Gamcheon Culture Village in Busan is located on a hillside in Saha-gu, that was first settled in the early 1900’s by followers of the Taegeukdo religion. Over the years, the village continued to deteriorate until 2010 when the community was brought back to life as an arts and culture village, with several abandoned homes being converted into exhibition spaces, art shops and cultural facilities.
In my quest to visit all the Disney Parks, this fall I took the Disney tram to Hong Kong Disneyland and checked another one off my list. While Hong Kong Disneyland may be the smallest of them all, with only one park to visit, it’s still a magical way to spend a day.
Paris….I’m coming for you next!
The beautiful Beomeosa temple is definitely one of Busan, South Korea’s must-see sights. Although it’s located within the city, nestled high in the hills, the temple seems miles away from Busan’s busy streets.
While Beomeosa is a nice place to visit at any time of year, the colourful changing leaves on the surrounding mountains during the fall make the temple’s backdrop truly magnificent.
The surrounding area is a popular place to go hiking for both locals and tourists and when the weather is nice it’s a busy place with trails leading to the temple, the northern starting point for trails across Geumjeongsan.
Temples in Korea have been a place of refuge for Korean people for more than 1,700 years. Tradition has been that these temples open their gates to allow everyone to experience the traditional Korean Buddhist culture.
Here at Beomeosa, the temple offers both overnight “Templestay” programs and 1-day “Temple Life” programs for visitors to learn about and get a feel for Korean Buddhism. The sign at the gate states “You can cleanse your mind through a meaningful journey to search your true nature while staying at a beautiful temple.”
Beomeosa is known as a Comprehensive Training Monastery and was built by Great Master Uisang, a leading monk at that time, in the 18th year of King Munmu of the Silla Dynasty (678 C.E). It is one of 25 major temples in Korea and has 11 hermitages on the mountain and more than 200 branch temples around the nation.
For more info click here
To get to Beomeosa Temple:
Metro line 1 to Beomeosa, Exit 5. Walk 200m. Catch bus 90 (1200won) or walk up the steep slope for a nice hike in the woods.
The temple is open from 8:30-5:30pm.
On a recent trip to NYC, I finally made it down to wander around Coney Island. With over 50 rides, lots of shops, restaurants and a boardwalk along the beach, it was definitely a great way to spend a sunny, summer day in New York City!
For more info and directions check out http://www.coneyisland.com/tourist-information
I love reading travel books. Reading about the journeys others have set out on or those adventures people fall into by mistake inspires me even more in my quest to see the world. Seeing their trials and successes and imagining myself in those situations allows me to get a taste of what the trip could be like. Usually, as I finish one of these books, I start thinking about taking my own adventure just like the one the author has written about. I declare that I’m going to set off for a year of travel, or I’m going to ride my motorcycle around the world (after learning how to drive one…), or that I’m off to live with the Maasai, and so on and so on.
I just finished reading Tracks by Robyn Davidson about her journey across 1,700 miles of Australian desert by camel. For the first time, I closed a travel book wondering if this is an adventure I could actually do. Sure, I’d love to go camel trekking in Morocco or out to the pyramids in Egypt, but could I actually spend over half a year trekking across the desert with just four camels and a dog to keep me company, only coming across other humans every so often? I’m not sure I could. It’s also not something I ever would have thought to do.
Robyn writes, “The question I’m most commonly asked is ‘Why?’ A more pertinent question might be, why is it that more people don’t attempt to escape the limitation imposed upon them? If Tracks has a message at all, it is that one can be awake to the demand for obedience that seems natural simply because it is familiar. Wherever there is pressure to conform (one person’s conformity is often in the interests of another person’s power), there is a requirement to resist. Of course I did not mean that people should drop what they were doing and head for the wilder places, certainly not that they should copy what I did. I meant that one can choose adventure in the most ordinary of circumstances. Adventure of the mind, or to use an old-fashioned word, the spirit.”
While I’m not sure I’ll be setting out to trek the wild desert anytime soon, I will always choose adventure and trying something new, and encourage you all to do the same.
On September 11, 2006, I found myself in NYC standing at ground zero on a grey, gloomy day, listening to memories of survivors and those who had lost loved ones. An emotion filled day I will never forget.
Tales of a Travel Addict 
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