Two days off given by Buddha!

Monday and Tuesday were non working days as Buddha’s birthday was celebrated on Tuesday. His birthday is held on the 8th day of the 4th month of the Lunisolar calender.

We left at 8 am on Mondays to drive all the way to the Haeinsa Temple in the Gaya Mountains in Gyeongsangbuk -do. A big four hour drive. Haeinsa is most known for the Tripitaka Koreana, the Buddhist Scriptures carved onto 81,350 wooden printing blocks. Unfortunately one isn’t allowed to take pictures.

I joined a Cultural Class here in Seoul, every month the last Friday, where they talk about Korea, culture and customs. I saw pictures about it in the first class and had put the Temple on our to-visit list. We enjoyed it although it was drizzling constantly. I loved the bibimbap as lunch. Rice with vegetables and an egg on top of it.

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On the way down from the Temple we met a French lady traveling solo. We gave her a ride to Daegu as we had to pass that city anyway. We also visited Donghwa-sa at the Polgongsa Provincial Park before we found a typical Korean guesthouse, Sarangchae, in Gyenogju, where we spent the night. It was surprisingly warm in the evening. We strolled around in Gyenogju, spoiled ourselves with a good meal, and an ice cream as dessert. The guesthouse owner played his bamboo flute in the courtyard in the evening … A real holiday!

The next day the weather had become worse. The drizzling had changed into big rain drops. We went to the Bulguksa Temple, one of Korea’s most famous temples. And got completely drenched. Determined to see the Seokguram Grotto, we walked through the rain. Laurence, the French lady had said she was disappointed as the Buddha was protected with glass. But we got rewarded, after waiting in a queue in the rain, we entered the complex. Because of his birthday everyone was allowed behind the glass. But he still didn’t want to be photographed.

It’s a very impressive, protected by UNESCO, monument. It was constructed in the mid 8th century. Looks like they already had great engineers at that time!

From Collages

From Collages

From Collages

From Collages

After a change of clothing plus shoes, and a quick stop at McDonald’s – my first one in South Korea – we decided to drive back to Seoul and hoped we would beat rush hour. And we did. By 6 pm we arrived back in Seoul. We hope to see more of South Korea very soon. This was already a great start!