Day 2 of Busan started with a quick 3.5 mile jog, a simple "American Style Breakfast" where we found hot dogs with kernels of corn mixed in, and then a drive north about 45 minutes.
As you can tell it was a thrilling 40 min drive for Jari.
First stop today was a Buddhist Temple called Beomeosa. It is located in the mountains to the north of Busan.
It was really nice to be away from the city and cars.
And it was a truly beautiful place as well. From the parking lot to the entrace it was full of wonderful sites.
There seems to be a lot of Chinese influence and writting the older thinga are which is not a big surprise given the Koreans and Chinese share a common heritage.
Heading in to the temple. 2 boys in love with this stunning lady. I love you Jari.
The entrance is called "one pillar gate" which along with the temple has been around since about 1615.
And a side view explains the name.
All the large rocks here are covered in writting. It is really neat.
Some beautiful Frilled Hollyhock flowers.
This is one of four Kings set as guardians of the Buddha. Each one guards a cardinal direction. I'm not sure which direction this was guarding but he was the most normal-looking one.
The temple is actually a series of small buildings, about 30 total, where people led by monks neal and worship Buddha.
A few of the forested mountains. Such a nice day to be up here.
Working our way up to the main temple court yard.
Zachary insisted on walking and climbing (stepping) up the stairs.
To save on typing, just read.
I'm not sure the meaning of these paired stones but there were several. Notice Zachary's knee. He tripped and scrapped it up. Only a one-second whimper was all the complaint he made. Tough kid. He later skinned his other knee and likewise did not complain.
This brings a new meaning to hieroglyphics.
Zoomed in. Cute little stack of rocks for Buddha at the bottom.
More old writing
Selfie from the stairs on a timer.
From the temple, we set off on a hike.
Again a beautiful area. I will let the pictures speak for themselves.
Wild strawberries.
Here is Hazel feeling tired after our 1.5 Km hike. We never did find the North Gate but it was fun even if we did get bit by a bunch of mosquitoes.
Back into Beomeosa.
Inner court shrines and temples
Cool dragon head on the side of the road.
We drove south through Busan to see a rocky beach but before we did so we stopped for a bite to eat. Here we are enjoying kimchi and fried eggs as an appetizer.
These little fish are mostly dried and tossed in spice. I rather like them with kimchi.
Hazel ate some too. She is a rock star at trying new foods.
The bulgogi came as a soup with veggies and mushrooms. They cook the soup in these ceramic bowls right over the flame. They come out boiling and really hot.
It really was the best bulgogi I have had yet here in Korea. My compliments to the chef.
Our second hike required us to walk down what felt like several hundred stairs until we reached this seaside walkway. The area is known as Yongho-dong but the park itself has a name I never saw in English. In Korean :
이기대 도시 자연 공원
Zachary again was a pill.
Really pretty and perfect mid 70's weather.
Steep steps.
The boys again.
Hazel and Charlotte climbed another 100 stairs before I convinced them they should stop as we still had to walk the 0.5 Km uphill back the way we came. They agreed and headed back down the way we came.
We took the wrong path and by so doing missed the stairs themselves. Zachary really wanted to walk which made hiking slow and difficult. But the girls made it all by themselves. Amazing what bribery of donuts or ice cream can do!
Here they are using the compressed air to clean off our shoes after the hike.
Back in Busan this evening while waiting for Hazel to nap in the stroller we parked in front of Busan Station where we meet this incredibly cute old man that was determined to interact with Zachary. He provided him with Korean taffy and then just smiled and patted him for about 5 min. In the end, he also opened his wallet and gave both Zachary and Charlotte 1000 Wan. So nice.
I wish dinner was more than Hamburgers followed by donuts (vacation time, don't judge) but we survived the day. 2 hikes, 7-8 km and according to my watch 66 flights of stairs climbed, it was a memorable, fun day.
Comments