Felici Lives Here

We are finally back to the comforts of our own home, and I’m finally back to regular blogging. You know we took a bazillion pictures, but we’re only going to post the best and funniest ones from each day in Korea.

Day 2 was the first of 12 jam-packed days of traveling and doing stuff. We drove 3 hours from Seoul to the East coast to visit a temple by the East Sea called Naksansa. The abbot there is a friend of Yangil Sunim (our friend, teacher, and host for the trip), so he was waiting for our arrival. We all sat on the floor in his office and drank a sweet drink made from rice, similar to horchata but clear and with rice at the bottom. He was a master of some martial art, we never found out because I don’t understand Korean, darn. Before parting, he gave each of us a signed copy of the Naksansa book.

Then our first seafood meal in Korea, at a restaurant literally right on the beach. Sashimi from a fish that had just been killed, so good. Also fresh clams boiled right on the table for us, quail eggs, sea snails, potato cakes, pumpkin, kimchi, spicy soup, raw squid, and tons more. Of course, don’t forget the 2 bottles of soju (which we would have at every subsequent meal).

Just before sunset, we visited a temple called Sinheungsa in the middle of Seoraksan National Park (Seoraksan is the highest mountain in the Taebaek range). These structures are amazing, so elaborately carved and painted! The courtyard reminded me of an old kung fu movie, I was expecting guys to bust out of the rice paper doors at any second.  Sinheungsa was first built in 653 A.D. and is believed to be the oldest Zen temple in the world!  Truly amazing to see this!

One last giant meal of the day, yummy bulgogi with fresh picked wild white mushrooms (specific to these mountains), and more soju! Here are a few photos from Day 2.

Our first seafood meal started with fresh clams that cooked before our eyes, they were so delicious:

Sea snails, actually very delicious and much better than their land-lubbing counterparts:

How to eat sashimi in Korea, get a strip of seaweed, add rice, add fish, wrap it, put it in your mouth:

Poor squid, didn’t even know what fate had in store for him today…my stomach!!!

Bodhisttva Haesugwanumsang, standing 53 feet high on a 9 foot high pedestal just above the East Sea:

Bronze Buddha at Sinheungsa, supposedly the world’s largest bronze seated Buddha statue at 17.5 meters:

Roof tiles piled alongside the temple. Visitors can purchase a tile to leave prayers for Buddha:

Me, Tiff, and Jojo’s butt in front of the Buddha statue. Jojo, turn around and stop taking pictures for one second!

The Venerable Yangil Sunim:

Jojo doing his Jackson-esque happy dance because he is having so much fun here on this ancient bridge:

Here is a view of Sinheungsa with Seoraksan in the background. We’ll be climbing that peak tomorrow:

The doors to the main shrine hall of Sinheungsa are so amazing. Delicate and skilled wood carvings of flowers and patterns adorn every door:

Our favorite, SOJU!

South Korea Day 1: Seoul