The Kyunghyang Shinmun ran today a piece on Mungyeong’s Bongam-sa Temple (temple’s official homepage here). Seriously, if you have the time to spare on Buddha-mas (May 5), this is the temple you want to visit. Designated a special Zen training center (the competition among monks to get into the place is something fierce), Bongam-sa is open to the public ONLY ONCE A YEAR on the Buddha’s birthday. Granted, getting to Mungyeong might be a pain in the ass, and making the matter worse, the temple is located at the foot of the Songni Mountains about an hour outside of “downtown” Mungyeong (i.e., Jeomchon) by bus. Not the most accessible of places for foreigners, I know. But trust me, the payoff is more than worth the effort. The Kyunghyang piece has a couple of nice photos (the temple’s website has more here), but they don’t nearly capture how spectacular—or rather, awe-inspiring—Bongam-sa is. The temple, whose history is intimately tied with the development of Korean Zen, is located on one of Korean Buddhism’s most sacred spots—the area exudes a power that you’ll no doubt feel if you visit. The KNTO has some directions on how to get to the place. Now, assuming things are still the way they were when I was there (I left in 2000), once you get to Mungyeong, you need to make your way to the inner-city bus station, where there are direct buses to the temple; I believe they’ll have extra buses running on the Buddha-mas to deal with the extra demand (update: no, there are only four). Alternatively, you could take one of the frequent buses to Gaeun-eup and take a taxi from there, but it might cost you a pretty penny (or roughly 15,000 won). Just to make sure, call the temple up at (054) 571－9088.
I will have failed in my duties as a blogger unless at least one of my readers visits the place on May 5.
UPDATE: “Skookum” has posted some photos taken at Bongam-sa last year.
8 Comments
Yeh, went out there last year - Mungyeong shinae buses run the same schedule Buddha’s birthday or no. We went out there from Jeomchon on the bus and figured the bus would be insanely crowded. But no, though there were thousands at Bongamsa for the day, they drove themselves there….. When we were ready to leave, there was no bus, so we just hitched a ride to the Gaeun bus terminal. Some photos in my blog entry for that short journey at http://middlekorea.livejournal.com/9366.html
Looking at the map there is more of something far up the valley from Bongamsa - hermitages perhaps? It would be interesting to go up there as far as one could….. And there’s the big mountain right behind the temple…..
– skookum
Hey, skookum, do you live in Jeomchon?
I spent my first three years in Korea in Mojeon-dong, not far from the intra-city bus terminal.
I will have failed in my duties as a blogger unless at least one of my readers visits the place on May 5.
I have always suspected that The Marmot would make a fine Korean.
Hi, Robert. Yes, lived until late March in Mojeon-dong - also very close to the bus terminal. We were on Hwy 3 across from and a few doors north of the Halla Yut’ong. How long ago were you there, and where? There is so little contact among foreigners in Jeomchon that there is little in the way of legends, myth, stories about those who came before us….. (Except of course that I have read your comments over time on this site about your having lived there…)
I was there from 1997 to 2000, before I moved up near Seoul for grad school. Taught at the LIKE across from Mungyeong City Hall. Lived actually behind the terminal, across from the train tracks. Since I spent my first three years in Korea there, the place has special meaning to me—consider it my “second hometown,” in a way. Find it strange that there would be so little contact among the foreigners in Jeomchon, given how it’s so small. When I was there, the foreign community was really tightly knit and, relatively speaking, well-adjusted. It was a great place to live, and frankly, I’d like to eventually retire to the area (Andong, to be specific). BTW, I’m not the only blogger who lived in Mungyeong—Flying Yangban also spent his first years in Korea there (which is how we met), and his wife is from the town.
We really liked living there - though the lack of English-speakers was a little difficult - I had so many questions that went too long unanswered. There were a couple foreigners who seemed very contained in their own lives, and a couple more who left a few months after we arrived - I never found out whether they were replaced. Almost never ran across foreigners on the street. Oddly enought though, the first coin I found on the street in Jeomchon was an American quarter.
But otherwise we enjoyed our live there and our impressions of Korea differ greatly from those on Dave’s, etc. who find Koreans so unbearable. We found many to be kind and all to be acceptably human, whatever that means. I learned a lot about keeping on an even keel with people, even when I hadn’t any idea all all as to what was going on…..
I liked going to the markets - Jeomchon’s five-day seemed to me to be as good as the famous one in Jeongseon in Kangwon-do. Always something new to see and perhaps buy and try - bundles of leaves, cheonggukjang, dried squid, as well as the more conventional pae, kam, ttalgi, koguma, etc…. I love Korean food in all its variety and will eat it at the drop of a hat wherever it is an option. I didn’t think though that was the best restaurant town around, though I did find some better ones toward the end of my stay there. ( seem to have the best [strictly Korean] eats all-round that I’ve run across in Korea.)
Oops, how do you edit comments? Guess one doesn’t…… Anyway what I meant to say at the end of the last one is: I didn’t think though that Jeomchon was the best restaurant town around, though I did find some better ones
toward the end of my stay there. Suanbo restaurants seem to have the best [strictly Korean] eats all-round that I’ve run across in Korea.)
Here’s my lists and comments on Galbijim:
http://wiki.galbijim.com/Mungyeong_restaurants
http://wiki.galbijim.com/Suanbo_restaurants
I was there. I only saw 1 other white guy.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/danjlove/