Today we decided to go for a hike up to Donghwasa Temple 동화사 (桐華寺). It was so nice to just get outside of the school and spend the day doing something fun as a family. We left the school shortly after breakfast and walked to the bus stop. I was amazed when Jeff was actually able to pick out the right bus reading Korean. As we were waiting, a few older Korean women came to wait at the stop with us. They were crazy about Tyson, asking his name and trying to ask his age. Jeff told Tyson how to say hello in Korean and the women went crazy over it. One started reaching all around inside her large purse and soon pulled out a handful of candy that she quickly gave to Tyson. Jeff then told him how to say Thank you and once again they erupted in squeals of laughter and smiles. I turned to Jeff and told him that if this keeps up, there is now way we are going to be able to get Tyson's giant head back onto an airplane to go home. But like the bus stop, the people waiting on the bus were just as fascinated about him. There was an older woman who reminded me of someone's loving great grandmother sitting in the front that was waving to Tyson, motioning for him to sit in her lap. He as not quite as thrilled with the idea of sitting with a stranger and buried his face in my leg. Luckily she just smiled and patted him on the head. The drive up to the temple was not quite the relaxing start to our morning that I had envisioned. The streets here are barely wide enough for the smaller vehicles, let alone this huge bus. On one side we seemed to barely be whizzing by the line that separated our side of the street from the oncoming traffic while on the other side we barely cleared the mirrors on the car doors. At one point I held onto Tyson as hard as I could and closed my eyes as a women tried to cross the street being rushed with the sound of the busses loud horn directly in her face. I could not believe how close to her he actually came before stopping. Once we reached the mountain that the temple was built on, we had to slow down to barely a crawl. The constant climb of the road seemed to resist all efforts the bus driver made to hurry on his way. When we finally reached our stop we realized that we would have quite the uphill climb before we reached the temple gates above. I can honestly say that it was more of a workout then I had expected but I didn't mind it in the least. At the top we could see a large colorful building and in it stood four amazing guards. I cannot put into words how breathtaking it was to stand there looking up at these giant structures. I can only hope the photos that I took do it some justice.
After we entered the gate, it was another short hike up to where the rest of the temple stood. It was surprised how busy it was for a Sunday, but Jeff explained that a lot of people traveled here on the weekends to pray. I was so grateful that we were allowed to be a part of something they worshiped so much. Along the walk up the road we had to cross a bridge. Once again Tyson became the object of curiosity and we stopped to talk. I took the opportunity to snap a few photographs of the area, along with the man talking to Tyson.
Once we reached the top we had to walk around a small path that finally led to our final destination. Never did I imagine that it was going to be as breathtaking as it was. There in front of us stood many buildings, all holding their own place to pray. The largest was positioned above a staircase that led up to the other buildings. As I stopped to take some photos of the dragons for my niece, Emma, Tyson was once again mobbed by people. As you can see I am not execrating this.
After we finally got through, we went to explore the other temples. Tyson's favorite was the one highest on the hill where the temple cats live. Normally they are very shy and do not come near the people, but as you can see our cat whisperer had no problem holding one. I am sure it had a lot to do with the fact that the women he had taken photos with earlier gave up her lunch so Tyson could feed the cats. I am not sure her boyfriend was as trilled with his lunch being fed to a bunch of cats.
After we looked around at all of the buildings here, we walked down to the end of the path where the largest temple stood. Here they were working on a new section with the largest Buda statue I am sure I will ever see. Look closely and you can see Tyson standing on the wall in front of him.
I wish I could explain just how breath taking it was to actually be there, walking around with the scent of incense burning all around. It was truly a humbling experience that I will never forget. I really hope that my family is able to come over here to visit with us before this three year journey is over because I would love to take them here.
If you want to learn more about the temple go to: http://www.orientalarchitecture.com/koreasouth/daegu/donghwasa.php
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