We are lucky enough to be in Asia for Buddha's birthday! We wanted to visit a monestary, and when we found out that it was Buddha's birthday yesterday, we figured it was the perfect time. What an experience! We took an hour-long bus ride to the mountains just outside the city of Seoul and began the hour-long hike up the mountain to reach the monestary. On the way to the main temple, we found a small one along the path. We could hear chanting and gongs banging, so we decided to stop. I was excited and intrigued to watch as the monk chanted in front of a huge, gold Buddha surrounded by lit candles. We continued up the mountain, which was quite strenuous, until we reached the top ages later. It really was quite a workout. When we reached the top, it was almost like how I'd imagine Tibet is when you first approach. Think "Seven Years in Tibet" when Brad Pitt first enters the outskirts of the main city. We entered the gates and proceeded to reach the top, but first, before we could get to the main temple, we had to pass through shops and restaurants, almost like a little town. When we finally reached the temple, it was amazing, as you can see in the pictures. There was chanting and thousands of lanterns. We talked for a while with a Japanese monk who was kind enough to show us around. He also introduced us to the Cambodian head of monks (pictured in the slideshow). The Cambodian monk, who spoke no English, gave us a copy of his biography for free and autographed it with James' name. Probably the most amazing scene was upstairs in the temple where thousands of people were seated, shoes off, on mats facing an elaborate gold Buddha with thousands of candles. The altar was quite ornate. There was even a choir of Buddhist nuns. The monks would chant and the people would repeat the chant. We brought a videocamera and recorded much of the chanting and singing from the ceremony. Later, when it was dark, they lit all the lanterns and I felt like I was in another world. There I stood at the top of a mountain, in a monestary, in Asia, on Buddha's birthday, listening to chanting and breathing in incense. The walk back down was pretty tough and we were tired. If I'm not thinner when I return home I'll be shocked. I also had my first (and hopefully only) experience with a squat toilet. Believe me, that's all you want to know. All I can say is, men are really lucky.
Please excuse my grammer I finished posting the pictures at 4:30am. I'm pretty sure you'll find some errors.
don't take your potty for granted ;) it's great that you got to experience buddha's birthday. thanks for sharing the wonderful pictures.
Posted by: stef at May 27, 2004 08:08 PM