We toured two temples that day. When we got to the first, I seriously did not want to get out of the bus and look at another temple. I got out though, and, wanting to get away from the group, I got way behind as they followed the guide on a trail. It was a stunning morning. This path was so breathtaking, with lush green mountains with a misty fog hanging in the air.
Next we went to another temple! This one was bigger, and we spent more time learning about different Buddhist traditions. For example, did you know that the swastika is a Buddhist symbol for reincarnation? Yup. Hitler took it and twisted it for his insane mind. Now you know.
After the temples and a strange lunch in a restaurant with questionable smells, we moved on to SEOUL!!! It was a five hour bus ride, so we settled in to our seats for the trip. On the way we watched the extraordinary film The Butterfly Effect 2 (betcha didn't know there was a sequel!) and Rocky. We got to stop at some of Korea's amazing rest stops (have I talked about them before?). They are great. They are big and clean and neon-y, with a cafeteria-type restaurant inside selling all sorts of foods, and a convenience store with packaged food and drinks. They blow our rest stops out of the water.
Getting in to Seoul wasn't as exciting as the drive in to Busan for some reason. Maybe we took the way with less neon. But the huge high-rises started out sparsely then got more and more dense as we drove in. And before we knew it, we were, in Seoul, I guess! What did we do when we got in to Seoul...According to our itinerary, we were to visit "the most biggest ordinaly market Nam-Dai-Moon Shy-Zhang", then "cheak in hotel and take a rest." But we didn't visit the market...what did we do?? Ah. Yes. First we ate at a tourist restaurant. They had excellent tourist. Ha ha just kidding, we had another bibimbap in a stone bowl. It wasn't as cool as the first time. Then we did just go straight to the hotel, the Koreana!! The good news - Christina and I had our own room. The bad news - this was the worst hotel yet. The outside was super nice, great lobby, plush, great doormen, etc. But the rooms were a bit shabby, stained carpet and furniture, etc. Oh well. We'd be here for two nights!
After we checked in, we met up with some folks and hit a Hof. I was with mostly other folks from my Damyang camp, so we chatted about camp. I was tired after that. They kept on going, and Shelly and I walked home! And that was the first day in Seoul.
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