We climbed up the mountain behind the statue. Jackie and Toby had been up there the week before and saw another mountain off in the distance, so our goal that day was to hike over to it. To get there we walked down into the valley on the other side of the mountain. We cut across this tiny village to continue in the direction of the mountain in the distance. The village reminded me a little of the town I lived in when I first came to Korea, even though this village was much smaller. We passed a little kid playing in the yard of one of the houses. He pointed at us and yelled to his mother (in Korean, of course) "Look! They're not Korean!" I guess they don't get many foreign tourists there. Here are some photos that Jackie took of the village:
Once we were across the village, it was time to climb up another hill. At one point, we lost the trail, so we had to do a little bit of bushwhacking. We ended up in the middle of a rice field. It was already harvested, so it was like a really big mud puddle with some straw in it. From the rice field, we found a trail that continued up the mountain. On our way to the ridge, we passed several graves, but one in particular was interesting because of the statues and view.
Finally we made it to the peak. Here's triumphant Toby and tired EMH:
And Toby and Jackie at the stone marking the top of Seonggeosan at 529 meters:
It was a little hazy, but the view was still nice:
From the peak, we followed trail signs for "Manilsa," which means "10,000 days temple." (I figured out the meaning of the name by myself. It was a very proud moment. I consider it a milestone in my endeavor to understand something about this language!) We figured a temple would at least be near a town, and from there, we could take a bus or taxi back to the city we started in. A couple kilometers later, we arrived at the temple. This was the water tank outside the temple. I'm not sure if the pictures are supposed to be Buddha or just an ordinary monk, but I thought it was very cute, as far as water tanks go.
The temple grounds were very small, certainly nothing spectacular, but they were pretty nonetheless. It was late afternoon, and the sunlight gave everything this warm, soft glow on a very brisk fall day.
The temple is believed to be from the Goryeo Kingdom (918-1392 CE). One of the really interesting things at the temple is the pagoda, which is just left of center in the photo above. They aren't sure how old it is, but according to the Korea National Tourism Organization, it "demonstrates well the bold and unsophisticated style of both the Silla and Baekje Kingdoms." The Silla Kingdom existed from 57 BCE to 935 CE, and the Baekje Kingdom existed from 18 BCE to 660 CE, so if it's from one of them, that makes it REALLY OLD. One of the most interesting things about the temple was a Buddha carving in a crevice with a huge slab of rock as a slanting roof.
We headed down the road from Manilsa, feeling pretty confident that a town wouldn't be too far away. As we were walking, a car drove up behind us. Toby motioned for the driver to stop to ask him how far the town was. The driver insisted that we get in the car, and he gave us a ride into town. The town turned out to be 5 kilometers away, so he saved us a lot of walking. I felt a little bad that the only thing we had to give him as a thank-you was an orange. From the town, we got on a bus and were back in the city we started in 15 minutes later.I said good-bye to Jackie and Toby and then bought a train ticket back to the Seoul area. I had another adventure actually getting home, but that's a story for another time. This post is long enough!
It cost about $2 to get the prescription filled. The writing on the red stuff says "Gargle. Do not eat." I think it's a mouthwash, so I've been swishing it in my mouth and not gargling it. I tried to ask the pharmacist, but she didn't know the difference between "swish" and "gargle." The pill packets just have the name and phone number of the pharmacy on them. No drug names, no directions. It's a little disconcerting. I like to know what I'm taking and why! So I get to take one of these little mystery packets three times a day until Thursday and then go back to the dentist if it's not better for "maybe root canal." I'm going home in December. I think I might try to tough it out until I can see a dentist without the language barrier.
In honor of my dad, my life-long teacher of Fort Appreciation 101, I present Hwaseong Fortress.
I took the day off from my usual responsibilities at the church on Sunday and spent the day at a youth festival in Seoul. I helped at a tent that had displays and activities to educate middle school kids about North Korean refugees living in South Korea. I got to meet some university students who came to South Korea from North Korea a few years ago. They didn't speak much English, and we were pretty busy, so I didn't really have a chance to talk with them, which was a little disappointing.
I don't remember what was so funny in the second picture, but I like the result. That's the class from which the "fat pig" comment came. They're always entertaining.
After deciding to forego the palaces, I stopped by a Buddhist temple called Jogyesa on my way back to the subway station. The main hall was quite crowded, but I think that's because only half of it was open due to renovations. The temple grounds were pretty quiet and a nice reprieve from the busy-ness of everything else. Here are some photos. 
I have two more days left in my vacation, and I'm not going to let them go to waste. Tomorrow is still part of the Chuseok holiday, so lots of things will be closed again. However, the palaces are open, so I may visit them. There is also a nice lake near Seoul that I've been wanting to investigate. Vacation, here I come! 추석 잘 보내세요! ('Chuseok jalbonaeseyo!")
