Busan - Saturday & Sunday, August 13 & 14

Another hot city. I guess I'm lucking, because Sung-kwang had there the previous few days and it was rainy. When I arrived, it was hot and dry. It sprinkled a bit as I hiked but only for a short time. Busan is quite large and busy. It's popular spots are the beaches, but I didn't have much interest. I spent my time in the mountains of Geumjeong-gu. My main interest was a difficult to reach temple call Seokbul-sa. I tried to walk to a cable car which would have taken me partway up the mountain, but in the process, I actually walked the whole way. I hadn't really prepared myself for a long hike. I discovered that I had failed to find the cable car when I saw this:

then this:

Fortunately, I met an old pharmacist who was himself heading up the mountain. He gave me some extra water and half a peach. We chatted on the way up. I learned from him that Michelle Obama is not pretty, but Hillary Clinton is quite beautiful.

We finally arrived at the cable car station at the top where there was a convenience store. He bought me ice cream, then he took the car back down the mountain. I had much further to hike, though.

Eventually, I reached the remains of Geumjeong Fortress. All that remains is a stone wall with four gates.

 This is the south gate.

From here, I hiked to Namman Village, a tiny village at the top of the mountain which seemed to consist entirely of restaurants.

 From Namman, I walked downhill about 500m...

 ...then up a long and winding cement road, finally reaching the temple. It was deserted save for an elderly woman sweeping the ground and a monk who was attending to the various shrines.

The temple is carved into into the mountain. It wasn't particularly large, but was quite awe-inspiring. This was my favorite temple throughout my entire trip.

I hadn't a clue how to get back to the cable car at this point, and the last car would be leaving soon, so I stayed on the cement road and walked down. Eventually, I made it...somewhere, but exhausted, this elderly man with a cane passed me on the side of the road. Eventually, I found a subway stop and was able to find my way back to the motel. I stopped at a Domino's on the way...

The next day, I went to another temple in the Geumjeong area. Beomeo-sa is large, much easier to get to and teaming with tourists. I took a taxi all the way to the top. It was as beautiful as most temples are, but on the whole I was pretty unimpressed...largely because of the huge crowd of people wandering about. I felt a great deal of spiritual energy around Seokbul-sa, but here there was nothing. I was also getting tired of Busan after only a couple days and wanting to move on, which probably influenced my perceptions of the place.

This was a popular spot for families, just outside the temple.

I had a spicy duck stir-fry and a coke, then took a bus down the mountain.

Happy to leave, I found a subway, went to the bus station and was on my way to Gyeongju by 3:30. At this point, I was a bit worn out and lamenting the fact that cities were beginning to feel like notches in my belt.