Trying to discover the more unique temples I'd seen a couple of people post pictures of Beopjusa Temple. It caught my eye due to a giant standing gold Buddha outdoors. At first I was confusing this with Seoraksan which has a similar bronze Buddha. Beopjusa was in fact not as far from Daegu as I thought and an easy day trip if you have the right directions.Beopjusa Temple is located in Songnisan National Park northwest of Daejeon. The closest town is called Boeun ...

I have been selected for a third year as a contributing writer for TheKoreaBlog run by the Ministry of Culture, Tourism, and Sports--------------------------------------- -----------------Congratulations!We had such a difficult time in deliberating the finalists.Each and every applicant has different experiences and motivations of joining this team. Some are fine-tuned expert bloggers, some are hobby bloggers and there are even some very young beginners. However ...

Korea is riddled with so many mountains and hiking trails it is a popular pastime and part of the national culture. However, I'm not a big hiking fan and have tried to avoid it where I can. Gyeongju's Mt Namsan is a worthwhile exception due to the abundance of Buddhist carvings and sacred sites and is a rewarding experience for even a novice hiker.Biking along Mt Namsan in Gyeongju (see previous entry) I was passing many signs for the hiking trail on Mt Namsan. M...

Gyeongju is known as Korea's open air museum being the historical capital of the Shilla Dynasty for over a 1000 years. A short hours bus ride from Daegu I've visited many times during my stay. Biking is a popular option and something surprisingly I've never done during my stay or many visits.This weekend I decided to try something different and explore the many biking trails away from the centre and most famous sights. I had already been spending the weekend in G...

Korea has an abundance of Temples and having visited so many I'm trying to find the more unusual ones to visit. One I read about was Golgulsa which I planned to visit on my weekend trip to Gyeongju. Golgulsa temple is unique in several ways not only having rock cliff shrines and a giant carved Buddha but I also wandered into a martial arts display that takes place twice daily.Golgulsa is located in the country well outside the Gyeongju city limits. To reach it yo...