I just love the city of Suwon. It was one of the first cities I explored with a friend in 1984 (we wandered around looking for the wall before finally giving up — it’s much more developed and easier to find these days!).
It also hides 20 protected trees…well, actually only 18. I can’t find one, and another collapsed a couple of years ago.
So today, despite yesterday’s dinner keeping me up most of the night, I pushed myself to hunt for four of the trees, and I wasn’t disappointed. It turned out to be a beautiful day, and of course there’s nothing better to sweat out a bad meal than a good ride.
The first tree was a 370-year-old Zelkova outside the Suwon Gwanggyo Museum right next to the East Suwon IC. Like most protected trees these days, it was a bit beat up and propped by poles, but still quite a noble tree.
The next tree was tucked on a hillside within the wall of the fortress. It was in a bit worse shape, and difficult to get a shot. It, too, was a 370-year-old Zelkova.
The next two were a 350-year-old pair of Zelkovas planted in front of the palace gate. They even came with a bit of a story…more of an explanation actually.
Like I said, Suwon is a beautiful city, and it’s got some pretty cool stuff that I’m going to go back to visit when I’m not in my bike gear. There’s at least one more tree inside the palace grounds, but they frown on taking bikes into their museums.
Here are a couple more pictures around the fortress.
I’ll be sure to follow this up with more when I go again.
[…] Korean forces 70 years ago just last week is less than 10 miles north of me, and if you read my post from just a few days ago, you would know about the fortress in Suwon built at about the time the […]