I pulled open the curtains and pushed open two layers of foggy window and saw mist rising from the lake as the valley was just being flooded with light. Banana bread and complementary instant coffee made a quick breakfast, then I wandered out into the crisp air back to the bus terminal. The bus to Guinsa, was fairly packed, considering that we were rather deep into the Korean countryside. It was a short ride up into the mountains, past farms and tiny villages, into a steep and narrow mountain valley.
Guinsa is the headquarters of the Cheontae sect of Korean Buddhism and consists of over 30 huge buildings crammed into a tiny valley, with more on the way. I walked up the steep driveway up to the gate which blocked all traffic from the temple complex, only allowing pedestrians through. Beautifully painted temple buildings rose up on either side of me, the road still steeply rising through the valley.
Raised walkways above my head connected the buildings to each other. farther and farther up and up I walked, more buildings, all beautiful. I passed the dining hall, where they serve free vegetarian meals to everyone who shows up, then farther to a large plaza, which was actually the roof of a very large building below.
In the corner of the plaza there were rustic stone stairs that led up the mountain. I followed them as they went straight up, steeply up the mountain. Up up up. Monks greeted me and bowed, and up farther I went. The air was crisp, the leaves in full color, and the light gently filtered through the canopy. At the very top there was a small shrine.
The walk down was fast, and I soon found myself in front of the dining hall. A nun gestured for me to enter. Inside I got a cafeteria tray with rice and soup, and was directed to the side dish bar where I helped myself to kimchi, something brown (maybe eggplant) and something shredded with red sauce. Some of it was salty, but the brown stuff was delicious.
On the bus back to Danyang, I asked the bus driver to drop me off before the bridge, so that I could easily walk to Gosu Donggul, a huge limestone cave. I followed the road around, ended up in a huge and almost deserted parking lot, asked directions from the only person in that empty parking lot, and in no time I was at the tourist village that surrounded the cave. The actual entrance was somewhere tucked among the restaurants and shops, and was not obvious. I found a sign in Hangul, followed it up a narrow road lined with shops, and located the ticket booth.
The inside of the cave was beautiful, and filled with metal catwalks and staircases so that you could easily access the various formations. The cave was surprisingly hot, and also quite damp, and at times crowded. The Koreans seemed to be racing through the cave, and I was passed by many people along the way.
Again I finished the day's itinerary in record time, and all of the time I had scheduled in for "mishaps" wasn't actually needed. I walked back across the river to town, and wandered the market, where I bought persimmons and donut twists.
Before It got dark, I wandered the streets in search of a place to eat. I mentioned before that a lot of restaurants you cannot go to alone in Korea, and this being farther in the countryside, there were many of these restaurants. I finally gave up and went to a Western restaurant (something Italianish) that I had seen the night before. It was a cute place, called Green Village, with a bit of a "country chic" theme. Inside, the hostess gestured for me to pick a seat, so I walked around the corner into the dining room, and nearly stumbled into a foreigner sitting alone at a table in the corner. We were both shocked to see each other (because remember....this is the "countryside"). He invited me to join him (as we both agreed it would be weird for two foreigners to sit at different tables in a nearly-empty restaurant). It turns out he was here from South Africa to teach English for a year, but had decided to stay another year. So he had a reason to be in Danyang, but, he asked, "What are you doing in Danyang?" He was surprised to hear that I was here to see Danyang. We had a nice dinner anyway, despite our differing opinions on Danyang (it is too countryside for him), then he ran off to teach a night class.
Guinsa Gate
Guinsa is the headquarters of the Cheontae sect of Korean Buddhism and consists of over 30 huge buildings crammed into a tiny valley, with more on the way. I walked up the steep driveway up to the gate which blocked all traffic from the temple complex, only allowing pedestrians through. Beautifully painted temple buildings rose up on either side of me, the road still steeply rising through the valley.
Raised walkways above my head connected the buildings to each other. farther and farther up and up I walked, more buildings, all beautiful. I passed the dining hall, where they serve free vegetarian meals to everyone who shows up, then farther to a large plaza, which was actually the roof of a very large building below.
This is actually the roof of a very large hall
A view down on the temple complex from the plaza/roof
In the corner of the plaza there were rustic stone stairs that led up the mountain. I followed them as they went straight up, steeply up the mountain. Up up up. Monks greeted me and bowed, and up farther I went. The air was crisp, the leaves in full color, and the light gently filtered through the canopy. At the very top there was a small shrine.
The walk down was fast, and I soon found myself in front of the dining hall. A nun gestured for me to enter. Inside I got a cafeteria tray with rice and soup, and was directed to the side dish bar where I helped myself to kimchi, something brown (maybe eggplant) and something shredded with red sauce. Some of it was salty, but the brown stuff was delicious.
On the bus back to Danyang, I asked the bus driver to drop me off before the bridge, so that I could easily walk to Gosu Donggul, a huge limestone cave. I followed the road around, ended up in a huge and almost deserted parking lot, asked directions from the only person in that empty parking lot, and in no time I was at the tourist village that surrounded the cave. The actual entrance was somewhere tucked among the restaurants and shops, and was not obvious. I found a sign in Hangul, followed it up a narrow road lined with shops, and located the ticket booth.
The inside of the cave was beautiful, and filled with metal catwalks and staircases so that you could easily access the various formations. The cave was surprisingly hot, and also quite damp, and at times crowded. The Koreans seemed to be racing through the cave, and I was passed by many people along the way.
Again I finished the day's itinerary in record time, and all of the time I had scheduled in for "mishaps" wasn't actually needed. I walked back across the river to town, and wandered the market, where I bought persimmons and donut twists.
Before It got dark, I wandered the streets in search of a place to eat. I mentioned before that a lot of restaurants you cannot go to alone in Korea, and this being farther in the countryside, there were many of these restaurants. I finally gave up and went to a Western restaurant (something Italianish) that I had seen the night before. It was a cute place, called Green Village, with a bit of a "country chic" theme. Inside, the hostess gestured for me to pick a seat, so I walked around the corner into the dining room, and nearly stumbled into a foreigner sitting alone at a table in the corner. We were both shocked to see each other (because remember....this is the "countryside"). He invited me to join him (as we both agreed it would be weird for two foreigners to sit at different tables in a nearly-empty restaurant). It turns out he was here from South Africa to teach English for a year, but had decided to stay another year. So he had a reason to be in Danyang, but, he asked, "What are you doing in Danyang?" He was surprised to hear that I was here to see Danyang. We had a nice dinner anyway, despite our differing opinions on Danyang (it is too countryside for him), then he ran off to teach a night class.
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