We left Seoul and traveled south to Gyeongju, an area rich in Buddhist history. We visited Bulguksa, which means Temple of Buddha Land, and signifies the attempt to create a utopian temple in the midst of the everyday world. Originally build in the 8th century, it fell victim to wars and fires, and the version you see is a reconstruction from the 1970's that uses the original stones.
Spring was peaking and we saw lots of azaleas blooming throughout the temple grounds.
The trails were beautiful and we opted to walk between Bulguksa and the nearby Buddhist grotto called Seokguram.
We also saw forsythia blossoms. No photos can be taken in the grotto which included a carved granite Buddha flanked by Bodhisattvas, ten disciples, eight divine guardians, two devas, and two vajrapanis. It's considered a masterpiece of east Asian Buddhist art, but since it was behind glass (to protect them) our ability to see them was limited.
Along with the azaleas and forsythias, springtime in Korea means cherry blossoms. As Pete was having Kristina pose near these trees, a Korean gentleman came up and quickly offered his assistance to photograph us both. Clearly he knew what he was doing as he lifted the branch for Kristina to hold.
There were many Koreans appreciating the cherry trees, too. They were having picnics, singing, and dancing!
There were lots of kids on school field trips here. We talked to some who wanted to practice their English. They asked us how old we were. They were shocked at our advanced ages. Here they are striking the favorite pose for photos: making a peace sign!
We were enjoying the scenery and hiking so we chose to climb to the summit of Mount Toham at 2445 feet, where we rewarded with views in all directions. There were trails along the ridge, and the trails were well-maintained.
We visited Beomeosa, Temple of the Nirvana Fish, in Busan. The name comes from the legend that there was a magic well at the top of the hill that was home to a golden fish who came from the heavens. It was raining off and on when we visited but we didn't see the well or any fish. Pete adopted the Korean pose for this photo. There were many beautiful walls in the temple complex.
Beomosa is our favorite temple in South Korea so far, as it is nestled in these green hills and has many small temples which were beautiful. In the lower right corner is a tiger lantern, which is part of the decorations for the Buddha's birthday.
In this temple you can see the hundreds of small Buddhas, each with a tiny light. We think each is sponsored by a Korean lay Buddhist who gains merit by supporting the temple. We enjoyed meditating here, and we could hear the sounds of rain and wind chimes while we sat.
Next we went to Dongwhasa which is famous for this Giant Buddha. The temple and grounds were decorated for the Buddha's birthday later this month.
There were many dragons and we felt fortunate to be able to travel in 2013, the year of the dragon.
Dongwhasa is located on Mount Palgong, which is probably the most spiritually important mountain in South Korea with many temples, stupas and rock carvings here. This is a budo, which is a monument to a Buddhist master. The cremated remains of the master, along other important objects like small statues of the Buddha are typically held in the budo.
At all these temples, we saw stones stacked up in various formations. They show respect for the Buddha and are thought to bestow blessings. The act of stacking the stones is also meditative in nature. Around Dongwhasa we saw the most elaborate stacks yet, which reminded us of the work of Andy Goldsworthy.
We took a bus to Mount Palgong and noticed that most of the passengers on the bus were Korean hikers. Korea has many beautiful mountains and many people are avid hikers. They have high tech gear, including clothes, packs and poles.
Kristina's folks, Patty and Bill, are avid hikers too. We emailed them about our hiking adventures with a snarky subject line: "You wish you were here!" They took the teasing in stride and replied that they would love to be hiking in Korea, but instead had plenty of hikes planned, including a trip to the Grand Tetons in Wyoming this summer to celebrate the 10th anniversary of when they met on an Elder Hostel hiking trip. Here's a photo of them from our 2010 trip to Alaska. As was typical, they had beat us to the view point called Juneau Falls and were waiting for us to catch up so that we could take this picture. We are looking forward to exploring Japan with them in September!
The hiking on Mt Palgong was strenuous at times. We had to scamper over boulders but then were rewarded with incredible views.
Peace signs abound!
We hiked to one of the peaks called Naktabong, which is shown in the foreground of this photo.
Then we hiked a ridge trail to get to a cable car. They had built staircases for the last 200 feet of the trail.
We were delighted that the cable car station had a restaurant on top, and we celebrated with a seafood pancake (similar to Japanese okonomiyaki) and beers.
We enjoyed the views from the cable car as we descended to the base of the mountain, then took the bus back to Daegu, tired and sore but uplifted by our beautiful hike.
Spring was peaking and we saw lots of azaleas blooming throughout the temple grounds.
The trails were beautiful and we opted to walk between Bulguksa and the nearby Buddhist grotto called Seokguram.
We also saw forsythia blossoms. No photos can be taken in the grotto which included a carved granite Buddha flanked by Bodhisattvas, ten disciples, eight divine guardians, two devas, and two vajrapanis. It's considered a masterpiece of east Asian Buddhist art, but since it was behind glass (to protect them) our ability to see them was limited.
Along with the azaleas and forsythias, springtime in Korea means cherry blossoms. As Pete was having Kristina pose near these trees, a Korean gentleman came up and quickly offered his assistance to photograph us both. Clearly he knew what he was doing as he lifted the branch for Kristina to hold.
There were many Koreans appreciating the cherry trees, too. They were having picnics, singing, and dancing!
There were lots of kids on school field trips here. We talked to some who wanted to practice their English. They asked us how old we were. They were shocked at our advanced ages. Here they are striking the favorite pose for photos: making a peace sign!
We were enjoying the scenery and hiking so we chose to climb to the summit of Mount Toham at 2445 feet, where we rewarded with views in all directions. There were trails along the ridge, and the trails were well-maintained.
We visited Beomeosa, Temple of the Nirvana Fish, in Busan. The name comes from the legend that there was a magic well at the top of the hill that was home to a golden fish who came from the heavens. It was raining off and on when we visited but we didn't see the well or any fish. Pete adopted the Korean pose for this photo. There were many beautiful walls in the temple complex.
Beomosa is our favorite temple in South Korea so far, as it is nestled in these green hills and has many small temples which were beautiful. In the lower right corner is a tiger lantern, which is part of the decorations for the Buddha's birthday.
In this temple you can see the hundreds of small Buddhas, each with a tiny light. We think each is sponsored by a Korean lay Buddhist who gains merit by supporting the temple. We enjoyed meditating here, and we could hear the sounds of rain and wind chimes while we sat.
Next we went to Dongwhasa which is famous for this Giant Buddha. The temple and grounds were decorated for the Buddha's birthday later this month.
There were many dragons and we felt fortunate to be able to travel in 2013, the year of the dragon.
Dongwhasa is located on Mount Palgong, which is probably the most spiritually important mountain in South Korea with many temples, stupas and rock carvings here. This is a budo, which is a monument to a Buddhist master. The cremated remains of the master, along other important objects like small statues of the Buddha are typically held in the budo.
At all these temples, we saw stones stacked up in various formations. They show respect for the Buddha and are thought to bestow blessings. The act of stacking the stones is also meditative in nature. Around Dongwhasa we saw the most elaborate stacks yet, which reminded us of the work of Andy Goldsworthy.
We took a bus to Mount Palgong and noticed that most of the passengers on the bus were Korean hikers. Korea has many beautiful mountains and many people are avid hikers. They have high tech gear, including clothes, packs and poles.
Kristina's folks, Patty and Bill, are avid hikers too. We emailed them about our hiking adventures with a snarky subject line: "You wish you were here!" They took the teasing in stride and replied that they would love to be hiking in Korea, but instead had plenty of hikes planned, including a trip to the Grand Tetons in Wyoming this summer to celebrate the 10th anniversary of when they met on an Elder Hostel hiking trip. Here's a photo of them from our 2010 trip to Alaska. As was typical, they had beat us to the view point called Juneau Falls and were waiting for us to catch up so that we could take this picture. We are looking forward to exploring Japan with them in September!
The hiking on Mt Palgong was strenuous at times. We had to scamper over boulders but then were rewarded with incredible views.
Peace signs abound!
We hiked to one of the peaks called Naktabong, which is shown in the foreground of this photo.
Then we hiked a ridge trail to get to a cable car. They had built staircases for the last 200 feet of the trail.
We were delighted that the cable car station had a restaurant on top, and we celebrated with a seafood pancake (similar to Japanese okonomiyaki) and beers.
We enjoyed the views from the cable car as we descended to the base of the mountain, then took the bus back to Daegu, tired and sore but uplifted by our beautiful hike.
