smoke coming from the wood fire that is heating the ondol floors in the tea house

Of all the things to do in Korea, my favorite is quickly becoming doing ANYTHING where there are NOT lots of people.  Last year I got to see Changdeokgung Palace (first trip & second trip) in a small group.  I also visited Hahoe Village on eve of one of the biggest holidays so no one was there.

Now, I’m realizing that isolated temples in small beach towns are pretty deserted in 15 degree weather… but only if you arrive very early.

I went back to Buan last week (here’s the first trip) with datesRibs in an effort to see Jikso Falls… the waterfall I tried to see the week before.  I thought by going with a Korean I would have no trouble.  But… as it turns out… some Koreans don’t like hiking up mountains for hours in the freezing cold and given the prospect can come up with some pretty inventive stories like “oh, we have to transfer buses 7 times and then hike for 4 hours” or “oh, my friend just called and I have to be home early tomorrow, we won’t have time to hike”… so, needless to say I didn’t get to see Jikso Falls.

I did, however, get to see Naeso Temple (or Naesosa) in the early morning and it was incredible.  I’d never been to any temple without throngs of people.  This day, there was one other person there and we could hear the morning ceremony taking place in the main hall.

Naeso Temple was originally built in 633 during the Baekje Kingdom (18 BC – 660 AD) when Korea was divided into three kingdoms.  The current temple was rebuilt 1000 years later in 1633 during the Joseon Dynasty.

I definitely recommend early an early morning trip.  See the full photo set here.

at every temple there are guardians and beneath the guardians are the "evil" beings they are protecting us from... this is one of those evil beings

Naesosa was laid out really well and the lines of the buildings flowed nicely

the mountains surrounding the temple were gorgeous... even in the dull grey winter

the pagoda in front of the main temple

after walking around a bit, we had tea in a wood building over 250 years old with the traditional ondol floor heating

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I went to Buseoksa (or Buseok Temple)… it was incredible.  It is one of the most beautiful temples I’ve seen in Korea (along with Naksansa and Donghwasa) sitting in the beautiful mountains of the Northern Gyeongsang province.

The history of the temple is quite impressive.  It was originally built in 676 AD during the Silla Dynasty (57 AD – 935 AD) by Uisang.  But Uisang didn’t do it alone!  He was helped in this feat by his beloved, Seonmyo.  Seonmyo and Uisang loved each other, but Seonmyo was heartbroken when she heard that Uisang would be leaving her to go build Buseok Temple, so she jumped into the water and drowned; then becoming a dragon who would go on to protect Uisang from all meddlesome pagans and ne’er-do-wells.

I wish Abigail Adams had a dragon backstory.  It’s so romantic and so much better than “she stayed home to tend to the farm.”

This temple is a must see.  In addition to being stunningly beautiful, the main building is one of the oldest wooden structures in Korea, being built in 1376.

Here are the photos.  You can view the full set here.

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Last year I read several blog posts about Naksan Temple, or Naksansa/낙산사 (wikipedia), and I really wanted to visit.  It is one of the few temples that are on the coast (as most are on top of mountains).

But, living in Andong and getting out of work at 11pm really prevented me from traveling too far.  So, I was very excited for this week’s Chuseok holiday… well, I was excited until I came down with gastritis.

But once I was there, Naksansa took my breath away, and not because my entire midsection would periodically make me double over in pain (from the gastritis)… it was just that beautiful.  Naksansa is my new favorite temple.  I will stop here and just show the photos.

You can view the full set here.

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Directions: From Dong Seoul Bus Terminal, you can get a 2.5 hour bus to Sokcho every hour (16,000 won).  Once in Sokcho, turn right outside of the bus terminal to find the bus stop and take bus 9-1 to Naksansa (every 10 minutes @ 1,000 won).  Since this temple is not located on top of a mountain, it is extremely easy to find — just tell the bus driver “Naksansa.”

You can also take an express bus from the Gangnam Terminal although the trip is a bit longer at 3:10.

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As usual, I got out of work at 11pm on Friday.  I went straight to bed because I had to wake up at 5am to catch the bus to Seoul.  But I was nervous; I couldn’t sleep.  I woke up late and missed the 6am bus.

After three hours, I arrived in East Soul and, after one hour and a few more subway transfers, arrived at my first interview.  I was sweaty and due to lack of sleep (and a nice little pimple that showed up the previous day beneath my right eye) my eyes looked like a 53 year old on a three-day drinking binge.

Left the first interview and made a beeline to the nearest coffee shop before heading to the second interview.  With everything finished, I collapsed on the bus, only to find myself sitting beside a couple who desperately wanted to watch the television show on full volume — this despite me saying “I hate you” in the international language of The Glare.

After spending 14 hours on buses, trains, and their respective stations, I was ready for bed.  But a friend called and we met for some beers.  Then friend #2 called and we had more beer.  Then friends #3, #4, and #5 called and we headed to a singing room.

After singing Patti Page and Barry Manilow (both to 100 scores), I finally headed home.

On Sunday, a friend and I went to Gounsa — a very nice temple near Andong.  I really enjoyed it and can’t believe I waited so long to see it.

You can view the full photo set here.

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Donghwasa is probably my favorite temple in Korea.  I love everything about it.

So for Buddha’s Birthday, I decided to make a last minute trip.  It was very, very interesting, even if it wasn’t as awe-inspiring as the first time.  They were doing construction on the enormous 33m Buddha, so that was a mess.  And while I’m a lantern’s biggest fan, I don’t particularly care for walls of them that prevent me from seeing anything else.

In addition: I didn’t eat before I left.  My legs were extremely tired.  And, there were no seats on the one-hour bus ride home (not to mention that a group of really loud American college kids got on the bus right before me, making me a recipient of many angry stares as I was automatically lumped together with the other white people standing right beside me).

It did not help me achieve a state of nirvana.

But, I’m very glad I went.  It was a special day in many ways.

You can view the full photo set here.

*You can now click on the first thumbnail for a small pop-up lightbox that makes it easier to skim the photos.

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After two long days in Seoul walking more than I have ever walked in my entire life, I pulled it together enough to wait it out for the Lotus Lantern Festival Parade.  I’m glad I did, because I loved it.

In my former life working in politics, I attended many (MANY) parades.  As a rule, I don’t like them… I’ve been scarred ever since I was forced to march for Joe Lieberman with two interns and a Joe-mobile in front of John Edwards, Elizabeth Edwards, and their enormous staff.  (NB, this was BEFORE either Lieberman or Edwards took their respective nose-dives into meaninglessness… or, at least before Edwards’.)

Aside from the beautiful lanterns and beautiful hanbok — both of which make me incredibly happy — it was so nice to see so many smiles.  I don’t typically get too many smiles from Koreans.

It’s not like Tennessee where you have to smile and say hello to everyone you see.  And it’s not like Connecticut where you have to smile and say hello to everyone you see (who has the same skin color and socio-economic status)… I just don’t get too many hello’s in Korea.  And I’m okay with that (really I am!), but it was nice to have an hour or so of endless waves.

I was also excited to try out my new Canon s90 camera, which I paid way too much money for at the Yongsan Electronics Market — learning the hard way that sometimes free trade agreements can be quite wonderful.

I’ve always carried cheap point-and-shoots, so I was pretty pumped to finally upgrade to something with more flexibility without being enormous and forcing me to carry the badge of Fake Professional Photographer.

So, here it is.  You can view the full set here (40 photos).

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This weekend I spent some time in Seoul to check out the Lotus Lantern Festival.  Buddha’s birthday is this month and there are a lot of things going on.

It was very interesting in comparison to American festivals… by that I mean it was A LOT less annoying.  Of course, I can never figure out if I’m less annoyed because no one is talking to me or if it’s actually less annoying.

I will give Korea the benefit of the doubt on this one.  It was a great festival with booths on lantern making, temple stays, books, etc.  Plus, instead of serving fried Snickers bars, they had healthy temple food.

One of the best parts was getting to see a traditional tightrope-walking performance — called jultagi or 줄타기.  I had seen this in movies, but never live… and to channel Annie Hall, it was pretty neat!

You can see the full photo set here.

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I cannot do justice to Bulguksa Temple…

It was originally built it 528 A.D., but expanded (in its current form) in 751 A.D.

It is a designated UNESCO World Heritage Site, which is impressive on it’s own right… (there aren’t many American UNESCO World Heritage Sites).

My photos could never convey the importance of this temple.  From what I know (which isn’t much), this temple was THE TEMPLE during (at least part of) the Silla Dynasty.

So, I’ll let the photos do what they will… although I was not allowed to take pictures at any of the actual temples (i.e., the Buddhas).

Related posts:

1. Buseok Temple — beautiful temple from 676 AD I went to Buseoksa (or Buseok Temple)… it was incredible....
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Near the top of Mt. Palgongsan is Donghwasa Temple.  It was amazing — that’s all I can say.

The original structures of Donghwasa Temple were built in 493 A.D., and it was expanded in 832 A.D. — all during the 992 year reign of the Silla Dynasty.

You can read more about the temple here.  I’ll let the pictures do the rest.

See the full photo set here.

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