My Korean Life #55: 제주도 (Jeju Island) - Waterfalls (폭포)

For the first day of my Jeju trip, the weather was not ideal. It was quite rainy and cloudy and not exactly the best weather for sightseeing. However, after arriving at the airport, taking a bus to the hotel, checking in, and dropping off our luggage - we were off to see waterfalls. I snapped a few pictures of the hotel before we headed out:

The bed was huge and comfortable

Sitting area in the room

Lobby sitting area

Lobby sitting area 

Another lobby sitting area

Suspended stone sculpture art

More lobby art

Jeju island is known for its many scenic waterfalls and we were determined to see some of the famous ones on this trip. We had originally planned on doing a bit of walking as well but after walking in the direction of one of the falls and getting quite damp in the process we hailed a taxi and got a ride to our first destination. The pictures from the first set of waterfalls that we visited are below:

For dinner we had Jeju black pig pork belly in Seogwipo (서귀포시). It was delicious, they say the taste is different from your normal pork belly. Below are some pictures:

The second set of falls we visited at night. Below are the pictures, apologies for the quality as lighting was low and my camera isn't all that great:

The links below are the two sets of waterfalls that we visited, I've also included maps of the two areas for reference:

Cheonjeyeon Falls (천제연 폭포)

지도를 클릭하시면 위치정보를 확인하실 수 있습니다.

Cheonjiyeon Falls (천지연폭포) (Night)
지도를 클릭하시면 위치정보를 확인하실 수 있습니다.

After visiting the waterfalls and having dinner, we visited the Saeseom Island Saeyeongyo Bridge (새섬 새연교). A map and picture are below:

지도를 클릭하시면 위치정보를 확인하실 수 있습니다.
Stay tuned for more about my Jeju trip!
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My Korean Summer 2013: Day 18 - Korean Buddhist Temple Visit

[Over the River and Through the Woods]

This past Wednesday, my culture class visited a Buddhist temple romanized as "Geumseonsa". We met on campus and then headed to the subway for a somewhat long ride to the northern edge of Seoul. Upon arrival, we had a bus ride up the hillside and then a hike up the side of the mountain on a road/stone incline. Check out this house on the walk up:

While the weather had cleared up for us, it was still fairly hot and humid. I was sweating bullets by the time we reached the main gate, but the smell of fresh air was nice.

[The Temple]

The temple had a variety of buildings, the tour guide led us to only a few but we got to walk around most of the other ones. We were shown how to properly bow to the Buddha in one of the halls containing the main Buddha statue. (I apologize as I'm not very well read regarding Buddhism). We also saw another hall where the monks also gather to pray, meditate, and worship. The center entrance is reserved for the monks of the temple while non-monks enter through the sides.

Near the entrance to the temple are some very large instruments. These all have significance when played; see the picture below:

[Chatting with the monk]

We had tea set up for us in one of the buildings and a monk greeted us and let us ask whatever questions we wanted. They said every time someone asks how to become enlightened...we were no stranger to that question either. The monk said you will just "know". Through our teacher who did a lot of translating from Korean, it sounded like once you are enlightened, you see reality as it is - not through your physical eyes, not through any type of filter, just as it exists. 

Others asked about life at the temple and how monks interact with the "real world". The response to that question was one of needing to balance wisdom with practice. The way I took it was needing to balance gaining wisdom from life in the temple to practicing a good life with others. The monk said it was a constant...not struggle but maybe challenge for the monks.

We took a few pictures afterwards with the monk and then said our thank yous and goodbyes before heading down the mountain. It was quite a relaxing and serene experience. This may have been because of the streams and small waterfalls and nature all around us but I definitely felt somewhat at peace up at the temple.

[Post-temple]

After returning to Seoul I met up with my friend at the "팔색 삼겹살" restaurant in Sinchon. Their special is 8 different types of pork belly. In addition to all the pork, we got a big seafood soup/stew.

Maybe some of you have met my friend before here (TTMIK). 

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