When the chanting began, it was like nothing I’ve ever heard before.  I grew up with a monk for a father, so seeing and hearing the Heart Sutra chanted in Korean was not something new.  But hearing 50 monks in this giant hall, chanting in unison with their baritone voices, was completely different!  The voices filled my ears, the synchronicity awed me, the power & strength in the voices as each monk sang wholeheartedly to Buddha inspired me!  After many full prostrations, bowing all the way to the floor and back up again, we meditated for a short time and morning homage was over.

The rest of the day was just as unique as we had meetings with many of the officials at Tongdosa. Two of the Zen masters brought us in their room for tea and roasted chestnuts after breakfast.  The tea was a special blend of leaves from that region, and it tasted like nothing I’ve ever tasted, very tree-like and hearty.  We then met with the abbot of Tongdosa, Venerable Jung Woo Sunim.  After bowing 3 times, we sat and talked, drinking cold lotus leaf tea.  Immediately after that, we met with the Supreme Patriarch of the Jogye Order of Korean Buddhism.  This was huge, it’s like meeting with the Pope!  Bowing again 3 times to the floor, we were served a sweet juice, maybe pomegranate, and we just hung out with the Supreme Patriarch!  Before parting, he gave us each a small piece of woven cloth with his calligraphy (which had his name and some words of his wisdom).

All this before 10am, which is when we attended a sermon in the shrine hall.  Yangil Sunim made us sit up front, and the abbot made us stand up and bow to the audience!!!  Hundreds of people clapped for us, we have no idea why we were standing or why they were clapping!  Many leg cramps later (it’s much harder than you think to sit cross-legged for more than 15 minutes), we were done with formalities and enjoyed a day of eating great food and exploring the temple.  Here are a few images from Day 5.

Jojo’s perspective on the temple:

Lanterns strung up to celebrate 1,300 years since Tongdosa was built:

More lanterns strewn throughout the courtyard. I love this shot for so many reasons! It looks out from inside a temple structure to a courtyard and pagoda, surrounded by more temple structures, nestled snugly within the misty mountains:

We love Happy Buddha!

Shoes outside the main shrine hall during the service:

Hundreds of Buddhists prostrated on the floor during the service given by the abbot, Venerable Jung Woo Sunim. This room was amazing, so huge and every inch of the ceiling was skillfully carved and painted with images of Buddhas, dragons, Sanskrit symbols, and other beautiful artwork.

Super cool stairway we happened upon while walking through the forest. It leads up to a pagoda at the top:

This monk kept walking past the pagoda at a brisk pace into the woods, so we followed him:

I’m glad we followed him, because we ended up at the top of a peak with this view of the whole temple and surrounding mountains:

Closer view of Tongdosa, this temple is huge. The structure in the bottom left is the original shrine hall, and just behind it is the relic containing the historical Buddha’s robe, begging bowl, and a bone from his skull:

Two little monks with prayer beads I found sitting on a stone lantern near the pagoda:

One of many large spiders we saw in Korea. And on the right, a neato praying mantis!

We were staying next door to this monk, he was very kind and demonstrated some moves for us:

He then gave us a gift, writing out the beginning of the Heart Sutra on a handkerchief:

Lastly, I have to throw in a food picture. This was our first meal of kalbi ribs in Korea, and boy was it GOOD!!!

South Korea Day 4: Road Trip to Tongdosa
South Korea Day 3: Seoraksan and Seoul
South Korea Day 2: Seoraksan, Naksansa, & Sinheungsa
South Korea Day 1: Arrival and First Meal
South Korea: Beautiful Country, Delicious Food, I Love This Place!
South Korea: Back to Civilization

Now, about the lunch, it was amazing! I believe the word in Korean is Hanjeongsik, meaning a full course traditional meal. We ate with gold chopsticks on golden plates and bowls.  We were served course after course, I couldn’t count because the servings just kept coming, nonstop!  Each dish contained a small portion of the most delicate and elaborately prepared Korean foods.  We didn’t have anything like this for the rest of the trip, this meal was really special.  Unfortunately, I didn’t take many pictures because I didn’t want to be rude, the meal seemed so fancy.  We ended it with a delightful bowl of persimmon syrup/juice that had just a touch of cinnamon, so good!

Arriving finally at Tongdosa (Tongdo Temple) around 5pm, I was struck by the awesome beauty of the mountains and trees surrounding the temple. We entered through a huge gate of elaborate wood carvings, then drove down a long winding road through a forest of trees until we saw the roofs of the temple. This place is amazing. It was first established 1,300 years ago and is one of the Three Jewel Temples of Korea.  The first thing we noticed is that there are no Buddha statues in the shrine halls here.  That’s because this temple holds relics of the historical Buddha, including his robe, begging bowl, and a bone from his skull.

As we walked the grounds, this feeling hit me all of a sudden: this is the place where my dad became a monk. And then I thought: my dad was a holy man!  Strange how I’ve been telling people all these years that my dad was a monk, yet it never struck me that he was really a monk.  As I walked each path, I imagined him in his prayer robes walking the path before me.  It was an emotional moment for me, and not one that I can easily illustrate in words.  I don’t fully understand how I feel about this place, knowing my father was pulled from my life to this calling.  All I know is that a part of me is inspired to be here, and craves to see more of what he saw, do more of the things he did, and learn the things he learned here.

Here’s a common sight during the trip, many more sleeping pictures to come:

From left to right in the following picture: Marissa, Chris, Norman, Chin Chul Sunim, Yangil Sunim, Tiffany, and Jojo

One of many rest stops on the way to Tongdosa. These rest stops were our happy places, sitting in the back of a van for hours can drive you nuts.

Not to mention the great food at the rest stops. Here is fired squid and walnut cakes (actually just sweet bread with red bean inside, yum):

LPG, aka liquid petroleum gas. Our van (a Dodge Caravan) was converted to run on LPG, which is much cheaper than unleaded fuel and has cleaner emissions:

This is the view as we approached Tongdosa, amazing misty mountains (and of course more rice fields):

Tiff, Jojo, and me at the inside gate:

Tongdosa was preparing for their 1,300th birthday celebration, reminds me of Rainbow Road in Mario Kart:

Roof tiles of Tongdosa and kimchi jars:

Venerable Chun Cho Sunim at Tongdosa:

This is the schedule posted in our room. I can’t read Korean, but I know we have to wake up at 3am, chant at 3:50am, then breakfast at 6am. Yikes!

South Korea Day 3: Seoraksan and Seoul
South Korea Day 2: Seoraksan, Naksansa, & Sinheungsa
South Korea Day 1: Arrival and First Meal
South Korea: Beautiful Country, Delicious Food, I Love This Place!
South Korea: Back to Civilization

We headed back to Seoraksan around 7am to ride cable cars to the top.  Jojo, of course, did not make the trip up…scared of heights. ;P  After a quick ride up 1700 meters, and a 10 minute climb up a steep rockface, we were rewarded with amazing panoramic views of the mountain range and the ocean.  I think the coolest thing about that climb, however, were all the Korean ladies (ajummas) passing us up and dancing around at the peak.  That was hilarious!

A torturous ride back to Seoul, 4 hours with half of that in gridlocked traffic!  Without wasting anytime, we headed straight for Namsan Tower in the heart of the city.  While the elders took a cable car to reach the base of the tower, us kids climbed hundreds of really big stairs to reach the top.  Leaving Jojo safely on the ground again, we went up and got great panoramic views of Seoul and the Han River. By this time, we were all beat and ready to rest.  No time to waste though!  We head straight for Jogyesa (the chief temple of the Jogye Order of Korean Buddhism).

To end the day, Sunim treated us all to a feast at Sanchon, an upscale vegan restaurant owned by a monk, serving Korean temple food. The food was delicious and exotic, I’ve never tried pure anise seeds or fresh lotus root in my life!  The traditional rice wine we had here was the best of the whole trip.  And the traditional Korean dancers were amazing to watch.  On the way home, our host Do-Young took us kids for a ride on the Seoul subway with MJ.  It was very clean and the passsengers are all so polite.  We had zero energy left, so we stopped at Dongdaemun Market for half an hour to see the bustling nightlife of Seoul.  Let me tell you, it’s bustling!  Super crowded, tons of great shopping, all of it cheap or very affordable, and all the meal worms you can eat!

Sunrise over the East Sea:

Rice terraces behind our motel:

Cable cars heading up Seoraksan (Seorak Mountains), about 1,700 meters, which is over 1 mile high:

I wonder who’s taking this picture of these caged animals, who’s missing from our group?

The peak at the top of Seoraksan:

Tiff and I braved the steep rock face to reach the top, totally worth it:

Here’s Tiffany sliding on her butt to get back down the mountain:

Venerable Yangil Sunim:

Jojo’s super cool panorama of Sinheungsa:

I love this sign, it just makes so much sense:

Jogyesa (Jogye Temple):

Namsan Tower (N Seoul Tower):

Some of the good stuff at Sanchon restaurant: lotus flowers, lotus root, mushrooms, and a jelly-like cake made from acorns:

Street food at Dongdaemun Market in Seoul:

Yangil Sunim and the owner of Sanchon Restaurant:

South Korea Day 2: Seoraksan, Naksansa, & Sinheungsa
South Korea Day 1: Arrival and First Meal
South Korea: Beautiful Country, Delicious Food, I Love This Place!
South Korea: Back to Civilization

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

We have lots of pictures to post, but I’ll make sure to post them in small bites.  Here are just a few from the past couple of days.

 Here is Tiffany serving Jojo some soup as we learned how Buddhist monks traditional eat all their meals:

Jojo meditates in a traditional Korean wood carving in Wando:

Jojo sampling the delicious Korean favorite, pah jun (fried green onion pancake with seafood). And yes, that is an octopus tentacle he’s about to devour:

12 days in Korea with Tiffany, we were bound to get in a few fights. Guess who won this one:

More later, we must return to the temple where we’re staying in the mountains. No internet there, we just went to the city today to eat by the ocean.  The temples are amazing by the way, built in 1400 AD, zen monks walking around everywhere. We wake up every morning at 3am for chanting with the monks, then we visit all the zen masters that live in the mountains in their own temples and have tea with them. So awesome!  It’s unreal, seriously.  More pictures next Monday or maybe Tuesday when we get back.

This is sunrise on the East Sea:

This is us at the very top of Seorak Mountain (Seoraksan): 

Just one of our meals here in Korea, every single meal is like this! I swear I have gained so much weight, we eat tons of good food:

Korean cultural dancers performed while we ate in Seoul:

My friend MJ!!!!!:

Tiff, me, Yangil Sunim (zen master) and another monk at Naksan Temple (Naksansa):

Pretty flower Jojo took at a rest stop on the way to the southern tip of Korea:

Me eating rice fresh off the plant:

Yangil Sunim pouring us rice wine. We love the alcohol here, soju is the best!  We have it with every meal!:

Temple in Seoraksan:

Thanks for being patient, we can’t wait to show you all our amazing photos!

The family we are staying with is super nice, they won’t stop feeding us! But in a good way, the Korean dishes they prepared were delicious.  And the fruit we had for dessert, peaches, plums, and grapes, tasted so sweet and very different from our fruit back home.

I guess it’s pretty universal to sit back with a beer and watch some baseball, because that’s what we did next.  Big day tomorrow, going to Sul Ack Mountains Seoraksan (Seorak Mountain) to visit two temples.  Then some sight-seeing in Seoul on Saturday.  We should have some pictures to post tomorrow evening, just too exhausted to even take the camera out today.

Annyeonghi gyeseyo!

So if you’d like to follow Jojo, Tiffany, and me on our epic journey, we’ll be posting on the blog as often as we can find an internet cafe.  I have no idea if Buddhist temples in the mountains will have cable modems, so we’ll see!

If you don’t already have our site bookmarked or have it feeding to your Google Reader, here are the links.
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If you have any requests or suggestions for us while we’re in South Korea, please leave us a comment on the blog!

Take care everyone!
Marissa & Jojo

Why South Korea, you ask? Aside from the delicious food, the beautiful mountains and scenery, the super cool Buddhist temples, and the karaoke clubs, this is something of a personal quest. My father, who passed away 11 years ago this October, was a Buddhist monk for the last 10 years of his life. He lived a modest and humble life in Korean Buddhist temples in Toronto, Canada and South Korea.  He studied under the Venerable Hwasun Yangil ( we just call him Sunim), and meditated for hours on end. Searching for enlightenment? Who knows for sure? That’s not something he shared with us.

I wish I knew more about what he was thinking, what he was searching for, what he was dealing with. I wish we could have spent more time together  as I matured into an adult. I wish I could have had long discussions about life, Buddhism, after life, state of mind, my favorite authors, his philosophies during different times of his life, music!!!, and everything else. So much I want to know about him, so little he spoke of anything. But that was the nature of a Buddhist monk, at least it was my dad’s nature.

I have no expectations for this trip to South Korea. I don’t know the itineary (Sunim has taken care of everything), I don’t even know what cities we’ll be visiting. All I know is that we are staying in temples. I don’t even know what I am searching for. I guess I hope to gain some clarity, or even open a window to my dad’s thoughts as I sit and meditate in the same temple in Korea.

Thanks for bearing with me and this long post. As a reward, I’ll post plenty of images for you to enjoy over the next few days. And I promise, my blog posts abroad will not ALL be this introspective.  You know I’ve gotta post food pictures!