"This is the Worst Tour in the Last 10 Years"
Written by Kyle on Saturday, August 29, 2009 in Korea, Republic of
Feelin' confused
Those weren't my words, mind you. Those kind words came from our tour guide of Changdeokgung Palace.Feelin' confused
I'll admit that I'm not much of a tour person. I tend to like to read about the history on my own and explore places based on my own free will. In Changdeokgung Palace, though, visitors are required to have a guide with them at all times, so we had no choice in the matter. I have had some wonderful guides in the past, though, so I kept my hopes up that our guide would be worth it. Unfortunately, she was just a stick-in-the-mud.
The tour started with her telling us "Ok, everybody get out your maps." Then she waited like a school teacher until everyone had fully opened the map so that she could explain where we were going. Not a good start.
"First we will start at number 4, then walk to...wait a minute. They changed the maps on me again! They always change the maps when I remember the numbers. Can I see someone's map? Good, ok. We will continue to number 14, then on to number 22, 24, and 25 and finally the secret garden. There is only one bathroom on the grounds, so please use it when we get there."
I'm not sure what I was supposed to do at that point. Should I have marked the path with a pen? Do I need to memorize the numbers? Is there going to be a test later?
She led us around to a lot of interesting places and gave us some interesting facts. For instance, this blue roof is blue because blue signifies royalty. It is apparently the only surviving blue roof in Korea (the Japanese burned the rest).
Also, there is a certain building used only for conceiving the hier to the throne. In other words, it's a baby making factory. I like to call it the "Business Time Room".
I think it is also equipped with smooth jazz and a rotating bed.
And these walkways are separated by levels so that the king can walk on the highest level. It's not bad, being the king.
But then our guide drifted off into the world of her own thoughts.
"And over here is where the women slept. You know, they had this stupid system where the women lived in separate areas and did all the cooking and cleaning. I don't think this was fair. Do you? It was a dumb idea to think that men were better than women. I certainly don't agree with it. But anyway..."
The women's lib movement didn't make it into turn-of-the-century feudal Korea. Go figure.
I mean I agree that it was a dumb system, but I'm smart enough to figure that out myself. Heck, a 1st grader can make that leap of logic. And, you know, it was hundreds of years ago. People thought that diseases came from bad spirits then, so cut them some slack. Maybe I'm being rude, but I just want some information, not an opinion.
Finally, we moved on towards the reason that we were at Changdeokgung: the Secret Garden. According to our nifty guide book, this is one of the top 20 things to see in Korea, so we were pretty excited. However, on the way there, there was a problem: tourist traffic jam. There was another tourist group in front of us that was behind schedule and they were blocking the path. This was ok with me as it was a nicely shaded path lined with old, stone walls. The guide, however, took a different opinion.
"That guide is a volunteer. The tourists asked a lot of questions and he took a long time to explain them. When you give them a chance to speak, they just don't stop. So, we'll just have to wait for them. I've already told him to go faster."
Of course, after we waited for a sufficient amount of time, we went on, only to encounter the same tour group again. I think this was the end of a short rope for our guide. After barking at the other group in Korean, she continued, speaking into her megaphone.
"This is the worst tour in the last 10 years. Seriously. I have been here 10 years and this is the worst tour."
So, there you go. The worst tour in 10 years. The tour wasn't great, mind you, but it wasn't that bad. On the good side, I could have witnessed something rare. I mean, I'm half way around the world and I witnessed something that hasn't happened for 10 years! Hooray! That's something to tell my future kids about.
Oh, and that secret garden? We still aren't sure which one of the places we saw was the secret garden because neither of us recall her saying much about it and we were generally in the front of our group. So, maybe it was here:
Or here (I hope not given the slime factor of the water):
Mabye here (It looks nice):
For all I know it could have been here:
Mabye here (It looks nice):
For all I know it could have been here:
Comments on ""This is the Worst Tour in the Last 10 Years""
Interesting that you should describe your tour guide's "technique" as "like a school teacher." Since you ARE a school teacher, I can only assume that the reference was meant as a compliment! :) Asian architecture is always so interesting and if you are required to produce an heir, maybe the environment helps?
Nice tour story. Beautiful photos. Two happy teachers in blue shirts. Thanks for sharing!
by DADDIO at September 08, 2009 08:21 PM