Mountain Temples outside Daegu

I next got off at Gatwabi temple, together with a young Korean woman, who turned out to be a “salaryman” on vacation from her work in a trading company in Seoul. She is traveling around her country for a month. I knew the famous Buddha statue was a 2 kilometers hike away, but, if I had known that we would climb 800 meters elevation gain, I might have stopped at one of the intermediate temples.
My companion got winded even before me. Stopping to rest, she pulled out a brick of rice cake studded with red beans and offered me some. I brought out my sweet walnut pastry and offered her some but she told me “I don't like bread”. Stripping off my fleece and turtleneck, I was happy to hike in my sleeveless dance shirt. But diminutive Asian women in padded jackets continually passed us heading down and marveled to my companion and me that I “very strong” if I wasn't cold.
Some 50 feet before we finally reached the top, the chanting reached our ears. Then we came around a rock outcrop onto a plateau where dozens of people were praying to the huge stone Buddha, many performing what looked like salutations to the sun, rising and kneeling, while some were chanting, some fingering rosary beads. Between the worshipers and the Buddha was a long glass case where people knelt to light candles and incense; and also stalls where women were preparing and handing out something that looked like small slabs of spare ribs. When I approached, one of them beckoned me over and gave me some of the “spare ribs”which turned out to be freshly made rice paste bars covered with red bean flour and crumbs. Still warm, it became my gratefully eaten lunch and I understood at a “gut” level why my companion prefers it to the easily crushed soft sweet breads available here in Korea.
My companion told me the worshipers come and pray for the success of their children in Korean civil service exams. When I asked whether it was only the mothers who did so, she replied in amazement at my question, that the “fathers are working and don't have the time.”
We'd abandoned any attempt to descend for the bus we'd planned to take and, in fact, had to hurry to even have a chance of getting the next bus. Even so, it took us 50 minutes to descend, and near the end we had to run, barely making it to the bus before it left.
She got off at the stop for the museum while I rode to Dongwasa Temple, a huge complex of temple buildings spread over an area, ascending and descending the mountain. There were buildings being used by the gray-clad monks, buildings under construction, recently-painted buildings with vivid red, green, yellow, and blue intricate patterns and paintings. Dusk had softened the brilliant hues of red and gold maple trees by the time I found the 33 metre high Buddha.
Evening rush hour made the 1 ½ hour bus ride back into the city of Daegu a slow crawl. Eventually reaching the train station, I waited with many other pedestrians for the traffic lights finally to change so I could run across the 8 lane thoroughfare. The #814 bus I could see in the distance had pulled away from the stop by the time I reached it and would not stop for me so I waited for the next, only to find it was headed in the direction opposite from Rozan hotel! Exasperatingly, I had to retrace my steps back across the thoroughfare for a bus headed south to Beomeo district.
After a quick shrimp fried rice in the Home Plus food court, and retrieving my luggage, I caught a north-bound 814 bus for the train station arriving in plenty of time...but finding it nerve-racking sitting still waiting at 8:35 before being allowed to head for the train which would be leaving at 8:40. As soon as the track number is posted, people flood down the stairs and along the track platform; I had a considerable hike to the boarding place for car #14. Finding a woman in my seat, 12A, studiously ignoring me and realizing she and the woman next to her would both be disrupted if I insisted on my assigned seat, I was fortunate to find a double seat vacant before the train picked up speed to some 300 km/hour. It hurtled through the night, getting me to Ulsan in 24 minutes, a journey that would have taken 2 hours by bus.
What a pleasure to see Mary, Jennifer and Dennis all tall individuals who stood out in the crowd of people meeting passengers!

Mountain Temples outside Daegu

Taegu, South Korea