We left early Saturday morning, and arrived around 9 am in Gyeongju. Immediately you can see the difference between this city and Seoul. People smile at you kindly, dressed in a more casual way and even the taxi and bus drivers drive at a slow pace. We all welcomed this break as we were able to enjoy the scenery, passing many rolling green hills, lakes and rivers.
The first place we visited was a traditional village. It was quite an adventure to get there. Once we finally got on the correct bus, we told the bus driver to please let us off at the correct place ( well we gave him a note ) . When we knew we should be getting near, I asked a man sitting next to me if we were near by. He yelled something to the bus driver, and the other passengers joined him. He came to a screeching halt and stopped the bus, opened the door and pointed towards a dirt road. We got off, and started to make our way. We were unsure if were going the right way, walking down a semi deserted dirt road. We walked in a straight line, Rosana in the front and my Dad in the back, yelling " car " as they occasionally drove extremely close by. We made it to our destinations after 20 minutes or so.
You can see our bus in the back.
My Dad being his curious self.
Lotus
A fresh soy bean, a first for me.
My future home, ;P
In this area we visited here are still many artifacts left from the ancient Silla dynasty and we were able to see how the people lived during that time, some people still live there. Everyone had there own small farm , and traditional looking homes. We walked around for a while and took in the beautiful scenery. We saw lotus flowers, gardens, rice fields and a gorgeous valley.
Shortly after we went to a covered market, there where many older woman selling vegetables and roots that were picked from the mountains. I saw some very rare mushrooms and berries. It was so cool to look at these woman who looked as though they have lived through many many things! Even though we could not communicate, they smile and talk to you as you pass by.
We had a delicious lunch in the market were we met a Korean who spoke some Spanish.
It consisted of rice and many, many side dishes. The side dishes were tastier than usual, I think because the vegetables were fresh and so was the fish.
Pretty much an all you can eat buffet, all for 5,000 won!
They almost look peaceful to me.
Korean cinnamon sticks.
Bought some for champurado.
After my Mom picked this fruit she took a small bite. She thought it was the same kind they have in Mexcio.. ..it wasnt.
After lunch we quickly went to visit royal tombs , and have a cup of coffee before it was time to head to the temple for the night.
A calabaza, we wanted to take its flower and make some quesadillas.
Like mother like daughter..
The temple we would be staying at is about 1 hour away from the main city and we did not want to be late. We took the bus number 100 and gave the bus driver a note that said to please let us off when we arrived to our destination. I believe it was the Asan bus stop. We were dropped off in the middle of dirt road and were told to walk straight. It was a funny situation to be walking on the side of a very empty road, in the middle of the mountains. We kept walking for about 20 minutes to a gate. We were sure that was the temple we were looking for.
On the road again.
The entrance to the temple.
Before we were able to check in, we were all made to sign rules. Rules like waking up at 4:30 AM, completing all of our bows, doing chores etc. If we did not follow the rules , we were to be punished by completing 108 bows. I was very scared about the idea of punishment, but was very excited for our adventure to begin.
As soon as we changed in to our clothes , we rushed to dinner. The food was fresh and very tasty, we were advised to only get a little bit, since we needed to finish our food. The men and women were separated and the monks ate in silence.
After dinner we went to our Sumndo training. We started with some light yoga that progressed to taekwando type moves. It was very refreshing to use my body, and was very pleasantly surprised to see my father working so hard.
After 2 hours of training we headed to bed. My Dad needed to sleep in a different room with a man from Australia, while my Mom, sister and I shared a room.
Ready to go!
Where we meet for dinner and training.
Temple stay rooms.
The next morning we some how missed the drums that were supposed to awaken us. We woke up around 6 am , almost 2 hours late. We dressed quickly and went to find the rest of the group. When we finally found them they were having breakfast in silence. We peeked inside and found my father sitting on the floor mediation. My Mother, could not help herself and burst out laughing. We needed to hush her, and inevitably we all got the giggles . We decided to walk up the hill and think of what we were going to do.
A woman who is in training at the temple passed by us, and she told us not to worry and to wait for the tea ceremony. We waited for about 15 minutes and people started coming out of the dining area. We found my Dad and gave our lame excuses for not hearing the wake up call. Some people seemed to not believe us and the leader of the group said that he would pretend that he did not know. He said that only the people who are actually training to become monks get punished.... sigh of relief for me. I seemed to be the only one worried about the possibility of punishment.
We went on a short hike to visit a budha made out of granite, carved in to the mountain side. It was such a peaceful view in to the valley and the fog was just starting to dissipate. We looked around for a few moments, and to our surprise my Mom ( who is afraid of heights ) mad her her way up, even using the rope to help you up a steep rock. We attended a short tea ceremony and had the chance to ask a monk questions.
We decided to leave the temple early so that we could go and enjoy other areas of Gyeongju before our train departed.
The famous buddha carved in to the stone.
trinket
In a cave I found and crawled in to.
My Mom sitting down, this was high enough for her.
Mount spring water... maybe.
Guards to the entrance of the temple.
One more time, like Mother like daughter.
The next morning we some how missed the drums that were supposed to awaken us. We woke up around 6 am , almost 2 hours late. We dressed quickly and went to find the rest of the group. When we finally found them they were having breakfast in silence. We peeked inside and found my father sitting on the floor mediation. My Mother, could not help herself and burst out laughing. We needed to hush her, and inevitably we all got the giggles . We decided to walk up the hill and think of what we were going to do.
A woman who is in training at the temple passed by us, and she told us not to worry and to wait for the tea ceremony. We waited for about 15 minutes and people started coming out of the dining area. We found my Dad and gave our lame excuses for not hearing the wake up call. Some people seemed to not believe us and the leader of the group said that he would pretend that he did not know. He said that only the people who are actually training to become monks get punished.... sigh of relief for me. I seemed to be the only one worried about the possibility of punishment.
We went on a short hike to visit a buddha made out of granite, carved in to the mountain side. It was such a peaceful view in to the valley and the fog was just starting to dissipate. We looked around for a few moments, and to our surprise my Mom ( who is afraid of heights ) made her way up, even using the rope to help you up a steep rock. We attended a short tea ceremony and had the chance to ask a monk questions.
We decided to leave the temple early so that we could go and enjoy other areas of Gyeongju before our train departed.
All in all, I am very happy that I was able to share this experience with my family. My father surprised me with his tenacity and strengths. We were all worried that he would not be able to keep up with the work outs, sitting on the floor and hikes. But he was the one who out shown the three of us girls.
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