Enlightenment

On Tuesday, I went on a short 3 hour bus trip to the seaside town of Seosan. I went with the intention of vising the sea. However, the trip took a more interesting turn. I ended up climbing a mountain and visting a Buddhist temple.

After buying a local ticket at Seosan, Victoria and I waited for an hour for the bus to show. No such luck. With our hopes dwindling, I made the bold suggestion. "Wanna go halvsies on a cab?" Best suggestion ever.

The cab took us over to another town. Then we turned off of the road. We traveled back, around a small lake, through the mountains, for about 3 miles or so. It was a beautiful drive. When we got to our destination we had a picnic lunch that we had brought. Delightful.

We foolishly imagined that we were close to the temple. We were mistaken. The temple lay at the top of the mountain. We had hundreds of decaying stone steps to climb. The steps went on forever, and I thought I was going to die.
We finally made it to the top. We were both sweating so much, it was like a joke. We sat on a stone slab trying to catch our breath. Koreans were staring at us. Victoria said "Mommy, is that what white people look like when they're dyeing?"
The climb was worth it. The temple was beautiful. It had painted panels surrounding the building showing scenes of daily life. They were incredibly detailed and beautifl.
The shrine was incredibly beautiful, with a golden Buddha surrounded by large statues of other holy people. I burned some incense to Buddha. Afterward, I sensed a change. I am such an elightened holy boy now. Sitting in Korea living my Bohemian lifestyle, spending time at my favorite coffe shop, being freakin' enlightened. Wow. Korea changes people... but then again... nah, I'm still the same sarcastic boy I was before.