Today we went on an adventure to the nearby town of Asan, also known as Onyang. Our first stop was Hyeonchungsa, a shrine to Admiral Yi Sun Sin, a very famous admiral. This was easily found on bus 900 after a pleasant ride along a river lined with cosmos in full bloom.
Hyeonchungsa is a huge park with tombs, shrines, the home of Admiral Yi Sun Sin, and a brand new museum. Amazingly, we got in for a mere 500 won (43 cents). We were also given a 46-page booklet (in English!) explaining this history of Admiral Yi Sun Sin and the various buildings, monuments, and artifacts at Hyeonchungsa.
After looking through the museum and the replica of the admiral's famous "turtle ship," we went to the pond, which the booklet explained "was created in 1972 inside the shrine's precinct as part of the Hyeonchungsa Consecration Project. Fancy carp in it and a stone bridge across it make the surrounding scenery look better." That description did not quite prepare us for what we were about to see...
At one of the tombs, an elderly man excitedly started talking to us in English about who this tomb was for. We later ran into him at the Admiral's house, where he pointed out rice cookers in the kitchen.
The shrine was strikingly similar to other shrines that I have seen, a large portrait in the center, the same turquoise and pink painting in the eves, rectangular with the same roofing style....
Hungry after all of that walking, we stopped at a juk (porridge) restaurant and ate huge bowls of steaming rice porridge.
Onyang is famous for it's hot springs, so we stopped by one of them for a dip. Nothing like a Colorado hot springs, these hot springs are largely indoors, and very much resemble any other Korean sauna with a locker room and a large room filled with showers and tubs of hot water. This one featured a tub of fluorescent green water in the center of the room, which was too weird for me to try.
On the way home, we just missed the train, but after a few minutes, an elderly woman sat with us and talked with us for a while about how she used to live in America but came back to Korea. I love it when Koreans come up and talk to me, so this was a wonderful end to a fabulous day.
Hyeonchungsa is a huge park with tombs, shrines, the home of Admiral Yi Sun Sin, and a brand new museum. Amazingly, we got in for a mere 500 won (43 cents). We were also given a 46-page booklet (in English!) explaining this history of Admiral Yi Sun Sin and the various buildings, monuments, and artifacts at Hyeonchungsa.
After looking through the museum and the replica of the admiral's famous "turtle ship," we went to the pond, which the booklet explained "was created in 1972 inside the shrine's precinct as part of the Hyeonchungsa Consecration Project. Fancy carp in it and a stone bridge across it make the surrounding scenery look better." That description did not quite prepare us for what we were about to see...
At one of the tombs, an elderly man excitedly started talking to us in English about who this tomb was for. We later ran into him at the Admiral's house, where he pointed out rice cookers in the kitchen.
The shrine was strikingly similar to other shrines that I have seen, a large portrait in the center, the same turquoise and pink painting in the eves, rectangular with the same roofing style....
Hungry after all of that walking, we stopped at a juk (porridge) restaurant and ate huge bowls of steaming rice porridge.
Onyang is famous for it's hot springs, so we stopped by one of them for a dip. Nothing like a Colorado hot springs, these hot springs are largely indoors, and very much resemble any other Korean sauna with a locker room and a large room filled with showers and tubs of hot water. This one featured a tub of fluorescent green water in the center of the room, which was too weird for me to try.
On the way home, we just missed the train, but after a few minutes, an elderly woman sat with us and talked with us for a while about how she used to live in America but came back to Korea. I love it when Koreans come up and talk to me, so this was a wonderful end to a fabulous day.
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