Bulyeongsa Temple

No Korean road trip would be complete without a trip to a temple or two.  Just outside of Ulijin, tucked into a scenic winding valley is Bulyeongsa.  Built during the Shilla dynasty, it's still in use today as a home for Buddhist nuns.  A fifteen minute walk alongside a small winding river leads to the temple complex.   From driving through Korea over the weekend there seems to be a pretty clear delineation between living spaces and beautiful spaces.  Cities are functional, for people and cars and factories.  The country is untouched, for farms, for tree covered hills, for peaceful and beautiful spaces.  The two rarely intersect.  If you're looking for respite from any of Korea's industrial grey spaces known as cities, Bulyeongsa is a great place to get away.  The air has a clarity and crispness that fills your lungs and rejuvenates in a way that's just not possible under the shadow of POSCO's smoking stacks.  As always, here's 10 pictures and some foolish comments.

Every temple in Korea starts out with a big gate like this one.  We were there on a rainy day, which was good because nobody else was there, but was terrible because it was raining.

I don't know if these paper lanterns are always here, but they add some color on grey days.

The setting is really beautiful. A small stream, lots of trees, even a few cherry blossom trees hiding in the hills.

There was even a little lake in front of the temple complex.

This is one of the prominent structures in any temple complex.  A bell, a drum and a hanging fish.  

Every temple has a bell tower.

Close-up of the detail on the drum.

Buddha's birthday is right around the corner and these paper lanterns will be everywhere.  Sara and I have to decide where we'll be, as we get a three day weekend.  Road trip, I think.

Time to get out of the rain and head somewhere else.