The Jirye Art Village, a cluster of about 12 wooden buildings, is perched on a shoulder of the Yong-ji Mountain overlooking what used to be the Yesu River but is now part of the Imhaho (Dam). It’s hard to believe that I’m going to be sleeping in something that was erected in 1663. But am more impressed with the present views than history. Sitting beside my door to my ondol room, I can admire at leisure other traditional houses across the small courtyard. Looking up towards the peak, I spot a marvelous ancient pine standing like some guardian on watch.
Pic on right: see that pink-walled building in the bottom left hand corner of the pic? That was my room for two nights.
Even more thrilled when Mr Kim, my host, rips off the mosquito netting, with a dramatic flourish, from the window and pushes the window screens fully apart to reveal great views of the waters below. With the lake on one side and hills on the other, who could ask for more?
Other discoveries: besides the regal pine, there are other trees here - lovely maples, ginkgo, persimmons ripening on bare branches, a fragrant quince and even a blackberry bush. Photo on left: Another view of my room in the background, with ginkgo, persimmon and maple trees in foreground.
Also: family tumulis of the Kim clan, a organic vegetable patch, an ancestral shrine, a Confucian schoolhouse, and touches of modernity – a communal bathhouse with piped hot water for showers and a boat beside a jetty ( can one take the boat from Andong to JAV?)
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