Monthly Archives: July 2014

Daegu, South Korea

We’ve been using Airbnb to find accommodation on and off throughout the trip and it’s been especially useful for finding apartment rentals for a few weeks as it’s really nice to have a kitchen and a bit more space than the average hotel room. Another option is to rent someone’s spare room, which at its best is basically living with locals in a local neighbourhood. This is what we opted for in Daegu and we felt like we’d struck gold staying with lovely Gabby and Andrew. On our final evening we all had takeaway fried chicken and beers sitting in their living room watching Korean soap operas – it doesn’t get much more homely than that!

Gatbawi hike

July is the rainy season in Korea and we’ve sometimes had to juggle our plans a liitle to better suit the weather. On our first day in Daegu, the forecast was for a cloudy day but with no rain so we set out on the hour long bus ride north from Daegu to the Palgongsan Provincial Park and the fairly short but steep hike to Gatbawi shrine. The mountains were shrouded in clouds when we arrived and rain seemed inevitable but we’d come too far to turn back now and anyway I had an umbrella and Andrew had his hat, we’d be fine…

Very cloudy path up through the forest

Halfway up the hill there was a heavy shower which we were able to shelter from in a rest pavillion before continuing upwards through the damp air and dripping trees. The stairs were unrelenting with no flat sections at all but it wasn’t far really and we soon arrived at the shrine. The Buddha statue is carved from a single piece of stone and its official name is ‘Stone Seated Medicine Buddha’, but he is popularly called ‘Gatbawi’ which means ’Buddha of the Stone Gat’ (the traditional wide brimmed Korean hat) referring to his very obvious headgear.

Lady praying next to Gatbawi Buddha

The area around the statue is set up for the devout rather than for tourists with piped monk chants coming from speakers and stacks of mats which Koreans use when bowing, a kind of meditative humbling process to bring them closer to the Buddha Nature

The view might have been fabulous but all we could see was cloud and then it started to rain again. This time it was more than just a shower and the tarpaulin over the bowing area wasn’t really keeping the wet out anyway so we decided to head back down the hill. The Lonely Planet said there were two routes between the bus stop and the shrine, we opted for the non-step route for our return. It wasn’t any easier going, if anything it was harder as the path was sometimes rocky and slippy in the wet which required more care than the reasonably regular steps.

Andrew on the downward trail

Eventually we reached a crossroads with signs pointing off to different temples in each direction. The name of the one off to the left rang a bell, but that made no sense at all so by mutual agreement we set off on the path heading down the mountain. Of course, what we should have done was consult the photo of the trail that we took at the bottom of the hill and match up the Korean symbols with the sign, but it was raining, we were wet and trying to juggle camera and umbrella without getting more wet was too difficult so we just set off plodding downhill.

Hollyhock in the rain

After a while we rounded a corner to arrive at a car park and (closed) information point. It was clear that we were in entirely the wrong place and to make matters worse, the trails marked on the map in the car park, the photo we’d taken of the map at the bus stop and our memory of the crossroads didn’t tally up at all. We ate our lunch on a wet seat before trudging back up the hill to the last temple we’d passed to see if we could work out how to cross the ridge. Fortunately the rain had more or less stopped and it didn’t take long to arrive at the seemingly deserted Yongjuam temple.

Dozens of Buddha statues at the entrance to Yongjuam Temple

After admiring the bell and ruing the lack of view due to the still massed clouds we thought to pass by the main hall in search of a trail down the other side; cue very loud barking dogs who obviously were not keen on letting us past. At last a groundskeeper appeared, shouted at the dogs and pointed out the trail to Gwanamsa temple from where we could pick up the original path down to the bus stop.

We were very glad to spot Gwanamsa temple at last!

The supposed two hour round trip hike took us more than four hours, it’s a good thing we didn’t need to be anywhere else that afternoon!

Daegu markets

On our final day, we spent the morning chilling in a traditional Korean bathhouse before meeting Gabby for lunch at Seomun Market. She took us to “the best” food stall to sample tteokbokki, noodles and pancakes. After the delicious lunch we wandered through some of the stalls. Saturday afternoon is probably the busiest time of the week and it was packed. I was surprised that many of the clothes shops had an almost boutique look to them, much more upmarket than the clothes usually for sale in markets in England.

Cooking up tteokbokki, rice cakes in spicy sauce, in Seomun Market

Daegu is well known in Korea for its traditional medicine market. This dates back to the 17th century when the king decreed that a medicine market should be set up there. It wasn’t quite what we expected. I thought it would be a big covered hall with shops and stalls (like a regular market) but it’s actually a couple of streets in the city centre which are lined with shops selling herbs and offering traditional medical services such as acupuncture.

A look through one of the shop’s doorways. The large glass jars contain ginseng, a vital ingredient in many Korean herbal remedies.

Most of the shops had piles of what to our untrained eyes looked like bundles of twigs

Yangneongsi Oriental Medicine Museum is just off the market’s main street. It is nicely set up but has essentially no English signage so the friendly lady on reception gave us a tour in broken English. It begins with a few dioramas showing the history of the area, followed by an overview of the different plants (and animals) used in the remedies, and some scary looking acupuncture needles. On the lower floor was an interactive space where quiz machines would work out which of the four body types you are, and we learnt how to make remedies, as well as being able to try a small cup of herbal medicine tea (quite tasty!) and try on a traditional hanbok.

Yangneongsi Oriental Medicine Museum (clockwise from top left): reconstruction of an old style traditional doctor’s consulting room; medicinal herbs; learning to make herbal medicine in the interactive area; herbal tea dispenser

Us in traditional Korean hanbok. It’s unclear what link this has to traditional medicine but it was a fun activity. The hat Andrew is wearing is the ‘gat’ which the Gatbawi Buddha is named after.

Gyeongju, South Korea

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Gyeongju was once the capital of the long-lasting Silla dynasty which started in 57 BC, ran for almost a thousand years, and grew to rule most of the Korean peninsula. Often described as a ‘museum without walls’ the area in and around the main city has more palace ruins, burial mounds, rock carvings and Buddha statues than anywhere else in South Korea. With so much to see, it was tough to decide where to spend our time..

The Gyeongju “Tumuli” (Burial Mounds)

Tumuli or burial mounds in Gyeongju. These ones are in the Daereungwon Tomb Complex which has a small entrance fee, but there are so many more that are in open parkland

The tumuli, or burial mounds, were a lot bigger than we thought they’d be, and the many open parks to the south of the city are full of them. Their size denotes the importance of the person buried inside, and while some have been looted or excavated over the years, a lot of them have been left untouched.

In the Daereungwon Tomb Complex, the highlight is the Cheonmachong tumulus – half of the mound has been hollowed out so you can see the construction from the inside. In this tomb, believed to be that of an unknown Silla King, the body was laid east-to-west, surrounded by a large, thick wooden coffin, which was covered in rocks, then covered in earth to form the mound. Replicas of the items buried with the King are on display, including a piece of his saddle that depicts a flying horse which gives the tumulus its name.

Cheonmachong tumulus is so-named because of a painted saddle found inside that depicts a flying horse

Cheonmachong tomb is so-named because of a painted saddle found inside that depicts a flying horse

Just next to the tumuli is the Cheomseongdae Observatory. Built around 632~647, it is the oldest astronomical observatory in East Asia. It has 12 main stones forming the base – 1 for each month, 30 layers – one for each day of the month, and is constructed of 366 stones – one for each day of the year (OK, they’re one or two off!). Unlike the tumuli, we were expecting the tower to be a lot bigger than its description belies!

Us at the Cheomseongdae Observatory

Still surrounded by tumuli (yes, there are a lot of them!), are several lotus ponds. We were just a little late to catch them at their best, but we were just in time to see the tadpoles turning into itty-bitty frogs!

Frogs and lotus flowers

Bulguksa Temple and Seokguram

Us at the Bulguksa temple

Bulguksa temple is on the UNESCO World Heritage list and if that isn’t reason enough to visit, it’s also listed as a national Historic and Scenic Site and home to a number of designated national treasures as well as being the head temple of the 11th district of the Jogye Order of Korean Buddhism!

We arrived by bus and made our way up the steep winding pathway and through the lovely landscaped pond area to be greeted by the two magnificent stone staircases that lead up to the temple. In the main courtyard are Dabotap and Seokgatap – a pair of stone pagodas that are national treasures, one of which features on the ₩10 coin.

One of a pair of UNESCO recognised stone pagodas in the Gulguksa temple courtyard

Dabotap stone pagoda in the main Bulguksa temple courtyard

Dabotap features on the ₩10 coin (Photo source: <a href="http://www.koreanclicks.com/do-you-know/dabotap-%EB%8B%A4%EB%B3%B4%ED%83%91-drawing-on-koreas-10-won-coin">KoreanClicks</a>)

Dabotap features on the ₩10 coin (Photo source: KoreanClicks)

Bulguksa temple is beautiful. We especially loved the brightly painted eaves and the separate courtyards that had their own distinctive styles – particularly Nahanjeon which was surrounded by little piles of stones, and the surprise of a finding a bronze pig in front of Geuknakjeon!

Some of our favourite things at the Bulguksa Temple: beautifully carved and decorated eaves; Julie playing with the bronze pig; South Korean cairns, which are said to bring good luck, surround Nahanjeon

From Bulguksa, we made the short hike through the forest to the Seokguram Grotto..

Hike from Bulguksa to Seokguram Grotto

The Seokguram Grotto was completed in 772 and is home to a large stone sculpture of the Seokgamoni Buddha, the historic Buddha at the moment of enlightenment, which is regarded as one of the best examples in the world.

Seokguram Grotto. Repair work was being carried out (very noisily I might add) but we could still get in to see it

Seokgamoni Buddha statue inside the Seokguram Grotto (Photo source: <a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Seokguram_Buddha.JPG#mediaviewer/File:Seokguram_Buddha.JPG" title=""Seokguram Buddha" by Richardfabi - Wikipedia">Wikipedia</a>)

Seokgamoni Buddha statue inside the Seokguram Grotto (Photo source: Wikipedia)

Brightly coloured lanterns outside Seokguram Grotto, where we paused for ice cream :o)

Golgulsa Temple, home of the Sunmudo Martial Art

Golgulsa Temple with a carved Tathagata Buddha under the canopy in the background

The Golgulsa temple is the home of Sunmudo, a Korean martial art practiced by Buddhist monks initially as a method of dynamic meditation, and later revived to help repel invasions from the Japanese.

Set in a valley up the the side of Mt. Hamwol, the road through the grounds gets progressively steeper, and culminates in a hillside temple with an outside training area and display platform where demonstrations take place. As we had some time, we climbed up to see the Buddha carvings, and watched a chanting monk in Korea’s only cave temple.

Sunmudo martial arts demonstration

Every day at 11am and 3:30pm (except Mondays), students of the temple give a short demonstration of their skills and flexibility, which was very impressive indeed! The head monk’s routine looked more like Ashtanga yoga to our eyes, and in his Korean speech afterward we heard him say ‘yoga’ a few times. It made us want to take up our practice again..

Sunmudo martial arts demonstration

Namsan Mountain Range Hike – the museum without walls

While the whole of Gyeongju befits its description of a ‘museum without walls’, we agree with Jim Cheney’s sentiment that nowhere in Gyeongju is this truer than the Namsan mountain range.

The range itself is 8km by 12km and contains various artefacts thought to date from the Silla period. We chose a simple yet steep climb up the Samneung Valley to the top of Mt Geumobong (468m high), and down the Yongjanggol valley on the same side of the Namsan range.

The start of the path in Samneung Valley. Just around the corner it got very steep, very quickly!

I don’t think it would have mattered which path we chose, it seemed like every few steps there was a signpost directing us left or right a few metres to some carving, statue or other point of interest. Not only was it great to see so many works of art in such close proximity (and without barriers or ropes), but it helped break up the hike so it didn’t feel so strenuous!

Stone seated Buddha in Samneung Valley

The popular 7-metre tall Maitreya Buddha carving, sadly undergoing some preservation works during our visit so we could only see it from afar

The views over Gyeongju were very nice too

Our favourite of the artefacts we saw on Mt Namsan – the three-storey stone pagoda at the top of the Yongjanggol Valley

We were only in Gyeongju for a few days and we packed quite a bit of sightseeing in. We’re glad we did – there’s so much to see here and having a lot of it outside is a welcome change from air-conditioned museums!

Busan, South Korea

United Nations Memorial Cemetery in Korea (UNMCK)

It’s safe to say that before arriving in Busan neither of us knew anything about the 1950-53 Korean War, we’d barely even heard of it. The UNMCK is a reminder of the involvement of the rest of the world in this conflict between North and South Korea following their split at the end of WW2. The United Nations forces led by the US backed the South and China and the Soviet Union fought for the North. The site is unique as the only United Nations cemetery in the world.

Each grave is marked with a small plaque and a rosebush

The cemetery is the final resting place of 2300 dead soldiers from 11 nations, including 885 from the United Kingdom. We were shocked to discover how many fell under the banner of the UN – a total of 40,895 which doesn’t include almost 140,000 South Koreans. The grounds are beautifully maintained and it’s a peaceful place to wander and reflect away from the bustle of the city.

There’s a 15 minute film outlining the history of the conflict in the inter-faith Memorial Service Hall

As well as the grave area, there are a couple of small exhibition halls and a number of different memorials around the site including a sobering recently erected ‘Wall of Remembrance’ inscribed with all of the names of the fallen.

Memorials at UNMCK (clockwise from left): The UN Forces Monument; Canadian Memorial Statue; a line of flags in front of the Wall of Remembrance

Busan museum

Just up the road from the UNMCK is the Busan Museum. It wasn’t the most gripping museum I’ve ever been to but, coupled with the video at UNMCK, it was a decent primer on Korea’s history with an understandable slant towards Busan. Situated on the peninsula’s south coast the city was the entry point for Japanese invasions as well as envoys in more peaceful times.

Busan Museum (clockwise from top): the museum building; reconstruction of a Jumak, or traditional tavern-inn; celadon pottery Arhat figures

Jagalchi market

Not another fish market I hear you cry. Well, errm yes, sorry about that but it was a 5 minute walk from our guesthouse and listed as one of Busan’s top sights so we had to go…

Outside stall complete with splashing fish in plastic bowls

We started with a stroll around the outside stalls before heading into the large, modern market building and were surprised by how much of the produce for sale was still alive and wriggling. There seemed to be fewer fish and more shellfish and other sea creatures than the markets we saw in Japan. Several times we had to take a closer look to inspect something that we didn’t recognise at all.

Jagalchi market (clockwise from top left): Colourful stalls inside the market building; dead octopuses on display; bowls of weird sea creatures; drying fish above one of the stalls

There were a lot of octopuses. A Korean delicacy is a dish containing octopus so fresh that it’s still writhing – we haven’t yet felt quite brave enough to try it! Several times we saw a small octopus making a bid for freedom down the street before the stall-keeper spotted it and threw it back into its bowl!

The streets east of the market building contained lots of shops specialising in dried fish and seaweed

Hiking around Geumjeong Fortress

For our final day in Busan we planned a long walk in the surrounding mountains, bookended by visits to a couple of the city’s temples. It’s hardly surprising that hiking is a popular pastime for Koreans, the country is covered in (small) forested mountains and Busan city snakes its way around several. It doesn’t take long then to leave the city behind and hit a trail. The weather was kind, after grey clouds and intermittent rain on the preceding days we woke to blue skies and bright sunshine.

After a subway ride and 20 minutes in the bus we were ejected at Beomeosa Temple, just inside the city but so peaceful that it felt like miles away. As we were reading the information board and lining up photos at the entrance gate we were accosted by a retired man working part-time as a volunteer guide similar to those who gave us tours at Matsumoto and Himeji castles in Japan. There wasn’t any discussion of whether we wanted a guide, he just started his spiel, but as always we found that we got more out of the visit with someone to point out interesting features and answer our many questions.

Beomeosa temple’s entrance gate is called ‘One Pillar Gate’. You’ll notice from the front that it actually has four pillars, but if you move around to the side it looks like only one. Hmm, personally I consider that cheating…

The style of the roofs and bright decoration reminded us of Chinese temples

We were surprised by the number of worshippers at Beomeosa Temple. Each hall had a chanting monk and was full of ladies praying. Our guide explained that the different Buddha statues in each hall are prayed to for different reasons, e.g. one to wish for good fortune, one if you are recently bereaved or it is the anniversary of a loved one’s death.

Beomeosa temple buildings

The trail from Beomeosa temple up to the Geumjeong Fortress North Gate (Bukmun) is a steady climb through a valley strewn with boulders, a natural formation called the ‘Sea of Rocks’. It was hard going but we were sheltered a little by the trees and eventually emerged at the fortress wall. The wall extends 18km around the mountaintop and, along with its gates and watchtowers is all that remains of the fortress.

Sea of rocks

We followed the undulating trail around the wall, stopping for panoramic views over the city and to look inside a couple of the defensive watchtowers. In one of them we found two locals taking a break from their hike with a picnic. They gave us some delicious fresh cherry tomatoes and a cup of makgeolli to try, telling us laughingly that it was ‘Korean Champagne’. It’s a kind of cloudy and fizzy rice wine (about 6-7% alcohol) and quite tasty although we declined a second cup for fear that it would slow down our pace – we still had a lot of ground to cover!

Fortress walls and city centre in background from Wonhyobong, the highest point on the eastern ridge of Mt Geumjeongsan

View to the east from the Wonhyobong viewpoint

We stopped for lunch at the East Gate before pressing on to the South Gate (Nammun). This was definitely the hardest section. Mostly uphill over a combination of steps and rocky path, it was not what we wanted just after lunch…

Geumjeong fortress gates and watchtowers (clockwise from top left): Us at the north gate; fourth watchtower; east gate; south gate

The hike from South Gate to Seokbulsa Temple was described as tough in every reference I found to it. After the allegedly ‘moderate’ path around the fortress wall I was worried about whether I would even make it! But as it turned out it wasn’t too bad, a steep, rocky downhill followed by a winding and unrelenting concrete road uphill but the distances were short compared to what we’d already covered and frankly it almost felt like the easy bit!

Julie on the trail down from south gate

The temple itself was very quiet with just one other visitor while we were there and no monks in sight. If the buildings weren’t so well maintained we might have suspected that it was abandoned. Seokbulsa translates to ‘Stone Buddha Temple’ and this explains the main reason to visit which is tucked behind the temple buildings, a courtyard surrounded on three sides by sheer rock walls carved with 10m high images of Buddhas and guardian gods.

Andrew admiring rock carvings on one of the walls

The other two sides of the temple carvings

At the back of the courtyard are a couple of small cave temples with damp walls and flickering candles. Behind these, climbing the steps to the left leads to even more carvings, this time of a seated Buddha and sixteen disciples as well as a shrine to the mountain god.

View out over the temple roof from the top of the stairs behind the carvings

It was a beautiful and impressive end to a long and tiring day.

Japan Round Up

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What photo takes you right back to Japan?

We were really looking forward to the food in Japan and it didn’t disappoint. The fresh seafood in particular was superb.

Eating sashimi for breakfast at the fish market in Kagoshima.

Summarise Japan in three words.

Delicious – “Oishi” was one of the handful of Japanese words that we learnt and it was used often, to the delight of restaurant owners.
Contrasts – From ancient temples and shrines to bright lights and high-tech, from densely populated urban areas to completely unpopulated areas of natural beauty, Japan is definitely a country of contrasts.
Omotenashi – This word which means Japanese hospitality really sums up our experience of the Japanese. When we were in Russia, we remarked on the generosity and kindness of its people, in Japan it seems that everyone is trying to make sure you have a good impression of the country, from old ladies who pressed sweets and biscuits on us, to men in bars ordering us food and drinks, to the overwhelming helpfulness of just about anyone who we asked for help.

You really know you’re in Japan when…

…you’re looking at one of the top three “something” in Japan. I don’t know whether it’s a mixture of modesty (not wanting to declare themselves the best) and boastfulness (really thinking that they are the best) or a love of order that ranks everything into lists, but it seemed like every sight we visited was ranked in some way although it was rarely stated what order or what the other two were. The most memorable example that we saw was the Ohkonotaki Waterfall on Yakushima – ‘one of the top one hundred waterfalls in Japan’ – seriously, who compiled that list?!