This past Saturday, May 24th, was filled with culture, fun and adventure!
I signed up for the GIC Culture Tour that the GIC (Gwangju International Center) hosts every month, and we traveled east to Gurye. Our day-trip itinerary consisted of three stops and a lunch. The stops included SaSeong-am Hermitage, Unjoroo, and the Seomjin River.
SaSeong-am was the first stop of the day and we arrived about 10am. We boarded a small bus that drove us most of the way up the mountain. It dropped us off at a parking-lot-type area, and we hopped out and began our rise up the incredibly steep mountain face to SaSeong-am. When we got there, it took my breath away. SaSeong-am is a Buddhist temple set on the side of a cliff high on Mt. Osan. My first impression was that it seemed like the temple was built directly into the rock face, similar to the city of Petra. What made this temple even more special than other temples was that it housed an ancient rock carving of Budda, which was carved by four famous monks from the 5th century. As with any temple, photos are not allowed of the inside if people are praying, and because it was such a famous temple it was constantly occupied. I was able to look in, but the carving was protected behind a dark plexiglass which made it impossible to see.
We continued our hike up another set of stone stairs closely and saw another part of the temple. This other part was more secluded and sort of hidden between two small cliffs, which must have made it especially conducive to reflection. It is said that one of the four monks received enlightenment at this temple, realizing that our feelings are based upon our perception of the world around us; we have the power to change our feelings and attitude just by changing our thoughts. I certainly know this to be true, although most times it is easier said than done.
From there, we walked through a small yet beautiful cave and then had the option to check out the temples we just saw or continue to the top of the mountain. As I had not yet hiked to the top of a mountain before in my life, I figured … why not? So I climbed about 200 fairly steep stairs and hobbled over some stone rocks that acted as a pathway and reached a personal goal - I finally reached the top of a mountain!! It was quite exciting, and I asked Katie to snap a few photos of me by the marker that marked the top of the mountain. Such a proud moment for me!
I continued a few more feet to the other side of some trees where a small pavilion stood and even climbed the stairs to the top of that. It was a good day for me! The view from the pavilion platform was nice, but it was a particularly hazy day so it was difficult to see very far. What I could see were seemingly endless rice fields and a lazy river, which was the river that we would later raft down.
We eventually hiked back down the mountain and caught the mountain bus back to our tour bus. From there, we drove to get our lunch. Gurye is famous for the Seomjin River, and much of the town's food comes from the river. Things like crab and catfish are popular in Gurye because they are caught in the river and then brought to restaurants to serve to customers. The restaurant we ate at was famous for it's freshwater river crab, which was nice because the GIC Culture Tour tries to offer food and other experiences that we might not find in Gwangju. However, because I am allergic to crab and other shellfish, I was stuck only eating the sides from the restaurant. Even though they were sides, the were plentiful and fantastically delicious. I had rice, kimchi, quail eggs, and sprouts. I should mention that I really don't like sprouts, but these were very delicious. (It could have been I was just starving from the intense hike up the mountain, but I like to think they were delicious anyway.)
After lunch, we had the 'culture' part of our tour, and we toured Unjoroo. Unjoroo is a typical scholar house that was built in 1776. We learned that the front of the house faced due South and the other sides followed suit to north, east and west. The servant's quarters were located in the front of the house, and I noticed the doors were about half the size of a normal door, while the main house doors were very large. It was later explained the servant doors were so small because they were forced to bow to the 'head of the house' when exiting their quarters. This can still be seen throughout Korea today. It was interesting to learn the reason behind it.
This particular house, having been built in 1776, also acts as a template for historical houses and is the focus of study for many architects. Many architects come to Unjoroo to study its physical foundation and learn how to improve modern houses.
Upon leaving Unjoroo, we traveled a short distance to the Seomjin River. We were first able to change into our swimming/rafting clothes, and then we took the tour bus to the start of the rafting course. We had a short lesson on how to hold the oars and how to paddle in unison, and then we were fitted with life vests, lifted the rafts, and took them down to the water.
There were three rafting boats in our party: two so-called 'crazy' boats, and one 'we-don't-want-to-get-dumped-in-the-water' boat. We rafted downstream together and eventually everyone got splashed and was either pushed over into the river or willingly jumped. It was a ton of fun. I don't think I've ever had that much fun on a tour before. It was very similar to tubing down a lazy river in Florida, and it completely reminded me of home. It was great.
Half way through our rafting course, we stopped at a [man-made] beach and the rafting guides linked two of our boats together to form a make-shift diving board. I had fun watching some of our group participants running and jumping off the end of it.
At the end of our rafting course, we changed into our dry clothes boarded the bus, heading back to Gwangju. Katie and I ended up going to dinner with a few of the other tour participants, and that was a nice end to our culture-filled adventurous day.
I signed up for the GIC Culture Tour that the GIC (Gwangju International Center) hosts every month, and we traveled east to Gurye. Our day-trip itinerary consisted of three stops and a lunch. The stops included SaSeong-am Hermitage, Unjoroo, and the Seomjin River.
SaSeong-am was the first stop of the day and we arrived about 10am. We boarded a small bus that drove us most of the way up the mountain. It dropped us off at a parking-lot-type area, and we hopped out and began our rise up the incredibly steep mountain face to SaSeong-am. When we got there, it took my breath away. SaSeong-am is a Buddhist temple set on the side of a cliff high on Mt. Osan. My first impression was that it seemed like the temple was built directly into the rock face, similar to the city of Petra. What made this temple even more special than other temples was that it housed an ancient rock carving of Budda, which was carved by four famous monks from the 5th century. As with any temple, photos are not allowed of the inside if people are praying, and because it was such a famous temple it was constantly occupied. I was able to look in, but the carving was protected behind a dark plexiglass which made it impossible to see.
We continued our hike up another set of stone stairs closely and saw another part of the temple. This other part was more secluded and sort of hidden between two small cliffs, which must have made it especially conducive to reflection. It is said that one of the four monks received enlightenment at this temple, realizing that our feelings are based upon our perception of the world around us; we have the power to change our feelings and attitude just by changing our thoughts. I certainly know this to be true, although most times it is easier said than done.
From there, we walked through a small yet beautiful cave and then had the option to check out the temples we just saw or continue to the top of the mountain. As I had not yet hiked to the top of a mountain before in my life, I figured … why not? So I climbed about 200 fairly steep stairs and hobbled over some stone rocks that acted as a pathway and reached a personal goal - I finally reached the top of a mountain!! It was quite exciting, and I asked Katie to snap a few photos of me by the marker that marked the top of the mountain. Such a proud moment for me!
I continued a few more feet to the other side of some trees where a small pavilion stood and even climbed the stairs to the top of that. It was a good day for me! The view from the pavilion platform was nice, but it was a particularly hazy day so it was difficult to see very far. What I could see were seemingly endless rice fields and a lazy river, which was the river that we would later raft down.
We eventually hiked back down the mountain and caught the mountain bus back to our tour bus. From there, we drove to get our lunch. Gurye is famous for the Seomjin River, and much of the town's food comes from the river. Things like crab and catfish are popular in Gurye because they are caught in the river and then brought to restaurants to serve to customers. The restaurant we ate at was famous for it's freshwater river crab, which was nice because the GIC Culture Tour tries to offer food and other experiences that we might not find in Gwangju. However, because I am allergic to crab and other shellfish, I was stuck only eating the sides from the restaurant. Even though they were sides, the were plentiful and fantastically delicious. I had rice, kimchi, quail eggs, and sprouts. I should mention that I really don't like sprouts, but these were very delicious. (It could have been I was just starving from the intense hike up the mountain, but I like to think they were delicious anyway.)
After lunch, we had the 'culture' part of our tour, and we toured Unjoroo. Unjoroo is a typical scholar house that was built in 1776. We learned that the front of the house faced due South and the other sides followed suit to north, east and west. The servant's quarters were located in the front of the house, and I noticed the doors were about half the size of a normal door, while the main house doors were very large. It was later explained the servant doors were so small because they were forced to bow to the 'head of the house' when exiting their quarters. This can still be seen throughout Korea today. It was interesting to learn the reason behind it.
This particular house, having been built in 1776, also acts as a template for historical houses and is the focus of study for many architects. Many architects come to Unjoroo to study its physical foundation and learn how to improve modern houses.
Upon leaving Unjoroo, we traveled a short distance to the Seomjin River. We were first able to change into our swimming/rafting clothes, and then we took the tour bus to the start of the rafting course. We had a short lesson on how to hold the oars and how to paddle in unison, and then we were fitted with life vests, lifted the rafts, and took them down to the water.
There were three rafting boats in our party: two so-called 'crazy' boats, and one 'we-don't-want-to-get-dumped-in-the-water' boat. We rafted downstream together and eventually everyone got splashed and was either pushed over into the river or willingly jumped. It was a ton of fun. I don't think I've ever had that much fun on a tour before. It was very similar to tubing down a lazy river in Florida, and it completely reminded me of home. It was great.
Half way through our rafting course, we stopped at a [man-made] beach and the rafting guides linked two of our boats together to form a make-shift diving board. I had fun watching some of our group participants running and jumping off the end of it.
At the end of our rafting course, we changed into our dry clothes boarded the bus, heading back to Gwangju. Katie and I ended up going to dinner with a few of the other tour participants, and that was a nice end to our culture-filled adventurous day.
sounds like a good day.
ReplyDeletelove, mom
i just reread this entry, very interesting and enjoyable. i felt like i was there, too. love, mom and dad
ReplyDelete