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Start
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Sunrise Park
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Apricot Flower Festival
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Hadong Hwagae Jangteo
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House of Choe Champan
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Guest house
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Unjoru
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Ssanggyesa Temple
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Hwaeom Temple
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Finish
The Main Stage of Toji, Roman-fleuve written by Park Gyeong-ri, Hadong Choe Champandaek(House of Choe Champan)
There'd be no one who hasn't heard of Toji, the roman-fleuve written by Park Gyeong-ri. It's started from 1969 and completed in 26 years and the background of the story is Korea, Japan and Russia for the period from 1897 until 1945 when Korea restored national independence.
Especially the background of the childhood of main characters, Seo-hee and Gil-sang, is Choe Champandaek in Hadong which is located behind the wide field spreading along the stream of Seomjin River.
Canon EOS 550D | f/5.0 | iso 100 | 2015:03:17 17:20:26 | Flash did not fire, compulsory flash mode | 17mm
We parked the car, went up for five minutes and saw Choe Champandaek, and on the way there are a few stores selling stuff. Pretty rubber shoes. I have white rubber shoes but they rubbed the skin off my heels. Probably because the shoes are so soft these days so I don't have callus on my heels.
Canon EOS 550D | f/7.1 | iso 100 | 2015:03:17 17:24:20 | Flash did not fire, compulsory flash mode | 17mm
This is the entrance. Everything around Pyeongsa-ri in Akyang-myeon including Choe Champandaek and thatched houses around it was built for drama shooting. That means they are not houses for real characters. But the houses are so delicate and real-like that makes those who have read the book or watched the drama would feel that they are actually in the story.
Canon EOS 550D | f/9.0 | iso 125 | 2015:03:17 17:48:08 | Flash did not fire, compulsory flash mode | 17mm
There are too many dramas and movies to mention that were filmed here but to pick a few, the dramas
Canon EOS 550D | f/7.1 | iso 125 | 2015:03:17 17:24:48 | Flash did not fire, compulsory flash mode | 17mm
Let's get inside. This house is decorated more realistically that I would believe if there were people living there.
Canon EOS 550D | f/5.6 | iso 100 | 2015:03:17 17:28:29 | Flash did not fire, compulsory flash mode | 17mm
Look at those hung on the walls of the inner gate, you would believe if somebody's living here actually, right? Every building here is where Choe Chi-soo and Choe Seo-hee, the main characters, live with their family in the drama.
There were hoops, tops, jegi(Korean traditional play) and the cards for slap-match! Seems like it's made of the bag of fertilizer. I remember playing on the dirty ground with my runny nose to win this card as a kid. I used to hide a handful of them under the floor and my mom used to force me to dump them.
Canon EOS 550D | f/6.3 | iso 250 | 2015:03:17 17:43:35 | Flash did not fire, compulsory flash mode | 20mm
They're drying sorghum and corns behind the kitchen, which I'm familiar with as well, but you can never see this in the city. It's friendly.
Canon EOS 550D | f/3.5 | iso 100 | 2015:03:17 17:26:56 | Flash did not fire, compulsory flash mode | 34mm
Dry off the corns harvested in summer like this and fry a little bit in wood fire in the furnace or briquette fire in winter, the taste is amazing. I don't know if it's real or imitated corn but thinking about it made me drooling.
Canon EOS 550D | f/3.2 | iso 100 | 2015:03:17 17:30:55 | Flash did not fire, compulsory flash mode | 50mm
There's a real person sitting in the guest room, an old man. He does not live here, he just give words of blessing to the tourists. If you get in the room calling him “Harabeoji(grandpa)~", he'll give you nice words that could be helpful to live for about 10 minutes so if you're curious, you should try. It's free though.
Canon EOS 550D | f/5.6 | iso 100 | 2015:03:17 17:29:55 | Flash did not fire, compulsory flash mode | 50mm
Hanok is pretty building everywhere. The stone steps to take off your shoes on, foundation stones, pillars and floors, everything looks beautiful. I can't believe this used to be a filming site because it's way too much well-built.
Canon EOS 550D | f/9.0 | iso 160 | 2015:03:17 17:39:06 | Flash did not fire, compulsory flash mode | 17mm
This is a detached house with a pond in the yard. I believe a woman lives here considering the flowers, water and beautiful house? A detached house is normally built near the main building where the daughters of the owner live while they got lessons to be married. I guess you've heard Byuldang Assi(a young lady in a detached house) at least once in a drama or movie?
Canon EOS 550D | f/4.0 | iso 100 | 2015:03:17 17:27:22 | Flash did not fire, compulsory flash mode | 40mm
When you open the door to the servants' quarters, you'll see the house is facing Seomjin-gang(River) and wide fields. It's built to appreciate the changing views when the season changes. In fact, old Yangbans(noblemen) used to build their houses facing their own land.
Canon EOS 550D | f/4.0 | iso 100 | 2015:03:17 17:34:42 | Flash did not fire, compulsory flash mode | 17mm
In the back yard, there was a quiet bamboo path. When I first saw this, it reminded me of drama titled
Canon EOS 550D | f/5.0 | iso 100 | 2015:03:17 17:33:51 | Flash did not fire, compulsory flash mode | 17mm
There's a shrine in the middle of bamboo forest and doesn't it remind you of anything? Gilsang and his people bid farewell to Seohee here before he left for Manju in
Canon EOS 550D | f/4.0 | iso 100 | 2015:03:17 17:35:42 | Flash did not fire, compulsory flash mode | 41mm
I'm sure it would be more interesting if you know the drama but even if you didn't, I'm sure it's a lovely place. A couple giggling with a selfie stick looked beautiful to me. And I envy their 20s something age.
Canon EOS 550D | f/9.0 | iso 100 | 2015:03:17 17:45:24 | Flash did not fire, compulsory flash mode | 17mm
Around Choe Champandaek(House of Choe Champan), I could see a few houses where the characters used to live in the drama, and if you watched the drama, you would've said “that's right, that's right".
Canon EOS 550D | f/5.0 | iso 100 | 2015:03:17 17:58:54 | Flash did not fire, compulsory flash mode | 17mm
Once again, it's beautiful even if you didn't watch the drama
The houses in
Canon EOS 550D | f/3.2 | iso 100 | 2015:03:17 17:56:44 | Flash did not fire, compulsory flash mode | 50mm
The sparrows were not even afraid of people and they were so focused on eating warms stuck on thatched house.
Canon EOS 550D | f/4.0 | iso 500 | 2015:03:17 17:57:03 | Flash did not fire, compulsory flash mode | 17mm
Oh my gosh! I thought they were fake and they were actually eating grass. I don't know whose cows were they but there were two calves in the filming site. I don't know what's real or fake. Unique experience, I must say.
Canon EOS 550D | f/6.3 | iso 100 | 2015:03:17 17:51:15 | Flash did not fire, compulsory flash mode | 17mm
Among thatched houses, there are a few places for tourists to stay(Gimhunjangnae and Gimpyeongsannae). These are not private houses but traditional hanok facilities run by Hadong-gun.
Canon EOS 550D | f/8.0 | iso 100 | 2015:03:17 17:51:52 | Flash did not fire, compulsory flash mode | 17mm
There are only a few, I think two, folk villages in Korea that provide thatched houses that you can actually sleep, one in Nagangeupseong Folk Village in Suncheon and Choe Champandaek in Hadong as far as I know(but there might be some more).
Canon EOS 550D | f/5.0 | iso 200 | 2015:03:17 17:52:22 | Flash did not fire, compulsory flash mode | 34mm
I wanted to stay here for the night but they said I should make a reservation at least 3 days earlier so I had no choice but to look for somewhere else.
Modern facilities have toilet and shower booth in the room but so what if they're outside? I guess it's attractive to be able to spend the night in this incredible place. Plus it's cheap. The room gets heated by the fire in the furnace, which seems great.
+ Address : 66-7, Pyeongsangri-gil, Akyang-myeon, Hadong-gun, Gyeongsangnam-do
+ Telephone : 055-880-2960
+ Fees : 1,000 won (Adult), 800 won (Adolescent), 600 won (Child)
+ Traditional Hanok Room Fees: 35,000 won on weekdays, 50,000 won on weekends.
+ Operating Hours : 09:00 ~ 18:00 (No holidays)
