A dolmen is a kind of tomb used by people who lived as far back as 4,000 years ago in many parts of the world. They are characterized by the use of monoliths, which are very large stones placed on top of the grave site. The heaviest stone used in a Korean dolmen has been estimated to weigh 200 tons.
North and South Korea have about 40% of the world's dolmen. Korea's dolmen are thought to have been built from the 7th century BC to the 3rd century BC to honor the elite individuals in society. The places with the highest concentration of dolmen in Korea are the Gochang, Hwasun and Ganghwa dolmen sites.
Being a fan of history and human culture, I took a trip to see dolmen at the UNESCO World Cultural Heritage Site in Hwasun. I happened to be in Suncheon on the day I traveled to Hwasun, so I took a short bus ride to Beolgyo and transferred to another bus to Hwasun.
Upon arriving at Hwasun I immediately asked a bus station worker how to get to the Hwasun dolmen site. I was informed that there are two dolmen sites in Hwasun and that there are no buses that go from the bus station to either of the sites.
It was recommended that I talk to a taxi driver, so I did. The taxi driver confirmed that there are no buses to and from the dolmen sites. And then he offered to take me to the dolmen sites for 1.5 hours and charge me a flat rate of 30,000 won. Without any other options, I agreed.
The driver told me that one of the dolmen sites was "fake" in that the dolmen were real but they had been moved from their original locations and brought to the park. The second site was the "real" one because the dolmen were in their original locations. So I asked the driver to take me to the "real" site.
At the site, we were met by a park worker who gave me a pamphlet written in Korean about the park and asked for me to sign a guestbook. Then the driver followed a road that passes through the park, stopping occasionally for me to get out and take some pictures.
A few of the dolmen are so big that you really have to wonder how much work it took to move them. If I'm correct, the largest dolmen in Korea is at this site and is the dolmen with Chinese characters written on it in the first picture at the top of the page. That would be the 200 ton, 4 meter tall dolmen!
At the end of the park is a building which we went into for a few minutes to see some examples of what the burial chambers under the dolmen look like. It is a small exhibit and is free to enter. Once we finished that, we headed back to the bus station.
At the bus station, the driver asked me for 43,000 won because that was what was showing on the meter. I reminded him that we had a deal for 30,000 won. He told me that we went over the 1.5 hour time frame. So we renegotiated the price to 35,000 won.
Sitting at my desk and looking back, I'm happy to have seen firsthand a bit of important human history, however I'm upset that there wasn't a city bus or special shuttle bus available to get to and from the dolmen sites. 35,000 won is a lot to pay for a chance to see a UNESCO World Cultural Heritage Site.
I haven't been to the other dolmen sites in Gochang or Gangwha, so I can't say if either of those are more or less convenient. Nevertheless, I would only recommend this particular trip to you if you go with a group to offset the cost of renting a taxi or have a car of your own.
