Friday, March 16, 2007

Haeinsa

Cheryl's iconic pose
A huge temple where many buddhists and the original scriptures are
It's a tourist trap. We were dragged into this restaurant. Often in Korea the food is prepared and you cook what you like.


So buddhists live on limited and needed items eh? Whats that satellite dish and security camera?
Most temples are set in the mountains on beautiful national parks.








The original carved scriptures.


Some famous tree we found. Try and read the sign.




It's spring but there is still plenty of ice around.












Even the rocks are carved into, there are many like this, I
guess the buddhists must get bored.

Thursday, March 08, 2007

A wet day in Geochang

Last week was a celebration of a man who helped Korea claim their independance from Japan. He put up many fights during the frustrating period between 1910 and 1946 when Korea simply didn't exist.
The festival was a bit of a washout so we went for a walk instead and found this scarecrow very amusing simply because of it's simplicity.

Back at the rain soaked festival there were pictures of Geochang past which were excellent viewing simply to see how much the town has developed even since the 1970's when mud huts and traditional rags were being used and worn.
I didn't quite understand the rules of this game but it included smashing some dough with a hammer. The older koreans loved it and there was clearly a winner and a loser (winner stays on - a'la pool rules).
The heap of wood on the right is going to be burnt down and the market shrunk and attracted less visitors simply due to the weather.

Even the sign was sinking in the heavy atmosphere despite the huge balloons. There are still some scenic places to walk within minutes of any starting point in Geochang.

The fire gets lit and many people watch. One thing I find really funny about Korea is the amount of umbrella's. They simply love them and use them for anything and everything. Even if there is a light drizzle of rain people get out the umbrella's and have funny rituals when passing in the street in order to work out who holds their umbrella the lowest.


A marching band didn't so much march but make a circle under a marquee.

I'm not to sure if it was safe but that can this young child is holding was lit from the bonfire and he swung it round his head til his little arms dropped. Many children played this game.
It became a meeting point and a place to get free milk!!!! Uyu was offered everywhere.
I couldn't get a picture of one last game but it involved throwing sticks in the air and moving a counter based on the amount of sticks that landed on a certain side. It was amusing just to see how many adults got into the game and cheered on their favourite