Haein-sa Temple

This was a big day, with many photos taken. Choosing six won't be easy.

The day starts with a short walk down the street. I take a local bus to Seobu Bus Terminal, where I buy a ticket for Haein-sa. What troubles me is coming back, as the buses have no numbers or English signage. And I have no internet access. That's a problem for later in the day though.

We hit the road, travelling west towards the Gayasan National Park. It's around 90 minutes in all to get there. When we reach the national park, the road winds around as we ascend. Around 7 km before the temple the bus stops at the Tripitaka Koreana Theme Park. The tripitaka comprises ancient Buddhist scriptures that are incredibly well preserved. I'm not sure what a theme park named after them would be like, hopefully it's not like Disneyland!

The drop off point for the temple is around 500 metres before the bus terminal, saving some time and energy. It's still an uphill walk to the temple complex, par for the course really. The autumn scenery is stunning here, I think it's probably the best time of year to come.

There is a crowd here, being a Sunday, but it becomes even busier later on. Not surprising as Koreans aren't morning people and it takes some time to get here. I notice a roped area that people walk through. It's a practice by which they pray or meditate as they walk.

I have no information on the complex so can't identify the individual buildings. Once again I look at the artwork in the eaves and marvel at how well preserved they are.

Once I've done a full lap of the complex, I take a look at the adjacent forest. There is some good hiking here. Although I'm wearing hiking pants and boots I'm not really equipped for a serious hike. Nevertheless I head off towards the Sangwangbong peak, which is 4 km away.

The hike goes through some pretty terrain in the lower reaches. As the trail ascends, I notice a more wintry appearance to the trees as leaves are scarce on them. There are plenty of leaves on the trail though.

The views I was hoping for don't come to fruition as it becomes hazier, windier and colder as I ascend. After midday I come to the final scramble over rocks to get to the peak. Yeah, no, not doing that. The wind would make it too uncomfortable to spend more than a minute there. Instead I find a windbreak in some rocks and have my lunch.

It's now after 1pm and it's a long way back to my Daegu hotel. The weather also looks like it's deteriorating. In spite of my usual descending concerns, I rush back to the temple complex. Even from there, it still takes time to get back to the main road as there is a crowd of people coming the other way.

Back on the road, I start walking towards the bus terminal. I pass a bus stop and notice a German couple who were on my bus in the morning. At the bus terminal I buy a ticket back to Daegu but have no idea which bus to take at the various platforms. Fortunately I find help from a man who may have been a bus coordinator. He takes me to a platform where a bus is waiting and confirms with the driver that it is bound for Seobu bus terminal.

So we board in a few minutes and I have a window seat. There's still some time until the 3:20 pm departure so the bus fills up. Eventually people have to stand in the aisle. We depart and make our first stop at the bus stop 500 metres down the road. Quite a few people board and then have to stand, including the German couple. The wife is not happy at this, but she does get a seat around 30 minutes later.

It's slow going on the road due to traffic congestion. This eases when we pass the theme park and a number of people depart the bus. Slow progress still back to Daegu, it's around 5 when we reach Seobu bus terminal. I'm not sure where the bus stop would be to return to the hotel, but a metro stop is nearby. It's the less direct way back home, but at least I know where I'm going.Read more