon and Jinju is a little out of the way, but I really enjoyed my stay and think they are worth seeing.