Danyang

Tim’s morning starts at 5.30 as it’s already light. Yesterday we saw a picture of some rocks in the river, that seemed like a nice spot to photograph. Our instinct was correct, because when Tim arrived at the spot around 6.00, a bus with Korean photographers was already in place. Tim joins the row of tripods and gets out his drone. Normally it’s just a contest of who has the longest lens, but now it also seems to be a contest of who has the biggest tripod. A Korean comes and checks Tim’s tripod mispronounces Manfrotto and get out his massive Manfrotto. To continue the contest Tim gets his biggest lens and photographs some birds just to make a point.

After breakfast we get back in the car to drive to the Guinsa temple complex. The temple is the headquarter of the Cheontae sect and relatively new as the first buildings were erected on the site in 1945. So we go here not so much for the history but for the stunning location in a mountain valley. This also means we have to walk the 4km up from the parking lot. Koreans are waving and pointing at a parked van. Olga is sensitive to the group pressure and takes a seat in the car with the children. Nobody will be surprised that Tim is not sensitive to the enthusiastic pointing and shouting Koreans at all, and he starts the mountain climb. After a few minutes waiting, the van is filled with Koreans and drives up the mountain to the temple gate in only five minutes. We wait for Tim to arrive at the gate.

However, the climbing doesn’t end at the gate since the whole complex lies in a narrow valley and goes up the slope. Halfway up,Olga and kids get another hint from another Korean monk, there is an elevator in the temple (the advantage of a 70-years-old-temple!) and we just have to go to the 7th floor.

On the top are many animal statutes and the main temple that Tim and Cleo visit.

During our stair master exercises to the top building we passed the dining hall, and we decide to give it a go because Buddhist meals usually are vegan. We get a plastic tray with 5 compartments which are filled with rice, kimchi, potatoes, a brown soup and some more cabbage. We join the other visitors on large tables, the complex is said to be able to feed 20,000 people in one go. We are thankful for the free meal, finish our tray and head back down.

On our way to the temple we passed a film set/tourist village, so we decide to check it out. But first, we have a snack stop with Korean rice cookies, almonds and dried mango.

In the village, there are many medieval looking Korean buildings including a castle, palace rooms, a street in a town and a rural village.

At the end is the entrance to a real 450 mln years old cave with an underground stream. We put on helmets and explore the cave. Some of the passages are small even for Koreans so Tim has to crawl on his knees to pass them.

Glad to be outside again we head to the exit, where there is an exhibition hall. It tells the story of the general who supposedly built the next door fortress somewhere in the 6th century. No Korean museum seems complete without some rooms dedicated to taking selfies, so we join the fun.

We want to have an early dinner as everyone is a bit tired. But once in Danyang most of the restaurants are still closed and won’t reopen until 16.30. So we go for a walk through the market and check out the wares. The first stall sells maggots, we skip that, further are some familiar fish stalls, there is a huge line for something. We first think it are steamed potatoes, but it turns out to be baguettes with garlic butter. Nice but not something we want to queue for. We go for the kimchi pancakes and get some vegetarian gimbap, the Korean sushi.

We take everything back to our guesthouse and end our day playing in the garden.