Early one Sunday morning we left our apartment in search of a place we'd never been before. Equipped with a map a rough sense of direction and the twelve words we know in Korean, we set out on a bus bound for Hwasun. Upon exiting the bus both Jolene and I noticed that there were no other busses at the bus stop. Nor were there any signs of western nature that we had grown accustom to in Gwangju. This was Korea. The real Korea. We were excited. We were scared. Flagging a couple of Hanguks (Koreans) from the comfort of their own home we proceeded to ask them for directions to Yunjuksa. After several minutes of creatively using a combination of yes, no, thank you, taxi, bathroom, and American the frustrated Korean pointed us in a direction and said "Chooooogeeee" (meaning way over there). So we started walking. There, we found a different bus station and boarded a bus for our chosen location. (Later we found out that our first stop was only a drop off location and had we stayed there we might still be waiting there for a bus.)
Upon arrival to a deserted rice field we spotted a sign for the remote temple. As it was Sunday we entered into the site free of charge and enjoyed the quite solstice of a deserted landmark of Korean culture. There were many stone carvings, statutes and pagodas. There was nothing incredibly special about this place except for its peaceful atmosphere. Mostly we enjoyed the view and the chance to be far removed from the chaos of the cities. However far removed from the city, we did find chaos even in there. About 30% of bathrooms in Korea are squat toilets (meaning a glorified hole in the ground), and as you get away from the city the percentage rises close to 100%. Jolene can also testify that the further away from the cities the more interesting things you can find in there. The usual flies and little bugs are the rural bathroom attendants and if you are lucky a small green tree frog might just jump out of the sink so you can wash your hands of the place. Anyway, we found the trip exhilarating and are excited to experience more of the chaos in Korea whether it be in the rural or urban environment.
2 comments:
Sounds relaxing, except for the bathroom part, ah I remember those from China.
The pictures are beautiful. What's with the lady raking chilis though?
wow sounds like a frustrating beggining of a trip! haha i wouldnt be down with squatting toilets for much longer than a few weeks and youre doing it for a around a year!? Jolene youre rugged! haha i miss your face, i couldnt handle sport chalet without you so i ended up quitting too =)
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