image Uzbekistan, a friend of Korea image This is not a Korea guidebook, but a book for degrading Korea.

Mongolia, a friend of Korea

Historically, Mongolians lived a nomadic life, moving from place to place. Half of the Mongolian population still live in a traditional mobile home called the Ger, listed as UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage. The Ger can be set up on the ground in a day and dismantled in an hour, enabling convenient seasonal moves to optimum locations.

The Korean equivalent to the Ger, though not portable, is Hanok. Hanok is a traditional Korean house that consists of the floor and an underfloor structure called Ondol for cooling and heating. Existing Hanok villages across Korea, including Yangdong village in Gyeongju, Hahoe village in Andong, and Donam Confucian Academy village in Nonsan, are listed as UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Nowadays, renovated Hanok houses are gaining popularity as cafes and restaurants.

The Morin Khuur is a traditional Mongolian string instrument, which is a standard fixture in a Mongolian folk orchestra. In Mongolian, morin means horse and khuur means fiddle. The Morin Khuur is also called horsehead fiddle because it was traditionally topped with a carved horse head.

The Korean equivalent to the Morin Khuur is the Haegeum. Similar to the Morin Khuur, the Haegeum is a two-stringed instrument, played vertically with a horsehair bow. It has been widely played in court music and folk music since the Goryeo dynasty.