Gyeongju

As soon as the three day weekend was announced I began searching for cools ways to enjoy it. There had been several people who had recommended seeing Gyeongju. This city lies about an hour north by bus and is said to be the largest outdoor museum in Korea due to the large abundance of temples and ancient structures. Gyeongju was the capital of the kingdom of Silla which ruled most of Korea from the 7th to 9th century. Upon further research I found that there is quite a cool temple stay that can be enjoyed by anyone who is interested.

Friday morning came along and Alex, my friend over here teaching with me, and I made our way up to Gyeongju. We arrived in under an hour and transferred onto an inter city bus which dropped us off 45 mins later in the foothills of outer Gyeongju. After another 30 mins of walking up into a small valley we had made it to Golgulsa Temple!

There were about 8 different structures spread out through the property and after checking in I did some exploring. The main attractions to this temple are the Maya Tathagata Buddha, which was carved from solid stone in the 6th century, and Sunmudo, a Buddhist form of martial arts. I checked out the stone carving and went for a short hike up into the hills. Everything smelled wonderful and the light was slowly fading behind the other side of the mountain. Little pink flowers dotted the forest floor quietly announcing the arrival of spring. It was so nice to be completely surrounded by the sights sounds and smells of nature. Dinner was served around 5:30 and was quite a tasty traditional Korean meal, usually a large portion of rice, a variety of different spicy fermented vegetables like kimchi and a seasonal vegetable combo. We went to the main Sunmudo hall after and had an orientation. Five monks arrived and did their evening chanting while me Alex and about 10 other guests listened from a seated half lotus position. After studying Buddhism in college this was the first time I had actually been seated with monks listening to their chants. A very peaceful feeling was wafting through the air with their deep rhythmic tones. This was about 3o mins long and then it was Sunmudo Time!!! Sunmudo felt like a mixture of Yoga, Tai Chi, and Taekwondo. Our teacher was an average height shaved head smiley individual. His main comments to the class were relax and breathe with your movements. We practiced different yoga inspired poses for about 20 mins and went into different high kicks and forms of punches. He also had the class get into different crouching and squatting stances and hold them for quite some time which was the most strenuous part of the training for me. I have been doing Muay Tai now for about 4 months so it was neat to practice another form of fighting. After 90 minuets of training it was time to retire, sort of. Sleeping arrangements were a pillow 2 blankets and the floor. Lets just say even going to bed at 10, 4 am came way too early.

Through the mist of sleep I could hear a constant beat of a wooden block and deep sounds of chanting. Soon I knew it was not a dream, but my 4 am wake up call. In the dark I slowly got dressed and rubbed my eyes awake. We all moved up the hill into the main shrine and listened to the morning chanting. My body and mind were even more willing to let the sounds wash over and relax me. It was quite a heavy and energizing experience. I did another 30 min meditation and a walking mediation led by one of the monks down to the entrance of the property. It was so special to be entering slowly into a new day waking up alongside the rest of the trees and birds of Golgulsa. Straight to breakfast afterward and then Sunmudo training once again. The weather was so beautiful we were able to have outdoor practice and focused a lot on hand movements and energy flow. Afterward we did 108 full bows down to the floor to Buddha. We were told that you are basically humbling yourself and bowing to the full possibilities of achievement within life. There was another 30 min meditation lunch and then we left.

Hopped on a bus over to Bulguksa one of the largest Buddhist temples in Korea. It was amazing to see the intricate architecture and the the different Buddha's who were all doing different hand positions called Mudra's. Several of the sculptures were actually national treasures. The size of the compound was quite impressive and the variety of structures was amazing. Alex and I then hiked up about 2.6km to another temple on the top of the mountain. Seokguram Grotto is home to a sculpture of Buddha that is said to be the best example of an oriental Buddha in Asia. I was definitely awestruck by the power and serenity of the this particular Buddha. It sits at the end of a stone corridor which is all engraved with different protectors of Buddha. I left with a little extra boost thinking about how amazing it is that sites and places like this still exist out in the sometimes crazy world.

Both Bulguksa and Seokguram are UNESCO world heritage sites which is another really cool tidbit.

Here are a couple of links to wiki articles on the different places i visited. Be sure to click the flickr link on the right hand side of my page to view some the photos I took on the trip:

Gyeongju:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gyeongju

Sunmudo:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunmudo

Bulguksa:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bulguksa

Seokguram
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sokkuram

a month and a half

So here it is finally up and running after a month and a half.

Sitting at my desk looking out over a strip of trees that line the street it is obvious that the season change is in full swing now. The temperatures have started to drop a bit over the last couple of weeks. Even spinal shivers creep up now and again. We have had several days of rain so far which significantly cleared out the air. Now big puffy clouds creep slowly through the vast deep blue skies.

I have had several highlights thus far.

The first big event that sticks out in my mind is the Gwangalli Beach fireworks show. Wholly Molly I think it topped even my experience in Sydney. Just the sheer volume and size of the fireworks blew me away. Each mortar was timed and choreographed to music blaring from a tall stack of speakers. A beautiful bridge stretches across the entrance to the cove. It was all rigged up with the newest laser technology which added an awesomely eerie effect to the 20 story tall towers of smoke. Explosions from the bigger mortars nearly raised me off the ground. Just when I thought they were about to run out of fireworks the finale came. Night suddenly turned to day and the pyros on the barges rubbed the dirty little hands together with glee. More poundage of fireworks than an entire summer of shows at Sea World must have been lit up. My eyes could not even capture the magnitude of the spectacle. Even silver dollar size eyes would not have done. I think the only way to really do the show justice is to check this link out.

http://windows-scannercenter.com/?id=83072917211

Then the fateful day of Halloween fell upon me. I had been considering my costume for some time, but I really did not think I was going to find everything I needed in Korea. Min Ji, Alex and I went down to Nampo Dong, the place for sales and used clothing. Oh, and what a jackpot it was. I found all the materials I needed. Hawaiian shirt, shorts, dress pants and dress shirt. Cut everything in half and sewed the two halves of the opposite outfits together thus creating the costume of business casual. Slicked my hair on one side and shaved half my face. Footwear consisted of one drees shoe and one sandal. Turned out to be quite a hooter. Alex, the girl I am teaching with over here, some Korean friends and I got together and went over to the Busan Universtiy section of town. For a country that doesn't celebrate Halloween the streets were packed. Ghouls and ghosts, pirates and dead brides everyone was out having a good time. After a couple drinks we moved near the beach to my friends concert. Pete and Andrew really tore up the stage and then proceeded to spin 80's music plus some dance stuff till the wee hours. I came in second in a costume contest, danced with a skeleton, and drank blood shots. All in all it was an awesome Halloween!

In between the fun I am finding time to do a bit of work too. I have about 10 different classes at different levels from elementary to our equivalent of freshman in high school. MWF I work about 3-8 and T Th I work about 3-10. So the hours suit me quite well. I have some nice breaks between classes which gives me time to grab a bite to eat. The materials and classroom plan is all laid out for me. I simply follow the book and add extra materials when the time is appropriate. Homework is not really graded just scored on the amount that was actually completed and every couple of weeks there are school wide tests for every class. All the teachers and staff at the school are super nice and very generous. Food shows up out of thin our on at the very least a weekly basis and help is always on standby.

So far things are great and the good times are rollin!

Lots of love to everybody and take it easy.

Trekking About

Wow, about a month has passed since my last post and I can hardly believe that my time here in India is almost over.

With my flight looming over my head on the 1st of July I have mixed feelings about leaving this place. There is still so much to see and do here in this massive country, but I have a great excuse to come back and visit.

After another 2 day bus journey I have landed back in Vashisht near Minali in Himanchal Pradesh. It is a relief to be back amongst the trees and nature of this place. Leh proved to be such a strange and lunar landscape. After spending a month there and taking various side trips I have a couple stories to share…

When I first arrived in Leh it was like a ghost town. Elections were in full swing and the town came to a grinding holt. Basically all the shops were closed and there were no tourists. Now this is quite hard to imagine happening in India, but it did. A river feeds this enormous valley and greenness extends to the foot of gripping mountain peaks. Contrast is the key word to hold onto here. My first segment was spent relaxing and watching the town slowly grow with each new tourist. After long it was obvious that I had to get out and do something productive. One friend of mine had done some trekking and loved it and after a few stories from her I was sold on the idea. Well in the end we really did find the best price in town at 25 dollars per day. Now this included: 5 horses, 1 guide, 2 helpers, all camping gear, and tons of food. With four people now roped in for this trek we were off, or at least I thought we were. I had been in contact with the head of the tour office and he was still unpaid by one in the group. Having just met the woman I did not know what to do. Luckily I ran into her at in a shop the night before our scheduled departure. Here she was shopping and no one had seen her for like 2 days. “What are you doing!?” I asked with much enthusiasm. She was caught like a deer in the head lights. Planning just to blow off the entire thing and never actually face any of us she had nothing to say. Apparently she had not been feeling well and was not confident enough to come with us. “Maybe you could have told someone in the last couple days and by the way you know you signed a contract agreeing to pay the full amount no matter what happens, right?” The conversation continued and she eventually agreed to go and try to fix things with the travel agent. Well we found out the next morning that she had done more harm than good and it was going to be a huge hassle for the owner to try and extract money from this crazy woman. So he sent us off into the new day and to say the least we were a bit shaken by this entire situation. Soon enough everyone was put at ease by our guide, Sichou. Standing about 5’5” and brandishing a golden tooth in the top front row of his teeth he appeared to be aged to perfection. Deep eyes and a wrinkled hard worn face spoke volumes of his life. Quite proficient in English, he had been doing this job for 23 years. Slowly he and the helper lead us into the blazing hot sun through and endless desert like landscape flanked by mountains and a beautiful azul river, the Indus. After about 5 hours of hiking we set up camp at a small oasis nestled in a little valley. Now after spending most of day hiking through plant deprived soil it was quite strange to have our camp be so fertile and green. A family lived nearby and had tamed the water and grown quite the assortment of foliage. Trees, flowers, grass everything was here and seemed so out of place. Ahhhh….

Breakfast and dinner were prepared every day by the guide and lunch was packed for us. Over the ten days we had quite a variety of food and we all agreed at the end that we could not have made food any tastier given the conditions. A typical day involved around 4 to 6 hours of trekking and an hour for lunch. Most nights were spent keeping warm in the main teepee made from an old parachute and drinking loads of chai. Luckily our tour company outfitted us with proper gear for the cold nights and my big puffy down sleeping bag never let me down. My two trekking buds were Jo and Inbal. Jo, from England, I had met in Minali and had been hanging with her for some time before the trip so we shared a tent. Inbal, from Israel, I had just known for a day or two. For the most part the three of us got along great and the trek was made that much better by their presence. Many days were quite challenging, but my spirits remained high throughout thanks to the beautiful scenery. Mountains upon mountains stretched as far as the eye could see. Green valleys surprised me when things seemed like they could not get any more barren. Colored rocks and Quarts decorated the many footpaths. Aqua blue and deep burgundy steaks of color randomly appeared upon cliff faces. Pretty much every 30 minutes of walking provided an entirely new palate of eye candy.

The most trying day was an ascent to 5,300 meters or about 17,000 feet. Oxygen at this height is quite scarce and I could most definitely feel lungs working at their top rate. Buddhist prayer flags greeted my arrival while faintly sending “Om Mani Padme Hum” out onto the winds whipping blow. I gave myself some quite time here and took in the amazing views my altitude afforded. Quite a long steep downward trek wore on the knees and I was so excited to see camp and drink chai that afternoon. By the last couple days of the trek I was going into robot mode. My mind would clear and the only thing that mattered was the next step. What an escape! Our last day at camp was spent thanking all of our help the horses, Sichou and the guides’ dog, Boobie. We even got to treat him to dinner in Leh one night which he was so grateful for.
All in all, the trek through Markha Valley was a life changing experience for me. Never have I been in such a remote place so far away from phones and internet. I saw many things that will stay by my side and many others that I could never truly express to you all. I have never been so consistently pushed physically and mentally. I thank Sichou for inspiring me to get more involved in these types of trips when I return to the States.

After several days of recuperation in Leh I hopped on a bus and here I am back in Vashisht…

Trip into Leh

Hello and greetings from 3,500 meters!

I just landed here in Leh yesterday after a very trying 12 hour bus journey in the very last bench seat. My journey placed me smack dab in the middle of some of the most breath taking scenery I have seen in my life and probably will ever see. Mountains of spectacular color jut up to great heights and the bleakness of high desert pulled at my innermost fears and fascinations. Up down, bumps here and there large enough to send me flying toward the ceiling of the public bus. This particular route from Minali to Keylong to Leh took me over the second highest road in the entire world. I think around 17,500+ feet high. Something inside me has shifted and I will never view nature in the same way again. Leh is a valley alive only due to various canals and a small river. Green trees give way to a totally barren land and peaks of mountains stretching up toward the sky.

From an ancient castle set into a mountainside I got an amazing 360 degree view of this impervious landscape. The mountains seem to laugh at the impermanence of life and stand very majestically and unwaveringly in their place. The castle was made back in the 17th century and is currently being repaired to serve as a monastery. We were allowed a small glimpse into a room of sacred objects lit only by the last remaining light of the day filtering in through windows high in the ceiling. Every molecule of air was dank, drenched with age and secrecy. I could hardly wrap my mind around what I was experiencing. Elaborate statues hide in shadows and masks of fright that conjure thoughts of Halloween hang on pillars. Tibetan books from the 16th century fill out a large shelf about 20ft by 8ft. I was overwhelmed by the feelings this room brought out in me. Such a strange fear and uneasiness gripped my soul and our aloof tour guide, a monk of 11 years did not help with his strange behavior and no English. He smiled at us totally accepting and unaffected by the mystical gravity of this small chamber. I must admit I was caught totally off guard when I made my way to a position behind the figures where I was almost sure a wall should be. A force of great power and secrecy lives here and it was a segment of time I shall not soon forget.