Kumsansa

When I lived in Chŏnju, South Korea, from 1997 to 1999, one of the things that DW and I loved to do was get away from the city on the weekends. We would travel, by bus, or sometimes in a vehicle with our Korean friends, to the various temples, mountains, and other sites throughout the small country.

One of our favourite places to visit, if we didn't want to stray too far, was to the far side of Moaksan (Moak Mountain), to the southwest of Chŏnju, to Korea's only three-tiered temples, Kumsansa (now spelled Geumsansa).

Built around 600 AD, the original structure was burned down following the 1592 Japanese invasion and rebuilt in 1632. This is the main temple that still exists to this day.

When DW and I would go to Kumsansa, we would either go by car (our hagwon, or language institute, had a car that was available to the teachers), by scooter (we each bought one in our second year), or by bus. It would take 20 minutes by car, a half an hour by scooter, or just under an hour by bus.

On my recent return to Chŏnju, I had to return to this temple. Being in the mountains, it was set in a beautiful, peaceful, and quiet surrounding. Even when we visited the site, one spring evening, for Buddha's birthday, there was a crowded calm about the grounds.

I caught the bus just around the corner from Pungnammun, Chŏnju's old south gate, which was close to my Airbnb. I was able to use the T-card that I bought in Seoul, which gave me passage on buses, subways, and even some taxis. The care worked on the buses in Chŏnju.

Making our way out of Chŏnju, the bus passed through neighbourhoods that didn't exist when I lived there, 20 years ago. But once we saw Moaksan, with its cluster of television and radio antennae (and no doubt, cell-phone towers), the windy road became familiar. I even recognized a restaurant that DW and I had visited, with some of her students, all those years ago. It was famous for it's smoked duck, and judging by the number of cars parked outside it, the restaurant had not lost its charm.

The bus let me off about 1,300 metres from the entrance to the temple. Years ago, I could have driven much closer. I remembered the lines of souvenir stalls and restaurants, but once I walked past them, where a narrow road once lay, the quality of the roadway was much improved and a landscaped walkway kept me in shaded comfort. It was an extremely pleasant walk, despite my injured ankle from too much walking throughout Seoul and Chŏnju.

The Airbnb in which I was staying is part of a group of lodgings, called Hanok Stay. As I neared the temple, I saw a similar logo and the words Temple Stay near a new group of traditional-style houses. Apparently, you can now rent lodging near Kumsansa.

The grounds of the temple were exactly how I remembered them. The paint on the main building was in serious need of touchup, but everything was how I expected it to be. There were still some lanterns hanging from the previous weekend's celebration of Buddha's birthday: when I had attended the celebration in 1998, the entire grounds were covered in these colourful decorations.

There's not much else to say about the site. I'm going to share the photos I shot and let you decide if this is a place you'd want to escape to, if you lived nearby.