Beomeosa Temple & more stories

Today I was on my own in the morning since Katie still had to go to work.  She must work nearly every day.  They do not get summer vacations like we do in America.  She also does not get personal days or sick days.  These people just work no matter what.

So, Katie sent me some suggestions of places to visit today.  I ventured off on the subway to Beomosa Temple.  I thought I was doing really well traveling alone on public transportation here until I got to my exit stop at Beomeosa.  When I inserted my ticket to get out of the subway it buzzed at me with a big red light.  Grrreat!  So now what do I do?  I do what anyone else would do and crawl under the exit gate!  Sooo classy!!  Anyways,  I hopped on a bus that took me up to the temple.  This was an extraordinary sight set up on the edge of Mt. Geumjeonsan.  This is a famous mountain in Busan.  It was constructed by a monk way too long ago during the Silla Dynasty.  Unfortunately for me, there was a significant part of the temple that was closed for reconstruction.  It was burned down to the ground in the late 1500s during a Japanese invasion, but later reconstructed to it's present form in the 1700s.  This is pretty common for places like this.  However, I did get to see surrounding temples and experienced some monks doing their thing. This was quite interesting!  I tried to take as many pictures as I could, but there were places where they would not allow them for religious purposes.

Several people inside praying while a monk led the chant.

There were several visitors meditating inside and doing whatever they do.  As you can tell, I know so much about Buddhism.  This particular temple is home to several hermitages surrounding this temple where monks live and train.  

Panoramic view of what I got to see of the temple.

You may also spend a day at this temple experiencing a common day for these people, or you may
also do a templestay where you actually spend the night here. I think I'll just stick to being a tourist! 

Inside one of the temples.  So many intricate details.

I then found my way hiking up a small rock path. It was absolutely magnificent in sight and so peaceful.  I was curious to where it led so I kept hiking.  I'm really smart when it comes to traveling because I had sandals on...and below is what my trail looked like. 

A view of perfection.

Most people I passed were decked out in hiking gear, backpacks, and hiking sticks.  Me? I had on
shorts, nice shirt, and sandals.  I fit right in!  I kept hiking up and up and up and realized I hadn't really seen anyone in awhile so I hesitated.  Then I saw another Korean man a few feet behind me so I kept going.  Who cares if I'm in the middle of nowhere where this man might cut me.  I'll keep going!  

This is where things started to get questionable.

Things started to get a little more narrow so I got scared and turned around.  The Korean man tried to say something to me but didn't know English.  I finally understood that if I kept hiking 20 more
minutes I might see something.  FOR REAL?  I was sweating bullets by this time...but I wanted to see what he was talking about.  I'm glad I kept going!  I found what is called The North Gate to this temple area.  There were several gates and watchtowers to keep out foreign intruders.  It was such a sight to see! 

Here is a view of The North Gate that stretches on forever.  So worth the hike!

After hiking back down and only nearly turfing it a couple times, I got back on the subway.  Katie said I should really try to do the cable cars up the mountain if I could.  These were a few stops on the subway from where I was, so I thought why not?  The directions to this place included a subway and bus.  I'm pretty good with subway, but the buses are a little more confusing.  I never know which stop to take...and that was very clear as I apparently got on the correct bus going the wrong direction.  So finally after about a dozen stops I thought, maybe I should check google maps.  Yep, definitely going the opposite direction. So I quickly jumped off and hailed a taxi.  I showed the guy my phone with
where I hope it would be and just crossed my fingers this crazy Asian driver would get me there.  Sure enough, 6,300₩ later I'm at Geumgang Park where I can hit up these cable cars.  Whew!  Only about 45 minutes of wasted time.  I was so happy to get there and then I saw this: 

So angry!

YOU'RE JOKING, RIGHT?  That's my luck.  I was so mad I didn't even take the time to look around, plus it looked like it was going to start pouring down rain. (Typhoon effects). So I just google mapped myself and walked all the way back to the subway.  Got myself on and took it back to
Katie's.  What a day!  I straight passed out for a couple hours and she woke me to go eat Kimchijeon with a friend.  

Here is a picture of questionable at its finest.

We hailed a taxi and this is where we ended up.

A hole in the wall with paper walls.  There were also neat rolls of toilet paper on the walls for...napkins? Some things you just don't ask about.

Nice toilet paper rolls on the walls.

I was really unsure about it, but trust Katie, so I embraced the atmosphere.  

Another interesting Korean experience.

So this was dinner...the right is tofu with kimchi, the middle is like a savory cheesy pancake with soy sauce, and the left is simply like an omelet with ketchup.  The top there is radishes and garlic cloves.  Like I said, Koreans love to share, so you just dig in and eat whatever you want.  I have to say, it hasn't been my favorite meal, but the cheesy pancake was sure delicious!  

That was my day...lots of good things with a disappointing middle.  I can't believe I only have a couple days left here.  Trying to make the most of what's left!  I am missing you all at home though.  Can't wait to hug and smooch my family and plant a big, fat, wet one on my favorite boy.  I also really miss pizza, so have one ready for me! :).