Flora and Fauna.

Yes, I am still posting photos from last fall. Hey, if I continue at this pace you'll be glad when I post winter pictures in middle of summer. These are just some more photos of places around Andong. All the locations are within bicycle riding distance, though a couple of the rides are a bit long. I hope you enjoy the view.


Just a shot of a waterfall built in a park near the forestry museum. Kind of picturesque. People are always taking each other's photos in front of this spot.



Icheon-dong Seokbulsa. Not far outside of town is a Buddha image carved on some granite boulders. The image of the Buddha's body is carved on the face of the dark rock and the head is actually a carved second boulder placed above the surface carving.



In this shot you can see the carved lines depicting the folds of his robe.



Here is a close-up of the carving of his hand. You can see that he is pointing.



A side shot showing most of the length of the carving and the head from the side. The surface carving is about 10 meters tall and the head part is about 2.5 meters. Notice that the head and the "hat" are actually two different pieces.



Here is a final shot of the head. Apparently the head had been misplaced for a while and was only put back into position relatively recently.



A field of flowers along the roadside. They sow these seeds which come up every fall. I am not sure, but I think they are called cosmos. It is really very pretty in person.



More flowers.



A close-up of a few flowers.



A pair of white flowers.


This is almost the same as the previous shot but I like this one too. This second shot happened to catch a bee in the process of doing what bees do, collecting nectar and pollen, I suppose. Unless he saw me and wanted his picture taken.



Here is an interesting caterpillar I found. I don't know what it turns into, and I didn't wait around to see. Sorry.



Near the folk museum there is an outdoor set that was (is still?) used for the period dramas that Koreans seem to like. It is built to represent an older period of Korean history. This particular part of the set shows the cells and torture chair they seemed to like to use.



Here are some more torture devices used on the TV drama. Whether these devices are true to history, I don't know. But they seem like they could do the job.



Here is an over view of the village portion of the set. These would be old style houses - possibly in the 1000s - 1300s period. (?That is just a guess. They have probably used this set for several different period dramas.?)



Another building set representing a more upper class, but small, house and compound with front gate.



Here is another building on the TV drama set. This is a bit more modern and upscale than the others.



Just another item of fauna found near a stream. He (she?) was a bit camera shy and didn't want to cooperate for a picture, but I finally got a good one.



Sunset on the Naktong river, just below the dam. There is a second flow control dam just at the edge of the horizon water line. That is why the river is so smooth. The area around Andong is actually pretty nice. The town can be a bit unexciting, but I guess it generally has to be one or the other. It is not common to get both an exciting town and pretty surroundings.