I wandered around Cheonan for a bit, hopping on and off buses and walking up and down streets in search of a bus that would take me to Taejosan, a mountain east of Cheonan, and Gakwonsa, a temple nestled at its base. After a bit, I found myself at the train station, which conviniently had a tourist information booth. Armed with better directions, I hopped on bus 24 and took it to the end of the line. The end of the line was in the outskirts of the city, not rural at all, but not quite city. Not seeing the trailhead or the temple, I walked towards the mountains.....
Just past a small pond, a steep stone staircase went up the mountain and disappeared into the trees. I started climbing to the sound of chanting coming from the trees. Up up up....around a pile of rocks......and there it was:
A huge bronze statue of a sitting Buddha (15 m high and weighing 60 tons, in case you were interested.
I explored the rest of the temple area, then wandered back to where I started back at the road. A man in the road stopped to talk to me, but we soon ran out of things that were mutually understandable. I tried to ask directions, but he did not seem to know where the trail head was either. I asked in the gift shop down the road, and he pointed, so I went.
It did not look like a trail at first, but soon I spotted a large trail map posted along the trail. I climbed up a rocky trail, which at times more resembled a gully, and up to a ridge, where there was a small shelter with an older couple eating grapes. They offered me some, and I gratefully accepted a small handful of those oh so tasty thick-skinned Korean grapes that taste like no grape I had ever had before. From here on, the ridge walking was generally easy. Following the signs to Taejosan took me up and down several smaller peaks. Then, the signs changed. They no longer said Taejosan. One sign, pointing down the mountain said "Taejosan ----" a word I did not know. After hiking this far, there was no way I was going to follow that sign. So I continued on.
After a bit of hiking, I had the brilliant idea to use the Korean/English dictionary in my phone (of course...). The signs that were pointing in the direction I wanted to go in fact said "Summit." The "Taejosan ---" signs, however, were still a mystery.
The last bit was a climb. Straight up seems to be how Koreans prefer their trails. On the top, I was rewarded with a view of Cheonan and its countless identical high rise apartments.
Just past a small pond, a steep stone staircase went up the mountain and disappeared into the trees. I started climbing to the sound of chanting coming from the trees. Up up up....around a pile of rocks......and there it was:
A huge bronze statue of a sitting Buddha (15 m high and weighing 60 tons, in case you were interested.
I explored the rest of the temple area, then wandered back to where I started back at the road. A man in the road stopped to talk to me, but we soon ran out of things that were mutually understandable. I tried to ask directions, but he did not seem to know where the trail head was either. I asked in the gift shop down the road, and he pointed, so I went.
It did not look like a trail at first, but soon I spotted a large trail map posted along the trail. I climbed up a rocky trail, which at times more resembled a gully, and up to a ridge, where there was a small shelter with an older couple eating grapes. They offered me some, and I gratefully accepted a small handful of those oh so tasty thick-skinned Korean grapes that taste like no grape I had ever had before. From here on, the ridge walking was generally easy. Following the signs to Taejosan took me up and down several smaller peaks. Then, the signs changed. They no longer said Taejosan. One sign, pointing down the mountain said "Taejosan ----" a word I did not know. After hiking this far, there was no way I was going to follow that sign. So I continued on.
After a bit of hiking, I had the brilliant idea to use the Korean/English dictionary in my phone (of course...). The signs that were pointing in the direction I wanted to go in fact said "Summit." The "Taejosan ---" signs, however, were still a mystery.
The last bit was a climb. Straight up seems to be how Koreans prefer their trails. On the top, I was rewarded with a view of Cheonan and its countless identical high rise apartments.
Meg, I cannot stop smiling!! I am SO in awe of your days -- I cannot tell you how delighted I am when I open up my computer and see blog updates from Homegrown Pomegranates! I'm TOTALLY living vicariously. Don't stop blogging -- ever!
ReplyDeleteI had a huge smile on my face when I imagined you eating those grapes.
(BTW - that last photo -- GORGEOUS!!!)