Jikjisa and the trip to Chinhae

While my parents were here, we went on a whirlwind tour of the Korean peninsula. I was very excited to get out of Seoul and to see more of Korea. We really haven't explored Korea much and I kept hearing that the southern portion of the country is beautiful and worth visiting. Mostly, I just wanted to get out of the city. Of course, actually getting out of the metropolitan Seoul area is much more difficult than it sounds because it's so full of traffic. But once we FINALLY made it out of Seoul, the roads cleared up and we started to make some good progress. We had rooms booked at the Navy base down in Chinhae, which sits on the southern coast about an hour to the west of Busan.

Halfway through our journey to Chinhae, we stopped at one of Korea's many, many rest stops. The rest stops in Korea are rather impressive. Sure, they feature bathrooms, food, and gas stations just like the ones in America, but they have higher quality food and there are more amenities. One even had a "lactation room" and a real changing table and baby bathtub in the bathroom. The one we stopped at on Monday was situated along a resevoir or river of some kind and had beautifully large windows that showcased the water and mountains. It was rather picturesque. (Of course I wasn't expecting the rest stop to be so scenic so I left my camera in the car.) We ate a late lunch, I fed Zara, and did a little souvenir shopping. Mostly, it was just nice to stretch our legs.

Not long after starting on our journey again, we stopped in Kimcheon to visit the Jikjisa Buddhist temple. Our good friend (who served his mission in Korea and has traveled throughout the country) said that it was one of his favorite spots in all of Korea. We weren't sure if we should stop since we had gotten such a late start that day and were nervous about finding our way down to Chinhae in the dark, but I'm so glad that we made the detour to visit the site. It was absolutely beautiful and so worth the extra time and trouble it took to get there.

It's in a more remote location up in the mountains and is surrounded by trees, mountains and fresh water streams.
The first thing I noticed when we stepped out of the car was the cool, crisp, fresh air. I suddenly realized just how dirty and unrefreshing Seoul city air is and it felt like I was breathing for the first time in a really, really long time. I couldn't stop taking deep breaths and filling my lungs with all that pure, sweet mountain air.

It was late afternoon so the sun was already down and the air was very cool. That, along with the beautiful colors of the changing season really made me feel like it was truly autumn. I love, love, love fall. I hate that the switch from summer to fall seems so short.

The temple buldings themselves were typical Asian/Buddhist buildings (and really once you've seen one, you've seen them all) but it was the location and scenery that made Jikjisa so breathtaking and memorable.

They must have been burning a wood fire somewhere on the premesis because I caught a whiff of that delicious campfire smell and I had this gut-wrenching longing to roast some marshmellows and commune with nature.

I really didn't want to leave. You can actually stay at the temple and hang with the monks. It actually sounds kinda nice.

As we continued to walk around, I got more and more reluctant to leave. I kept telling David how much I wanted to go camping or visit some of Korea's national parks and just be in nature. After 15 months of being in one big city or another, I had forgotten just how much I love peace and quiet and nature.

I made David promise that we'd at least visit Sorakson before we leave Korea. And that we'd try to get out of Seoul more often.

So breathtaking.

After walking around the grounds we about an hour, we reluctantly piled back into the car to continue on our journey. We had hoped that it would only take another two hours to get to Chinhae but we ended up getting quite lost and it took us about an hour or two to find knowledgeable Koreans who could give us adequate directions toward Chinhae and the base. Our maps of Korea were absolutely useless. We finally found the base (which is tiny) and got settled in our rooms (which were very nice and inexpensive) and crashed for the night. I took the longest shower and it was glorious. Despite the extra time it took, I'm so glad we stopped at Jikjisa. I think it's my favorite place in Korea right now too.

Zara was an absolutely fantastic little traveler. She mostly slept in her carseat while we were driving and didn't mind being transferred to the carrier when we'd get out to see things. She fussed and cried a little, but really, she did a terrific job. She's such a wonderful baby...I don't know how I got so lucky.

But having just typed that, I know I'll live to regret those words. Oh well.