Mountains and Temples

Here's another post on one of my favorite themes: mountains and temples. Fortunately for me, in Korea, the two always seem to go together. Today I hiked to the top of the mountain that flanks my town. I hadn't been up there in a really long time, and I could feel how out-of-shape I've become as I was huffing and puffing my way to the top. I really enjoyed the hike, despite the exertion, and it made me wonder why I don't go more often. Laziness is my only excuse.

This is the view of my town from the top of the mountain. It's hard to believe that I can look at that mess of concrete and see a place that's become a second (third, fourth, fifth . . . actually, I think I'm up to 14th) home to me.On my way down the mountain, I ran into the family of two of my students. They were surprised to see me out of my usual environment, i.e., the classroom. The little boys had significantly more energy than I had and were running uphill. Good grief. I'm officially going to try to go there more often and get back to the hiking/jogging routine I was pretty disciplined about last summer.

As I continued on my way down, I passed two temples, so I took some time to stroll around the grounds. At the first temple, they had some buried kimchi pots. Most people use special kimchi refrigerators now, especially in cities, so it was kind of exciting to see the pots buried in the ground for refrigeration.There were also a lot of pots that were not buried. I think they're quite pretty in their simplicity.The temple also had its own beehive. This is as close as I was willing to get.The artesian well had these cute little Buddha statues all around it.Here's a shot of the trim of the temple. I love the colors and patterns.They still had some of the lanterns up from Buddha's birthday.Then I continued on my way down the mountain and stopped at another temple.From there it was just a short walk to my apartment. This beautiful park is practically in my backyard. I need to soak in its beauty and tranquility more often.