So I spent the past week or so in Korea and took lots of pictures.
(all pictures are thumbnails — click to view fullsize)
Bongeunsa Buddhist Monastery
The first stop we took was the buddhist temple across the street. No, really, it was LITERALLY ACROSS THE STREET FROM OUR HOTEL.
Probably the most mindblowing part of the whole thing was this entire temple complex, right there in the middle of a busy city. I don’t really have much commentary on these pictures, because to be honest what can I say, not being Buddhist.
Here was rice and offertory candles for sale just before entering the complex. This wasn’t a museum, but a functioning temple.
As you can see the Buddhist view of swastikas isn’t the same as ours.
People were actually in the middle of services during our visit, which kept me from going picture happy inside the temple buildings. I mean, wandering in the middle of a church service and firing off flash bulbs just seemed rude. Still I managed to get a few shots from outside.
There were these paper balloons everywhere. I found out later it was because it was Buddha’s birthday this week.
The centerpiece of the temple complex is this huge Buddha, that looked about 5 or 6 stories tall.
Bongeunsa’s website (which is all in Korean) is here.
