Seokbulsa Temple and a Weekend in Seoul

Oh hey America.  Long time no talk.  Been reading about the whole Occupy Wall Street movement.  Pretty rad, glad to see how rapidly it’s spreading.  Kinda makes me wish I was back home so I could do some marchin’, yellin’, and sign-bearin’.  But anyhoo, no one wants to hear about my generic political opinions.  My insane traffic (read: 1 hit/day) is generated by my wild, inspirational tales of travel.  So on we go.

Two weekends ago I want to the Seokbulsa Temple with Nick, Max, and Doug.  Doug is a Canadian, hails from Ottawa, who lives in the same area and Max and me.  Really cool dude, so cool I’ll forgive him for liking the Senators.  To get to the temple, we took a cable car up Geumjeong Mountain and then embarked on an hour-long hike.  The hike was incredibly steep at points and, overall, much tougher than I’d anticipated.  When we finally reached the temple, the group of four decently-athletic young men was drenched in sweat.

Luckily, the temple proved to be worth the walk.  High up on Geumjeon Mountain, the site offered a stunning view overlooking the city of Busan.  The sprawling city was gorgeous; clusters of buildings stood in bunches, nestled between the numerous lush, green mountains that pop up all over the city.

The temple itself was as impressive as the view.  All of the buildings were simplistically elegant and immaculately maintained.  The highlight, no doubt, was the prayer area, which was located between the faces of two stone cliffs.  Several figures, I’m guessing varieties of Buddha, were carved into the faces of the cliffs.  It was unlike anything I’d ever seen.  I’ll have pictures up soon.

That night we went out to Gwangalli Beach, and ended up running into Oh Kiu Guy, who I mentioned in my first Busan post.  But, in case you’ve forgotten about him, or have better things to do that read every inane detail I post on the internets, I’ll refresh your memory.  Oh Kiu Guy (we call him OK Guy) is a dude we met our second night in Busan.  He talked to us for a while and bought us a pitcher.  He works as a manager of a ship manufacturing company.  He was out with several attractive young women, and the way he was ordering drinks we all concluded he’s likely wealthy. 

Anyway, this evening we saw him again and, as it had been a couple weeks since we’d first met, we had to apologize for not calling him.  We had a good excuse though; we hadn’t gotten phones yes.  He told us not to worry and invited us to drink with him.  Surprise!  He was with a group of attractive women again.  Over the course of the evening, we learned that his brother is the starting left fielder on the Lotte Giants (Busan’s baseball team).  People in Busan go crazy for the Lotte Giants.  The OK Guy connection is just getting better and better.

So that was two weekends ago.  Last weekend, Nick, Max, Doug, and I went to Seoul.  Monday was a national holiday in Korea, and we figured that the 3-day window was the perfect time to venture up there.  Sadly, Nick had to work Saturday morning at his school’s open house, so he wouldn’t get in until Saturday afternoon.  So Friday evening just Doug, Max, and I took the KTX bullet train to Seoul.  Took about 2.5 hours.  We got in shortly before 10:30pm, and headed to Sinchon to find a hotel I’d been recommended.  I’d been told that rooms with 2 beds or four sleeping mats went for about $40/night.  When we got there, however, I learned that rooms were $70/night and only came with one bed.  No good.

By now it’s around 11:15pm, and we have no place to sleep.  No need to worry, though, I’ve been assured that Seoul is a 24-hour city with tons and tons of places to stay.  So we go to the five hotels nearby.  All full.  We call a hostel.  All full.  We call another hostel.  All full.  Apparently other people had the brilliant idea to go to Seoul for the 3-day weekend.  But the other people had a second brilliant idea to book ahead.  Shit.

Luckily, Doug knew about a hostel in Itaewon where he’d stayed the last time he visited Seoul (before our EPIK contract started).  We called, and thankfully they had room.  What they did not have, however, was room on Saturday.  They could take us Friday and Sunday, but we’d have to stay elsewhere Sunday.  The owner generously offered us to keep our stuff there Saturday, though, and advised us to sleep in a Jimjilbang (sauna/bathhouse open 24/7, people often sleep on mats) down the road.  Good enough.

First night out in Itaewon was pretty crazy.  It’s really close to a US Army base, so I heard much more English than I did Korean.  I suppose I’ll just list the crazy things I saw in numeric order.  1) Black people!  So many black people.  I’d only seen one in my entire time in Busan.  Saw at least 40 that night alone in Itaewon.  I’m guessing many/all were US Army.  2) An old woman and old man fighting over a can to recycle.  3) A real-life pimp wearing a purple cape and purple fedora.  4) Hookers (apparently a place called “Hooker Hill” is nearby).  5) Transvestites; Seoul is the only city where it’s socially acceptable.  6) GI’s acting like jackasses.  Thanks for helping our reputation abroad, chaps.

After a nice sleep in the IS@K Guest House (which I’d recommend to anyone visiting Seoul), we headed out to adventure.  The first place we went was to see was the Gyeongbukgung Palace.  It dates back to the Joseon Dynasty.  Absolutely incredible.  The grounds are so vast, I just couldn’t get over it given how densely populated the city of Seoul is.  From the palace grounds, you’d look to the horizon and see mountains, skyscrapers, or both.  Pretty cool visuals.  Photos coming soon.

Next we went to Insadong, which is a traditional market.  I didn’t think it was quite as cool as advertised, though, so we didn’t stay all that long.  Not before getting lunch, though, which was delicious.

Afterward we met up with Nick, who dropped off his stuff at the hostel and we proceeded to Namsan Mountain.  The mountain is home to the Namsan Tower, which supposedly has a breathtaking view of Seoul from the top.  I say supposedly because the wait to get up was two and half hours, which was longer than we were willing to wait.  I’ll probably read this sentence in 20 years and kick myself.  But the view from the mountain was pretty sweet nonetheless.

After some dinner we met up with people from EPIK class 2 in Hongdae.  That was pretty fun.  I especially enjoyed sealing my friend Konrad from New Zealand.  Wish that guy taught in Busan.

Around 3am we headed back to Itaewon.  We got in a cab, with Nick in the front, Doug in the back left, me in the middle, and Max on the right.  I don’t remember doing this, but apparently Doug fell asleep on me, I fell asleep on Max, and Max remained awake, hating life.

Once we got to Itaewon, we tried to check into the Jimjilbang.  Then we got a bombshell dropped on us: they were all sold out.  So we slept in a PC Bang, a room full of computers where people go to play computer games.  It reminded me of sleeping in a Manga café in Japan, which I did on Semester at Sea (http://maxsworldadventures.blogspot.com/2010/02/days-22-27-japan.html, days 2 and 3).  Also, the people in these PC Bang were undoubtedly addicted to video games.  They sat, motionless except for their fingers, staring at a screen for hours.  People have died in these places, and I can see why.

After four hours of drifting in-and-out of sleep in our recliners, we headed up to the roof of the IS@K Guest house for a change of scenery.  The rooftop has a pretty impressive view of the city, and we just soaked that up for a while as we got our bearings.  After a leisurely breakfast, we headed to Dongdaemun market.  It’s one of the largest markets in Korea, and had just about everything; food, clothes, hats, books, toys, wigs, etc.  I bought a visor that had a face, ears, and what appears to be a rape whistle.  It cost about a dollar.  Solid purchase.

After exploring the market for a bit, we walked around Chong Gye Chon, a man-made stream in the middle of Seoul.  I had expected it to be pretty lame, but it was actually quite nice.  A peaceful escape from the hubbub of the city.  And it didn’t look nearly as tacky as I’d expected.  Pleasant way to spend an afternoon.

Due to our limited sleep, four hours of exploring took quite a bit out of us.  Also, we had to make a dinner date with some girls from Seoul we’d met in Busan over Chuseok.  So around 3pm we headed back to the guest house to clean up and get some caffeine in our systems.  Max decided to skip the dinner and go back to Busan, as he was exhausted.  So, after showering and shaving, Nick, Doug and I went to dinner to meet the girls.

Dinner was superb.  We went to a Greek place that was exquisite.  I got a mixed plate of chicken and pork to make gyros.  The meat was to tender and flavorful; one of the best meals I’ve had in Korea.  The female company was also nice, as the girls have a great sense of humor and speak perfect English.  It’s a shame they live in Seoul and not Busan.

After dinner, Doug, Nick and I went back to the guest house and drank some beers on the roof.  None of us had the energy to do anything more ambitious.  We were all in bed by 10pm, and slept until around 9am the following morning.

And that concludes our weekend in Seoul.  We took a train back to Busan Monday morning.  It was fun to take the KTX during the day; we got to see a lot of the country side.  It’s incredibly how densely populated and constructed the country is.

Before I sign off, I’d be remiss to the mention going to the Lotte Giants game last night (Thursday).  The games are just so much goddamn fun.  $10 for a ticket in the rowdy section.  Bring in your own beer and food.  Dance and cheer and yell the entire night.  I’ve never been to a sporting event with a better atmosphere.