Cute Shit in Korea

Hey, do you like my blog? A little? Are you interested in learning more about Boon Companion Ellie and I? Do you like cute shit? Feel free to check out our blog Cute Shit in Korea, where we review cute places we like to go. And pester us to post more. <3

HERE IT IS!

Such Great Heights: Golgulsa

On April 20-21, 2013 my bosom travel companion Ellie and I finally tried out a templestay. Essentially, you go to a temple and agree to abide by (some) of the temple rules and regulations for a period of time. You can just stay the night (a cheap and comfortable option if you're ever traveling in Korea), stay for two days and one night (which is normal), or even stay up to a month.

Some people go on a templestay and never leave, just becoming part of the temple life. Living with monks! Six hours of sleep every night! Eating only the food you grow!

I was pretty excited. I had been wanting to try it since I moved here, but when I first arrived I was a.) too poor and b.) too shy, and then c.) the weather got abruptly cold. But then we found Golgulsa, near a city called Gyeongju. A temple where the focus is on meditative martial arts training.

Martial arts monks.

COME ON, GUYS.

No, I didn't entertain any notions that it would be like reliving The Shaolin Temple. 

And it was an hour bus from Busan! So we booked it and we took off. Ellie is crazy about Gyeongju, incidentally, and she raved about it for the whole week leading up to it. I'd never seen it, but as soon as we got there I knew what she meant. While it has its fair share of ghettos, it is unusually sightly for South Korea. Gyeongju is so into itself that even the gas stations have traditional Korean rooftops.

Would I lie to you?

The short of it is, my experiences doing a templestay at Golgulsa were transformative, in a way I couldn't express, then or now. Thus shall I do a photo blog and hope my camera phone can in some small way do my staggered speaking for me. Forgive my ineloquence on this matter. I am still sorting it all out in my head.

We took a bus out to area where the temple was, and we found....countryside! In Korea! I was shocked. And then the bus deposited us here.

You can imagine my surprise.

I know what you're thinking. This is not a temple. This is on its best days an unprepossessing stretch of rubble. Luckily we spotted a rusty sign that might have said "temple" and definitely had an arrow, so we walked thatwardly. And after about a kilometer, lo! We happened upon this large stone next to the road!

If your Hangeul is rusty, it says, "Golgulsa". It was a good omen.

We took a look around a corner and sure enough there were some lanterns leading up a short hill. There is, of course, a lot of religious significance to lanterns that I periodically Google. The lanterns led me to what I believe were the gates to Paradise.

THE WAY WAS MARKED WITH MARTIAL ARTS STATUES. HAHAHA.