We arrived at a dark car park where we dismounted the bus and headed up a dark path towards 송참봉조선동네 (Songchambong Joseon village). This was the site of a village dating back to the Joseon dynasty (1392 to 1897) and would be our home for the night. No sooner had we settled into our hanok (traditional Korean house) we were informed it had infact already been booked so we packed up and moved. Walking across the village it was interesting to see the village had its own cows, chickens and ducks and of course kimchi making pots; it was reassuring to see where the meat was coming from, something of a luxury these days in a world dominated by intensive farming practices.
On arrival into our hanoks we were warmly greeted by a maturing fire, trying its best to warm up the rocky base of the building, the stone base takes a couple of hours to warm up however once warm it stays so for a long time as we all noticed after waking up nine hours later with a warm glow massaging our bodies long after the fire had gone out. The heating systems used today in Korea use the basic principles of the ancient technique; heat is injected at the lowest point in the room (below the floor) and rises to warm the whole room from bottom to top. This method is incredibly efficient and I believe the world could learn a lot about domestic energy conservation from this method.
As I opened the door of the hanok the next morning I questioned whether I had been transported back in time to an Anglo Saxon village. Its funny how the whole atmosphere of a place can change between light and dark, the only thing that stayed constant was the smell of smoldering fires after a night long effort to keep us warm. The view conjured up a childhood memory of visiting West Stow a reconstructed Saxon village in Thetford, England with straw roofed huts and a relentless smoky presence.
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