Temple Stay

Hello everyone, it has been a while since I have written last. I am trying to fit in quite a bit before I have to leave this amazing country. Well, I have crossed off pretty much everything that I wanted to do while I was here. This post is the last on the list- temple stay.

   My friends and I spent two days living at a temple, meditating, seeing/participating in various Buddhist rituals, and eating what monks eat. Most Koreans are Buddhist, Christian or Agnostic. I really did not know much about Buddhism except for my experiences I have had in Cambodia and Thailand, which were quite different from Korea’s take on Buddhism. We rode out into a suburb of Seoul and hiked up a mountain to the temple that we would be staying at. When we arrived we were shown our quarters and given some spiffy pajamas to wear as our uniform (one must be comfortable in order to achieve enlightenment). Our interpreter showed us around the temple grounds, as the monk who was guiding us only spoke Korean. The temple was beautiful and was nestled on a foothill of a larger mountain. A small stream ran through the grounds that overlooked the glowing city. It was strange to look out at the lit, noisy city in a place that was so quiet and peaceful.

Once our tour of the various buildings was over it was time for dinner. The meal was like most other 

ones I have had in Korea except for the absence of meat. They stressed to eat everything 

that you took. After the meal we had time to explore a cave near the cafeteria. The stream ran through it and once you reached the bottom of the cave there was a small chapel set up.  As the sunset we had the chance to watch a bell ringing ceremony. The giant bell, a large drum and a hollowed out wooden fish hung on a pavilion, which we all walked under when we entered the temple grounds. It was quite amazing to watch the monks perform and every time they struck the large bell the sound dissipated throughout the hills. It was a good way to put us in the mindset for what was to come next.

Percussion Deck

                              

Once the ceremony was over we went onto the second floor of the main building where one of the temples was. The monks began a chanting ceremony shortly after our group was settled in. We were not allowed to take pictures inside the temple, but I will try to explain what it looked like the best I can. The temple had three Buddhas at one end; to the left of the figures was a picture of someone that had died recently. To the right was a large mural called the guardian wall which depicted various gods from the religions before Buddhism was spread throughout Asia. We all sat on pillows behind the monks while they chanted. They chanted in Korean and we were left in the dark, but it sounded quite nice. Once the ceremony was finished we meditated for about an hour. I really liked the meditation, however I still do not understand how Koreans can sit cross-legged for hours on end. Maybe if you start when you are young it is easier, but I have been at many a dinner sitting on the floor with my legs asleep. So needless to say it was difficult to keep a clear mind with aching legs. We eventually switched to meditation while lying down (I think that it was to appease us foreigners). After the meditation we did 108 postulations, or in layman’s terms we bowed 108 times for all the bad things we have done. Some of these were the basic “I am sorry for doing wrong to others,” to more bizarre statements that I don’t think that I have ever been guilty of e.g.- “ I postulate in repentance for having thought that what I smelled was correct.”

We made some lotus flower lanterns and went to bed early.

Seoul

On the walk to our sleeping quarters 

The next morning we woke up in the dark, it was about 4:30am when the drums started off. After a night on the floor, getting up was difficult. I managed to get up, put on my monk pajamas, and make it just in time for the morning chanting ceremony. After the chanting was over we meditated for a bit longer than last time. Being exhausted and having to sit cross-legged was a bit difficult. After meditation, we did a bit of cleaning up around the temple. People on their way to monkdom have to work for a few years at a temple before they start studying to become a monk.

 Once we were done with our chores, we had a monastic meal. Once someone becomes a monk they get their robes and a set of bowls that they will keep for the rest of their time as a monk in life. We were given 4 different sized bowls and sat in a rectangle around the room. 

The food was located in the center of the room and we each took turns giving everyone: rice, rice water, soup, kim chi, and vegetable condiments. The monk told our translator what we were to do at each step of the way. We had to refrain from talking during the meal and no food was to be wasted. Once we were finished eating we cleaned our bowls with a yellow radish and some rice water. Once we had cleaned each bowl two people came around and collected the rice water in a big pot. They told us that they collected the rice water to feed “the hungry ghost” which is one of the forms that people are reincarnated into. It can only get nourishment from the rice water because it has a long skinny throat. Apparently this is a very painful stage and we needed to be careful that there was not any left over bits of food floating in the rice water, as it could get stuck in the poor ghost’s throat. Now this may seem a bit odd, but ask yourself does it seem as crazy as a guy building a boat in his back yard for all the animals in the world?

 Once the bowls were clean and the rice water was collected we went on a nice hike up the mountain that the temple was settled under. The view of Seoul from the top was amazing. We wrapped up our time at the temple by drinking tea and asking the monk any questions we had for her. Korea’s take, as well as every other country’s take, on Buddhism is unique. For example female monks are able to do everything that a male monk can. The robes and their bowls are not the only possessions that a monk can have, many of them have smart phones and I have seen one driving a car in my town. Our monk explained that they are allowed to have things as long as they are used to help other people.

I left the temple tired and hungry, all that meditating and bowing is hard work. I was happy with the experience that I had at the temple, spending the day with a monk gave me a better insight into Korean Buddhism. I don’t think I will be converting any time soon, but I was very pleased to have the opportunity to see what temple life was like first hand.

            If you are in Korea and are looking for a good temple stay I would recommend the one that I went on. Here is the link -> http://www.geumsunsa.org/

Also shouts out to Josh Davidson for the pics!

Cambodia

Hello everyone! It has been a bit since I had last posted due to getting back into the swing of teaching. I had a nice month long break, so my 3 friends and I decided to get out of Korea and head somewhere warm. Our main goal was to go to see Angkor Wat in Cambodia and try to see as much as we could without feeling rushed. We succeeded and couldn't have planned things better if we had tried.

Our route

Our trip was from Bangkok to Aranyaprathet, Aranyaprathet to Poipet, Poipet to Siem Reap, Siem Reap to       Ko-Chang and finally back to Bangkok. 

I had done a bit of research before we embarked and was a tad nervous aout this route.  One worry was the Thai and Cambodian boarder, but we will get to that later. The other was getting around, the trains and buses were not as reliable as they are here in Korea. We had a lot to see in 11 days.

We got into Bangkok around 3 am. As soon as you get past security there are plenty of people who will take you anywhere you want to go. There are also plenty of people that would love to rip you off. In Thailand as well as Korea cabs are cheap but, touts will lead you to believe that this is not true. But, that is part of the game you play when traveling in SE Asia. We decided to not even bother with the bus and got a taxi from the airport to Aranyaprathet for around $40 ( the Thai border town). We drove through the night, only stopping for gas, and made it to the border at around 5am. Being there an hour early was a blessing. The border turns into a mad house as soon as it opens. Huge lines piled up behind us and even though we were in the front to get completely through took a while. 

I read somewhere that the best part of getting to Poipet is leaving. Just as you get out of Cambodian customs more touts approach you. Every backpacker who makes it though this dirty border are headed to Siem Reap. One gave us a good price to get there and we hopped in a car. Cambodian driving consists of a whole lot of honking, but we were so exhausted we managed to sleep most of the way. We were only awoken by our cab driver stopping to relieve himself off the side of the rode and when he almost ran a motorcyclist over. We were all pretty groggy when we reached Siem Reap, but it was great to finally get there. We were transfered over to another driver who would become our guide   

We were all quite exhausted after our day of traveling. Going straight to Angkor Wat was a bit out of the question. We were all far to tired to go explore, but another option that our guide gave us was to check out Tonle Sap lake. Tonle Sap is the largest freshwater lake in SE Asia, it is fed by the Mekong river, changes directions twice a year, and has a floating village on it. So going on a boat ride on it seemed like a perfect way to relax after our travels. 

The high point of the boat ride.

It wasn't as relaxing as we had hoped. I'm not sure how it is during monsoon season, but while we were there the river/lake was a brown liquid that vaguely resembled water. We cruised down to the mouth of the lake where the floating village was situated. 

  This part was interesting at first, but it quickly became apparent that the image of a floating village I had in my head and the reality of the floating village were two very different things. This was when it all hit us. Siem Reap had been built up on the money that Angkor brought in. Outside of our nice, but very cheap hotel, Cambodia was still recovering from its turbulent past. We cruised around the village and were brought to a floating store. The drivers of our boat told us that this is where we could buy some rice for the floating orphanage. After paying an exorbitant amount of money for a bag of rice, a tour of an orphanage, and a ride down a mangrove forest, we were out of scam lake. 

We made it back to the hotel in time for dinner and hopped back into our guides car for sunset at Angkor Wat. It was perfect. We wandered around the 900 some year old ruins and everything was all worth while.                                                 

                      A view from the outside.

The next day we saw it all. We started at Angkor Wat and ended at Ta Prohm. I'll just let the photos do the talking for this bit. 

Angkor Wat is the largest religious complex in the world.

Angkor Thom

Ta Prohm

 These are just a few of the main temples around Angkor. The whole place is amazing, well worth the long trip there. 

 Not only does Cambodia have some beautiful temples to check out, it also has some of the more interesting things that I have eaten since coming to Asia. 

Delicious 

Exhibit A: Pong Tai Koon - A 20 day old duck embryo served in its shell with salt and lime. Our guide told us that we were the first tourists he had encountered who were interested in eating this extremely unappealing sounding morsel.  No matter what I write here you are probably still going to think that this would be absolutely disgusting, but, it was actually amazing. I really had never had anything like it and cannot describe the taste.

Exhibit B: Durian aka the stinky fruit. Durian is a large spiky fruit common in most SE Asian countries. The smell is so powerful we saw signs up in hotels, taxis, and airports forbidding its consumption. I have heard that either you love it or hate it. We all enjoyed it quite a bit. It was like creamy garlicky... fruit. I would not recommend eating it before a date because it will give you some of the worst smelling breath imaginable.

                                                                                                                                                                             

 Exhibit C: Cobra Blood Whisky and Cobra Soup. Our guide had suggested us a few other things to do once we were finished wandering around the temples. This one seemed the most doable ( We could have shot RPGs, but they are much more expensive than cobra). We were brought around the side of a restaurant into the kitchen. The place was covered in flys and there was a chopping block and an orage mesh net which contained our cobra. Our guide had informed us that the chief who normally is in charge of this operation was not there and some hesitant Cambodians surrounded the net. Our guide assured us that it was going to fine and took the first shot of it with us. It tasted like smokey whisky, not much more.                                      

However the soup was especially delicious. Cobra meat is like extra chewy chicken. We sat outside of the restaurant in a little bungalow eating our cobra. Our guide mentioned that this wasn't entirely legal, but we were at a "big power mans" restaurant.









Cambodia was quite a trip. It wasn't relaxing and often times nerve racking. But, for me zipping around dirt roades past bombed out buildings was infatuating. I'm pleased that I had the chance to see this amazing country.

 I am going to have to take a break from blogging for a bit ( I hate to say it considering that I only have 3 posts). I must devote my time to writing a paper for my TESOL class. Hopefully I will get that done soon and I should have some posts up on Thailand and Japan. Thanks for reading!

  

New Years, Busan, Food and Jjimjibangs

Seoul has almost everything that you could want, but Busan will give you things that you wouldn't expect. This port city doesn't disappoint, even when you can't enjoy the sun.

                      Haeundae 해운대구

After about 4 hours on a bus out of the cold country side, I arrived at what is one of the best cities in Korea. Busan is Seoul's cooler more laid back older brother. It is the 2nd largest city in the country, but the whole 빨리  ballee ballee or hurry feeling that persists  through most of the country is washed away. This may seem like a bit of a tangent, but this whole hurry go go go mentality isn't just in the big cities. In my small town in the middle of nowhere (thus not really anywhere to go) I have been nearly hip checked by old ladies getting on to the bus. The bus doesn’t just leave while people are getting on, it is just the bustle of Korea. Now that that is over, Busan was undoubtedly a great choice to warm up a bit and spend the passing of 2012.                                     

I had been to Busan once before during Chuseok (Korean Thanksgiving) and swimming in the ocean was an option. Besides the beaches there is some amazing sea food to be had here. If you are feeling a bit adventurous, Busan is the place to try recently dead octopus. I thought that it really didn't taste like anything, but it was quite the experience. It is the chewiest thing that you will ever eat, also it fights back a bit. 

Few looks of hesitation but those green bottles help.

I will warn you now that it would not be the best idea to read the rest of this if you are hungry. My trips to Busan have been beaches, food, and one other jewel, but we will save that for last. The previous pic was taken at Yeongdo- gu an island that is about 1 hour from Haeundae. The past two visits I have made it a point to go to its rocky beach with small seafood mongers waiting to entice  you in. There are rows and rows of tents selling seafood that was brought in from the docks further down the beach.

Not only is the food good there, but there are some pretty sweet views at the park neighboring the beach. 

Every time we go we get to feast on this fresh seafood. They put butter, onions, and red peppers over mussels that you cook on their shell's. Oh, I forgot to mention, once you eat your little aquatic morsel one takes the leftover toppings puts them in a bowl.Then you take that, some sea weed, rice and mix it all up. If you are a person who is a fan of grilling you will love Korea. This is not specific to Busan, this country is filled with restaurants that bring the meat (on in Busan clams and mussel) and you do the rest. The tables have a little hole in them that your waiter will place a charcoal in. Then, all there is to do it wait, have a few drinks, and try some of the many side dishes that come with every meal.

What your typical spread looks like in lamb form.

This past trip my colleagues and I needed to recover from some excessive celebrating and we ened up finding the perfect place to recuperate.

Spa Land in super futuristic Centum City is one of the
nicest and largest Jjimjilbangs 찜질방 I have ever been to. A Jjimjilbang is a Korean bathhouse that includes hot tubs, cold tubs, and saunas. Guys and girls have their own sides and it is expected that you go in the nude. This may seem a bit strange, but Koreans have been doing this for a while and they do it right. This one was especially clean and felt like you were walking into some Korean 5 star resort that George Jetson hangs out at. There are more rooms that are mixed sex and the resort gives you super comfortable pajamas to wear while you take foot baths and lay around heated or cooled rooms. 

The only thing that this one was lacking was a sleeping area. For most of my travels I have found the Jjimjibang a very cheep hotel. There are 2 catches though: #1- you sleep on the floor. Koreans like to sit on the floor at the table (which is rather difficult for long legged people such as myself) and they don't mind sleeping on the floor with a mat, similar to a Therm-a-Rest one would use for camping. Catch #2- snoring. But, for around $7 you really cant go wrong and you have a hot tub waiting for you in the morning. 

Gwangalli Beach 광안리 해수욕장

So in Summery if you are coming to Korea by all means check out Seoul. It is a great city with a lot to offer, but i feel that Busan doesn't get the recognition that it properly deserves. Even during the winter months when you can't soak up the sun you can still absorb plenty of good vibes in this city.