So the Baekje kingdom in the west was the rival to the Silla kingdom in the east (whose capital Gyeongju I went to last weekend). The Baekje had two capitals Buyeo and Gongju at different times. By the 7th centure the Silla kingdom in the east united with the Baekje beginning the unified Silla rule and ending the Baekje dynasty. There is now a month long festival in the two Baekje cities Buyeo and Gongju to celebrate the Baekje heritage in collaboration with China and a cast of hundreds of performers.

Everyone bailed on me this weekend which is good coz I kept it quiet and people have been slowing me down on other trips. The logistics of getting there was a 4 1/2 trip one way. First a 45 minute bus ride from my apartment to the train station. Then a metro ride to the high speed train station. Then $16 for the one hour high speed train to Daejeon on the west, Korea's fifth largest city. From Daejeon train station you have to goto the bus station a few kms away. The lady in the tourist office said to take bus 701 but I couldnt find it so jumped in a cab for $5 to save time with the bus connection. Then a $6 bus ride to Buyeo which took an hour and a half to go 50kms as it winds thru all the little towns. So almost $30 one way and 4.5 hours

At the Buyeo bus station there was no tourist office but a map of the town. I wondered around trying to find the office but only the chinese speaking agent was there, the english one was on lunch. She sort of explained the route of the two processions at 2pm. That left time for me to go up the mountain fortress to explore and come back down. So your climbing to the summit of the mountain and passing various structures along the way. At the peak you can see most of the town, and some riverboats. It is said that 3000 women and daughters jumped to their deaths off the top of the rock when the Baekje kingdom was falling to the Silla, rather than be captured as slaves. On the way down I could already hear the procession starting so bolted down the mountain!!

Video : View from Nakhwaam Rock
http://www.youtube.com/user/londone73#p /u/181/HvtReQQ4iX0

I got to the bottom at perfect time to catch the royal procession which was the first one. The second was the mounted cavalry with lots of period soldiers on horses and troops marching behind. The two processions were the reason I came so now I had about 2 hours to kill. There was the Buyeo National Museum and a 5 story pagoda downtown, or a large palace complex to the north across the river. I opted for the palace but to save time jumped in a cab again for $8. I thought the performances for the day were done until the evening galas.

Video : Royal Procession
http://www.youtube.com/user/londone73#p /u/180/dDs2IcGEhg8

Video : Horse Mounted Procession
http://www.youtube.com/user/londone73#p /u/179/63kMSn0p3YU

When I got to the palace I couldnt have timed it better. First of all I had no idea there was a performance going on here. Second, I literally arrived just as it begun. First the royal party marches thru the palace gates into the inner courtyard. Then all the guards take their places as the royal party ascends the steps to the main building to survey everyone from above. Then the King addresses his subjects before the performances begin.

First there are two twirling girls doing a traditional korean dance. Then a sword display. Then another group of ladies do a flower dance to celtic music. Then they all do a sort of ribbon dance with big white sheets (or their version of how to dry your laundry!). Then the King addresses everyone a few times and performs some ceremonial duties, before everyone kneels then raise and start fisting the air and chanting. This was like being on the set of some period movie epic, I couldnt believe my luck that I actually came here by chance and timed it so perfect. I was having some problem with my movie camera memory card and it kept stopping after 30 seconds or I was trying to record as much as I could.

Video : Part 1 - Entrance of Royal Court
http://www.youtube.com/user/londone73#p /u/5/QNgrU0HB_zY

Video : Part 2 - Courtiers take Positions
http://www.youtube.com/user/londone73#p /u/177/60GtacYJuUw

Video : Part 3 - Kings Address
http://www.youtube.com/user/londone73#p /u/176/AVCMvouDoK8

Video : Part 4 - Dancing Girls
http://www.youtube.com/user/londone73#p /u/175/F1Fk5RjwaZY

Video : Part 5 - Celtic Music Flower Dance
http://www.youtube.com/user/londone73#p /u/174/N96wBIDjCwQ

Video : Part 6 - Fabric Dance
http://www.youtube.com/user/londone73#p /u/173/dr4mcIXhSeE

The rest of the palace is three folk villages. One is traditional clay roofs. The other is straw thatched buildings. The last is a fortified timber village. There are also some royal tombs and displays of traditional craftmaking. There is also a large gold tipped pagoda on the other side of the complex with traditional korean buildings. By this time it was close to 5 and I needed to get back to the bus station to start the 4.5 hour trip home. So everything in reverse, $8 cab ride to Buyeo bus station, 90 min bus to Daejeon for $6, $5 cab ride to Daejeon train station, $16 one hour train to Daegu.

The Daejeon cab driver was weaving really fast at high speed. Daejeon looked better at night coz didnt look that interesting by day. The train to Daegu didnt realize it sold me a standing ticket as there was no seat number. This is actually a safety hazard to have standing passengers on a 300km speed train. I was chatting with a giant US army dude from Buffalo and a korean guy that wanted to know my salary! Got to Daegu station after 8 so had time to spare before the buses shut down after 10. Went to Mr Pizza across the station and got a take out pizza. In korea if you order take out they discount the price, even at McDonalds! Then I was bad and took a $12 cab all the way home as I was too tired to do the one hour trip by public transport and didnt want to eat my pizza on the bus! :)

This festival was amazing and I didnt even see it proper. There were evening performances on floating river stages, and battle re-enactments with cast of hundreds. There were events in the other town Gongju as well which I didnt even go to. Everyone keeps saying to goto Gongju as there are more historical sites there. Next year I will definately go again and stay overnight to visit both towns. Originally I was planning to do both this year but decided i'll just tire myself out with too many weekend trips back to back and will get expensive adding hotels. I've travelled to 35 countries before Korea but this is the only country I know of that has so many festivals. I think they are coming to a close now so things can calm down. Next weekend is 'mandatory rest period' as they say on The Amazing Race.

I found out there is another temple called Heinsa which is easy to get to from Daegu. This is a Unesco site and one of the three most important temples in Korea. It houses wooden tables with ancient writings. Maybe i'll try that the weekend after next.... ? also there is the Russian Red Army Choir and folk dancers so I want to check that out, as well as Phantom of the Opera in Korean!!!

so my 3.30 cleaning crew has decided to stop showing up and the classroom is looking like a tip. the head boy has pretty much been coming off and on and its not fair to make him do it all and i keep asking where are his friends? so one day i enlisted these two girls in the hallway and gave them candy as they're not supposed to be cleaning my room. then my class got invaded by kids saying they love me to get the candy and gladly willing to clean the room for it. guess i've found my solution for a clean room... until they stopped showing up again!

My english buddy teachers take me to Seumon market which is a whole market district neighbourhood downtown. Oddly, the entire neighbourhood shuts down at 6pm unlike other markets I've seen in asia which are late night or even all night?? Later I find a fish and produce market hidden three blocks from my house that I never knew about

I also stumbled into the lunchtime dance club at schools were girls, and yes boys, were practicing pop band dance moves. There is also a school museum room I never knew about. Also, I have to do an 'open class' which is when other people come to watch my class from the school board for evaluation as well as the principal and vice principal. I picked November and picked a class whose students I like.

Lately, they have started acting crazy and out of control. I guess the novelty of the foreign teacher has worn off and they just keep chatting in class. I've taken one chair from each group and said only a 3/2 split of boys and girls, instead of a group of six at one table all chatting. then they tell me they love me so that they can stay, or they play rock/paper/scissors to decide who leaves

We've invented a new game.. google translator.. they write a word in english like 'pizza' and I have to write it in korean hangul.. they love it coz they get to be the teacher and correct my mistakes and they get so excited and are all trying to take turns and shouting words at me!!

funny answers
what will you do to earn pocket money....... watch tv
when will emma get the pocket money ...... everyday