Our trip to South Korea is coming to an end. It is always a pity to go back home.
August 20th
We are still in Busan. Once again we got up early and went out into the streets. Today, without knowing it yet, we were going to visit one of the places we liked the most in South Korea: the Tongdosa Shrine.
But first we had to get there. To do so, we took the metro line 1 to the last stop, Nopo Dong, and there we took the bus to the Busan Central Bus Terminal. The ticket costs 1,950₩ (€1.37) and takes about 40 minutes to get to Tongdosa Station.
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Tongdosa Temple is a head temple of the Jogye Order of Korean Buddhism and is located on the southern side of Mount Chiseosan.
Tongdosa is one of the Three Jewel temples and represents Gautama Buddha. It is together with Haeinsa and Songgwangsa.
Tongdosa was established by the monk Jajang-yulsa after returning from Tang China in 646 AD, during the reign of Queen Seondeok of Silla. It flourished during the Later Silla and Goryeo periods (918-1392), when Buddhism was the state religion.
Only the Mahavira Hall (the main Dharma worship hall) survived the Japanese invasion in the late 16th century.
From the station it is about 200 metres to the entrance gate to the compound. If you drive, you will be charged 3,000₩ (€2.10). If you walk, it’s free.
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From here begins a beautiful path through a wooded area of about 500 metres.
Tongdosa Temple is divided into three parts: the lower, middle and upper complex.
In the lower complex, the first thing you will find is the Tondogsa Seongbo Buddhist Museum. Its aim is to help us understand Buddhist culture. It does this through the study of the Buddhist heritage of the Tongdosa temple.
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The museum preserves and exhibits 30,000 pieces of cultural heritage. It is the largest museum of religious treasures in the country.
There are numerous buildings in the lower enclosure. We pass by the Iljimun Gate or Single Pillar Gate. Behind it is the Cheonwangmun Gate, where we find the four Guardian Kings.
Crossing the gate we find the Yeongsanjoen hall dedicated to 8 paintings depicting the life of Sakyamuni Buddha organised with eight important events.
Also the Yaksajeon hall dedicated to the Buddha Bhaisalyaguru (Master of Medicine). He takes care of the illnesses of sentient beings. The accompanying Bodhsattvas of the Buddha are Bodhisattva Suryaprabha Sunlight and Bodhisattva Candraprabha Moonlight.
We cross the Bulimun Gate and come out into the middle complex. Here we also have several remarkable buildings, such as the Daegwangmyeongjoen Hall dedicated to Vairocana Buddha, the manifestation body of cosmic truths.
There is also the Gwaneumjeon Hall dedicated to Avalokitesvara, the Bodhisattva of Love, Kindness and Compassion, who is the most popular in East Asian Buddhist culture.
We go up a couple of steps and we are already in the upper complex. Straight ahead is the Daeungjeon Hall. It is the main Dharma hall and was built in 1845 after the destruction of the original one during the Japanese invasion.
Behind the hall is the Sanira Buddha Stupa which houses the relics of Sakyamuni Buddha brought by Master Jajang from China.
There is also the Myeongbujeon Hall dedicated to Bodhisattva Ksitigarbha and the ten kings of the underworld. Or the Eungjinjeon Hall dedicated to 16 Arahts (liberated ones), including Sakyamuni Buddha in the centre, Maitreya Bodhisattva on the left and Dipankara Bodhisattva on the right.
While we were there, we saw people queuing in a small building where they seemed to be giving something. We headed there but the queue was huge. Nothing could make up for waiting in the hot sun for a long time.
We decided to go into another building nearby looking for a toilet. We went through our door and there were a lot of people eating. Great, it was the restaurant but it was early for us, we turned around but the crowd was pushing us inside.
It turned out to be the church canteen. On Sundays they give free meals to the parishioners who visit the temple and they ‘forced’ us to eat. We were the only westerners we saw in the temple and in the hall.
Vegan food from the monks at the temple. It was tasty and fresh, to mitigate the heat. While we were eating, the lady who sat next to me, the one who had been pushing me from the door, came to speak to us in Korean. The only thing we thought we understood was that, as we had gone by bus, she offered to take us back to Busan in her car.
We politely made him understand that he would not. We were very tired and, besides, we wanted to continue walking around the temple a little longer.
After lunch we continued our walk and took the opportunity to buy some souvenirs in the temple shop. Since we had eaten for free…
The truth is that the temple is amazing. Together with its surroundings, it is one of the temples we liked the most in South Korea. It is also free.
We walked back to the station. There the problem was to find the platform back to Busan. Everything was in Korean. In a queue we asked and they confirmed (by signs) that it was the one. We took a photo of the sign to translate it… it translated as ulcerous acid. It must be a beautiful city.
We got off the bus and went to the hotel for a shower. Refreshed, we set off on our way to the Oryukdo Skywalk.
The Oryukdo islands are a group of rocky islands off the southern coast of Busan. Depending on the day and the tide, they can look like five islands or six islands. Hence their name (‘o’ means five and ‘yuk’ means six in Korean).
The Oryukdo Skywalk is a glass walkway that opened in 2013 on the coastal cliff. The viewing platform is completely free of charge and offers good views of the Oryukdo Islands and the coastline.
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They give you some cloth covers for your feet and off you go to take photos for instagram.
We had a cool drink in the cafeteria at the lookout point, where they charged us 14,500₩ (10.20€) and we went back to the bus. Next stop: Gwangan Beach.
Gwangan Beach is a blonde sand beach approximately 1.5 km long. Here you can find hundreds of restaurants and cafes. Opposite the beach is the Gwangan Bridge, built between 1994 and 2002 and over 7 km long.
Every night the bridge is lit up in different colours depending on the season. So there we stand. Time goes by… night falls… and nothing is illuminated there. It turns out that the lighting had been suspended for the summer due to renovations.
That’s three for three. Not the Rainbow Bridge in Tokyo, not the Banpo Bridge in Seoul and not this one. Screw it… we’re not biting anymore. We don’t plan to visit a single bridge anywhere else in the world that puts on a show.
Even so, the beach was very lively. There was a concert by a young man and various other activities. Late in the evening, a lot of boats were piled up next to the bridge and started shooting rockets at the bridge. It was quite spectacular. It looked like some kind of military assault.
We took a nice walk along the beach and started looking for something for dinner. We went to a Korean barbecue place called 문가네정육식당 광안점. It was great and with very good service. The dinner cost us 39,000₩ (27€).
After dinner, back to the hotel to rest. The next day we had to get up early to return to Seoul.
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August 21st
We get up early again and are on our way to the train station. At 8.10 the KTX leaves for Seoul. It’s on time and we arrive at 10.48am.
The first thing we do is go to the hotel, about 15 minutes walk from the station. We choose the ENA Suite Hotel Namdaemun. We got a good deal for 72€ a night. Quite a bit lower than usual.
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The hotel is really good. 4 stars with a spectacular room, gym and indoor pool. We leave our things at the reception and go to the first point: the Jongmyo Shrine.
This is the shrine that was closed when we made our first attempt a few days ago.
Jongmyo Shrine was the main place of worship for the royal family during the Joseon dynasty. It was built at the same time as Gyeongbokgung Palace, under the orders of King Taejo, the first Joseon king.
The shrine was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site on 9 December 1995. The entrance fee is 1,000₩ (€0.70) and is included in the Royal Palace Pass. It is also free on the last Wednesday of every month.
After the visit to the shrine we went straight to the bus station to retrieve the mobile phone we had lost on the bus from Sokcho.
We arrived at the station and asked at the information desk for the place we were looking for. They pointed it out to us and we found it after getting lost and wandering around a thousand times. We knocked on the door and there it was waiting for us.
In Spain the mobile phone was going to appear…
As it was already lunchtime, we decided to look for something at the station. We ate at a Japanese place specialising in onigiri and tonkatsu. It’s called 오니기리와이규동 and it was very good. It cost us 22,500₩ (€15.80).
From here we took the metro in the direction of Insadong street. In a documentary we had seen that there was a poo-themed coffee shop there. With cochineal decoration and drinks on crockery in the shape of toilets.
So there we went. We arrived and… no. The decoration was fine but they used normal glasses. The service was not nice and the drinks were served in normal glasses. And to top it off, it was very expensive. At least the coffee was good.
After the coffee we were extremely hot and humid so we decided to take the metro and go back to the hotel to check in and take a shower.
There something happened to us that had never happened to us in any hotel before. We decided to take a quick dip in the pool. We went downstairs and tried to get in. We needed a code. We went up to reception and asked for it. It turns out that the pool is paid for separately. At 11€ for two hours per person. Unless you have a premium room.
I find it terribly ugly that they don’t specify it on the website when you book, but they do promote it.
Very close to the hotel is the Sungnyemun Gate. It is one of the four main gates of the fortress built to protect the city.
The gate was built between 1396 and 1398 and is the oldest wooden building in Seoul. It was restored between 1961 and 1963.
In 2008 a fire caused severe damage to the entire structure and the destruction of the entire roof of the first floor and part of the roof of the first floor. It took five years to restore it completely.
From here we took a last walk to Gwanghwamun Square. All the paraphernalia of stalls and swimming pool that had been there a few days before had been dismantled and could be seen at leisure.
While there we came across the ruins of the Saheonbu Gate, found during an excavation in 2021.
From here we took a stroll to Myeongdong. This is the largest shopping district and one of the main tourist destinations in the old centre of Seoul.
There, apart from shops, there are millions of street stalls selling all kinds of food. So we took the opportunity to have some dinner. Although we really only had a couple of small bites because it was too touristy.
As we had not eaten much, when we finished our walk through Myeongdong, we stopped at a supermarket to buy something else. Dinner, and off to bed.
August 22nd
Last day in South Korea and we had to make the most of it. We got up early and, without setting a precedent, we decided to have breakfast in the street.
We had a hard time finding a place where we could have breakfast that wasn’t a heavy lunchtime meal. In the end we went to a pastry chain called Paris Baguette, which you’ll find everywhere, except if you’re looking for one.
The truth is that it was really good and they also give you coffee. At this point it was starting to rain. It was going to accompany us during the morning but only at times.
After breakfast we got on the bus and went to Bukchon Hanok Village. This is a neighbourhood with hundreds of traditional houses, called hanok, dating back to the Joseon dynasty.
The name Bukchon, which literally translates as ‘northern village’, came about because the neighbourhood is located north of two important landmarks of Seoul, Cheonggyecheon Stream and Jongno.
Today, many of these hanok function as cultural centres, guesthouses, restaurants and tea houses.
It is worth remembering that it is also a residential neighbourhood. You can find many signs in various languages asking for silence and even people dressed in yellow checking that everything is quiet.
From here we rushed to Namsangol Hanok Village. It simulates a traditional Korean neighbourhood and opened in 1998 on the north side of Namsan Mountain.
It features five restored hanok, a pavilion, a traditional garden, a performing arts stage and a time capsule plaza. The hanok belonged to aristocrats and government officials of the Joseon dynasty who were moved here from other locations.
To celebrate the 600th anniversary of the creation of Seoul in 1994, 600 cultural relics representing the appearance of Seoul and the lives of its citizens were buried in capsules.
This capsule will be opened on the city’s 1,000th anniversary, 29 November 2394 (if humanity is still alive…).
As it was very hot, we decided to take a break at a Twosome Place chain. They are one of those modern coffee shops that you can find all over Korea. They took a long time to serve us, but it was cool.
Refreshed, we left on our way to our last visit: the Korean War Memorial. We took the underground and when we got off we decided to look for somewhere to eat our last Korean meal.
When we got out of the underground we walked through a series of alleys with a multitude of restaurants but all of them were closed. So we left it for later.
The Korean War Memorial exhibits and preserves materials related to the Korean War and serves as a place of national moral education.
It was established by the Korean War Memorial Service Society on 10 June 1994. It was made to commemorate the noble sacrifice of patriotic martyrs.
The museum houses approximately 33,000 artefacts and about 10,000 artefacts are displayed in indoor and outdoor exhibits.
There are six separate interior rooms. They include the Expeditionary Forces Hall, the Patriotic Memorial Hall, the War History Hall, the Korean War 6-25 Hall, the Development Hall and the Large Machinery Hall.
One of the monuments that surprised us the most was the Statue of Brothers, which we were told about during the DMZ tour. Mostly because of the history.
The Brothers Statue is a symbol of the Korean War. It depicts a dramatic moment when a South Korean officer and his younger brother, a North Korean soldier, meet and embrace on the battlefield. The statue expresses reconciliation, love and forgiveness.
This visit brings our trip to South Korea to a close. All we had to do now was eat. We had lunch at a place inside the train station called Mealbon. As usual, it did not disappoint. It was very good and quite cheap. It cost us 34.000₩ (24€).
We left the station and halfway to the hotel, on our way to get our things, the universal deluge began to fall. It was such a downpour that in a matter of minutes the water level rose and was up to our ankles.
We arrived at the hotel as if we had been swimming in our clothes. There we changed in the bathroom because I was soaked through to my underpants.
While we were changing the rain stopped and we were able to walk to the station. We took the 17.57 AREX train. We arrived at 18.40. We went through all the controls and went to get food so as not to go hungry on the flight.
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We bought some sandwiches at a Dunkin donuts. Sandwiches that, as they had to be hot, there was no way they would give them to us cold. All in all, we were going to eat them in 7-8 hours…
At 21.40 we left on time for Helsinki, where we landed after 14 hours. Yes, 14 hours, after a long detour due to the closure of Russian and Ukrainian airspace. We have a 1 hour and 20 minutes layover, so we have to run.
At the access control there is a terrible queue in which we lost almost an hour. Passport control was quick and we arrived at the boarding gate with half of the passengers already on board.
At 7.05 a.m. we left on time for Malaga. Five hours later we landed but we still had a 2 hour bus ride home to Granada.
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