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Start
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Gosu Cave
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Janghwinaru
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Museum
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Dodamsambong
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Guinsa
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Ondal Tourist Spot
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Namcheon Valley
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Yangbaek Waterfall
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Finish
Second day at Bookbyek Pension
I woke up in the morning with sunshine through the windows. When I saw Namhan river, I could feel that it would be a very hot day with a little sea fog.
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Before I start my day, I went out quickly and threw a lure to catch a mandarin fish which is a specialty of Danyang.
After throwing many lures for 30 minutes, I finally got a big one.
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This!!! I had no time to be mad, but to eat this and the chicken we bought last night and prepared for today's tour.
Guinsa 구인사
Today's first destination was Guinsa which was included in the "places in Korea which we should visit before we die." Guinsa is located 600m under Suribong which is No. 4 of the 8 Gubong. It's a big Buddhist temple.
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They built Cheontaejong museum in front of the parking lot, but it will open in August so I was not able to go inside during this trip. I was curious what would be displayed inside because the building was kinda big.
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I planned to go until the top and got a map. The map for Guinsa looked simple, but the ways going to the top of the hill were all uphill roads.
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The first thing I saw was Beob-eo-bi (a Buddhist sermon statue). Actually, you would just pass by this when you take a bus because you will go down right under this statue or if you take a car, you will have to walk a bit to see this so don't just pass by it.
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At the back of Iljumun (first door to Buddhist temple), there is a nameplate which says "Sobaeksan Guinsa." It's just a start and after passing by this door, you start claiming.
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After a while, you'll see this building at your left. I was surprised to see this high building at the temple because as far as I have seen, normally there were only low-set buildings with a bit high roofs.
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It was actually an accommodation for temple stay. Strictly speaking, it was not one of internal structures of the temple.
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After claiming a bit more, I arrived at Cheongwangmun at last.
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I'm not a Buddhist; nevertheless, I was supposed to enter the temple with a piety...
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BUT there was no signal here!!! I couldn't believe there was a place like this nowadays. I just passed by Cheongwangmun....
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First building after Cheongwangmun is the library within the precincts. It was really high. Most of the buildings were like this big and high. It did not look like a normal temple but more like a palace.
At the opposite side of the library, there was a ATM machine. At the back of this building, I got another stamp.
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It's still an uphill road to the fifth-high Buddhist sanctuary building. There is no downhill road here in Guinsa.
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I was already sweating, but I could not give up because some old people like him above was also going up.
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When you pass by Gwaneumjeon, you can see these Jangdokdae (platforms for crocks of sauces and condiments). Jangdokdae were all over the places. I could not predict how many Buddhists live here. I passed by the canteen during their meal time. During summer, their meal times are the followings: Breakfast (6:00-7:30), lunch (11:30-13:30), and dinner (19:30-22:00). I think I'm good in catching these information to not get hungry anywhere.
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I met this little, cute child while going up to the top. She got the attention of people and compliments for her cute Buddhist monks' pants.
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After claiming for a long while, I arrived at Gwangmyengjeon building. It was the most grand and magnificent.
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My girlfriend was in shock for its dignified building. "Is this building up to 7th floor?"
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I don't remember what floor it is. But inside Gwangmeyongdang, there is a huge Buddhist sanctuary which can accommodate up to 7,000 people. It's a two-storied sanctuary so it's even bigger than other auditoriums or concert halls.
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It's very colorful. On the one side, there is a piano which looks inappropriate for Buddhist temple.
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These are shoe shelves exclusive for Buddhist monks. It was really big.
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The building adjoins the mountain. So I went out to foot of mountain and at veranda (?) side, there was cold water (an offering to Buddha). I drank it and went to the 7th floor.
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Right after I reached the rooftop of Gwangmyengjeon, there was the most fancy building, Daejosajeon, which was located at the very inside. It looked like a fancy building in a Chinese drama, but the interesting point was in the internal structure.
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That was the statue of Buddha inside the building. The Buddha was not a general Buddha rather it was a contemporary statue of Buddha with a contemporary Buddhist picture.
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I was so curious so I asked a believer in Buddhism who passed by me. He said it's a building to serve Cheontaejong Jungheungjo Sangwolwongak who built this temple.
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After getting an answer to my question, I looked around and saw these two scary statues which protect right and left side of Daejosajeon. Now, it's time to go down.
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It's an artwork at a front yard of Daejosajeon. It was not that good. Actually, one thing that put me into a big shock was the elevator beside this artwork. I hardly went up to the 7th floor by stairs.....but there was an elevator....OMG....
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I went down using elevator and went to Cheontaeyeok-daejosajeon. They are the believers in Buddhism in the picture. Looking at this view of the temple made my eyes, ears, and mind clear and peaceful.
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I arrived at Cheontaeyeok-daejosajeon after a while. There are sacred images of 17 people of Chinese Cheontaejong-josa and 18 people of Korean Cheontaejong-josa. You can't take a picture inside.
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Since I wasn't able to catch any fish this morning, I took a picture of the fish under the eaves.
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When I went down half way, I saw an overpass bridge connecting two high buildings. And at this time, I heard the Buddhist prayer of a Buddhist monk so I went around and looked for it.
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It was from Seolbeob-bojeon which is the core building of Guinsa. It's located in the first building you see when you enter Guinsa. It's built more on top and under the building.
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There were many people inside and they were having a ceremony, but I didn't know what it was because I'm not a Buddhist. But I just watched and heard the peaceful voice of Buddhist monk and calm down. After that, I started to went down again.
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On the middle way to the temple, there was a tower. This tower is brought from Jetavana–Vihara in India. It's Jinsinsaritab which has Buddha's real small crystals. The foundation looked old because of three elephants, but the upper part looked very contemporary so it wasn't that good.
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Nonetheless, I was honored to be beside Buddha's small crystals. There was a drum made up of stones beside Saritab.
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At the stairs, there was this cute and scary thing. After looking around this tower, I almost finished watching Guinsa.
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I reached the exit which is the same as the entrance. I lastly went up to Cheongwangmun and looked around. While going down, it was not hot compared to when I went up to Guinsa. After passing by the door, my phone finally got its signal and was working normally.
Address: 132-1, Baekja-ri, Yeongchun-myeon, Danyang-gun, Chungcheongbuk-do, Korea (단양군 영춘면 백자리 132-1)
Phone: 043-423-7100
Homepage: http://www.guinsa.org/
