Donghwasa Temple. Daegu, SK

The Donghwasa Temple (동화사), formerly named Yugasa, is located on the south side of the Palgongsan Mountain, near the city of Daegu. The temple was initially built by the monk Geukdal-jonja during King SoJi’s reign in 493, being later reconstructed during King Heungdeok’s reign in 832. Donghwasa literally means ‘Paulownia Blossom Temple’ as, according to the legend, during its reconstruction, wild paulownia trees bloomed around the temple. The current temple structure was built in 1732, although several renovations, additions and landscaping have taken place in the past few decades. By the time I visited the temple, Buddha's Birthday's date was near and the decorations of the temple had already started.

The main temple (Daeungjeon) may be found behind the Bongseoru Hall. The staircase leading to the main temple (the "Nugak Stairs") is decorated on both ways with railings in the shape of dragons and, in the center, with a pair of spherical stones (Yeouiju) often associated with dragons. At the right side of the staircase is the bell pavilion. 

The main temple is segmented into 3 sections at the front and side, and its natural looking pillars are one of its main attractions. The Josa-jeon Hall houses portraits of important monks the temple like Samyeong-daesa and Geukdal. Immediately behind, are the Sanshin-gak and the Chilseong-gak where paintings of Sanshin (The Mountain Spirit) and Chilseong (The Seven Stars) can be found. 

Passing through the Seolbeopjeon Gate (which houses the Four Great Heavenly Kings), you may find the Geumgang Stairs at your right. The Heavenly Kings are four gods, each of whom watches over one cardinal directions of the world. They are said to be the protectors of the world and fighters of evil (as it can be seen inside the Seolbeopjeon Gate), each one of them commanding a legion of supernatural creatures to protect the Dharma.

Walking down the stone stairs, you will come to the huge Seokjoyaksa Yeoraebul. The 30 m statue was created as a prayer for the reunification of Korea and completed in November, 1992. Along with the statue, two equally massive stone pagodas and lanterns measuring impressive 17 and nearly 8 m in height respectively, can be seen. As I visited the temple in March, decorations for Buddha’s Anniversary in May had just started. The National Reunification (Tongil) Temple was built in the 1980s, allowing people to pray inside the temple and seeing Buddha while doing it. Underground, the Seon meditation center can also be visited. 

Uam Historical Park. Daejeon, SK

Not many places allow the world to admire the Korean cultural heritage in Daejeon, unfortunately. In one of my first weekends in the city, I visited the Uam Historical Park (우암사적공원), on the eastern edge of the city. The Park celebrates the life and teachings of Uam Song Si-yeol (1607-1689) credited as being one of the greatest Confucian scholars during the Joseon Dynasty (1392-1897). 

The site includes a wide number of buildings which were closed to the public and a lake frozen by then. Nonetheless, the Historical Park is without a doubt a peaceful and quiet place to visit during the weekend.

Seo-gu. Busan, SK

One of the biggest holidays in Korea is the Lunar New Year (Seollal) in which Koreans go back to their hometowns and spend time with their families. Therefore, this foreigner took a chance to visit Busan, which is the second biggest city in Korea during the four-days holiday (sunday included). Being a port city, Busan allowed me to be near the sea once again even though apparently not all Koreans seem to be particularly fascinated by the city and its easily-impregnated smell of fish and sea food. Busan tends to be peculiarly busy during Summer, so I decided to visit the city during Seollal as well.

I went to the Jagalchi Fish Market three days in a row. Unfortunately they were closed since it was a national holiday and I just kept trying and coming back every single day. Even though the market is impressive, seeing "aunties" selling the fresh sea catch outside the market is probably more interesting at the eyes of a tourist like me. The Market is famous for the freshness and the reasonable prices of the catch itself and for the hilarious aunties trying to sell the fish. There are a few "restaurants" right next to the fish market where visitors can have grilled fish, eel, sashimi, whale, shark and probably those little (but not so little) alive octopus that some Koreans like to have... alive (Not me !).

And yes, I got the chance to get some sashimi because fish (and sea food) could not get fresher than that. It's particularly well-known that in Europe it has become cool to have sushi (even if sushi means a piece of cucumber rolled up in rice...), but some of these sea-food-sashimis were INDEED a challenge for me. But I'll have to admit, a very good experience though !

Visiting Seo-gu included (a long walk to) the Songdo Beach as well as the Songdo coastal walk. The beach is a popular escape during summer, after opening in 1913 as Korea’s first official beach and gaining particular popularity in the 1960s for its graceful coastlines. In the 80's nonetheless, the facilities at Songdo Beach gradually deteriorated with the continuous loss of sand from the beach due to acceleration of seafront development and repeated damage from typhoons. The beach underwent remodeling through the execution of a consolidation project for the seashore of Songdo (the first one in Korea), over a 5-year period starting in 2000. Apparently in the years to come, the Seo-gu district office will successively drive a complex marine resort formulation project already considered to be a "potential world-famous 4-season marine tourist attraction in the near future". There might be some exaggeration in this (I actually lol'd to be honest), but Korea surely has been known for its recently continuous accelerated growth and this might be no exception at all.

While desperately searching for a place to eat exploring the area, I also had the chance to find a Buddhist temple that undoubtedly deserved being included in here. The temple's name is Daebeob-sa.

Another attraction is obviously the Busan Tower and the small gardens surrounding it. The tower, considerably less impressive than the ones in Seoul and Daegu, allows nonetheless a clear and magnificent vision (that can be seen below) of the city and its many contrasts.

The impressive Bosu-dong Book Street opened there in late 1950 by a refugee Korean couple selling old American magazines discarded by soldiers. Back then, some people would sell their books when money was needed while others would cheaply buy secondhand books in the market. Especially, at the beginning of semester, the street would be crowded with students looking for good opportunities. Piles upon piles of books up to the ceiling and book series brutally tied up and ready to be sold, defining the narrowest corridor inside the book stores, can nowadays be found in the book market. Messy, chaotic, claustrophobic, the market remains these days, after 64 years, an attraction for tourists and dedicated book lovers.