Bright and waaaay early, we woke up so we can cram as much as we can on our last day in “dynamic” Busan. After getting directions for the hotel concierge, we took a not-so-short walk to the bus stop and took a bus to our first destination for the day: the Haedong Yonggungsa or the Haedong Yonggung Temple.
The Haedong Yonggung Temple is one of the most famous tourist spots in Busan. This Buddhist temple is unique because of its location, which is right on the shoreline instead of in the mountains. It overlooks the ocean, and stands proud atop a rock outcropping. When the tide rises, the temple would appear as if it were floating on the water when viewed from afar.
Just to give you an idea, you can check out this simple map:
From the Haeundae district (where we were), we have to take Bus 181 that will take us across another district, Gijang-jun. This is where the temple is located. The bus ride took more or less 35 minutes and it dropped us off directly where the fork leading to the temple is.
From there, it was quite a long walk on a winding road lined with trees with apricot blossoms in full bloom! It was quite an idyllic road. It was still around 7am at the time (told ya we were early! and this also explains that sleepless looks on our faces, so apologies in advance), so apart from a lone guy who got off the same bus (and apparently headed in the same direction as we were), we had the road – and the blossoms! – to ourselves.
It was quite a walk, made even longer by our constant pausing and stopping for photos. Haha! #camwhores
Then we arrived at a parking lot, and saw a small market of sorts, selling stuff from clothes to street foods to souvenirs. Directly after these stalls, the real Yonggungsa experience begins.
You will find yourself in another wide tree-lined path with apricot trees in the middle enclosed by circular rings you could sit on. The right side is lined with the life-sized statues of the 12 animals representing the Zodiac, while the left are with various stone sculptures (which, I am pretty sure, mean something, but I could not read Hangul or Chinese, so… I know when I’m beaten.).
At the end of the lane is this marker, which contains the Historical Background of the Haedong Yongkung Temple, in various languages. The English text on it is the text on this site, verbatim.
I am guessing that this is the Most Merciful Goddess.
Right in front of the welcome marker are a few stone pagodas.
Hmm. I wonder what the traffic accident rate in this place is. If it is high, it would appear that not a lot of people are praying in this pagoda. 🙂
This other pagoda – I forgot what it is, sorry – caught our eye because of the tiny figures perched on the lower tiers.
This archway marks the start of a flight of stairs going down to where Yonggungsa can be seen. As we were walking, we could hear chants for the morning prayers beginning.
There are also several stone statues lining the path. See that small tunnel there? It’s quite short, but it curves slightly, then you will immediately come upon a continuous flight of steps. Accordingly, there are 108 steps leading to the temple complex.
There were also interesting statues lining the path. Oh boy, this is kinda sexist, don’t you think? haha! I wonder if they have a “Buddha of Granting a Daughter”.
This tableau caught my eye: Statue of Buddha for Academic Achievement. I wonder if we have anything like this here in the Philippines? CPA Board Exam and Bar Exam takers will probably camp out around it!
Finally, more than halfway through the steps, we get a glimpse of Haedong Yonggungsa’s main sanctuary. The main sanctuary has a cave where the Buddhist sanctum is located.
The statue on the far right is of the Merciful Goddess herself looking out to sea. Directly in front of the main sanctuary, is a stone pagoda with three tiers, with four lions facing the four different directions. They represent Happiness, Sadness, Joy, and Anger. Unfortunately, you cannot see a clear image of the lions below, but you can see the stone pagoda, right?
Morning prayers were underway, and as much as we were intrigued to witness it (I, for one, have never seen it firsthand), we thought it would be better to simply view it from afar instead of causing a disturbance. So we decided to go the other way and head to the rock outcroppings – kinda like their viewdeck.
It is here that we got a better view of the whole place.
Haedong Yonggungsa was first built in 1376, during the Goryeo Dynasty. However, during the Japanese invasion, it was destroyed by fire and was rebuilt in the 1930s. It was in 1970 when the main sanctuary underwent major reconstruction.
We sat down here and ate some snacks we stashed in our packs (because we left the hotel without having breakfast! We were so full the night before, and I will tell you all about that in a later post) and sat down on the rocks. We didn’t talk much to each other, haha! Kanya-kanyang moment lang!
It was so relaxing. The place was not crowded. All you hear are the sounds of chanting and the gong from the main sanctuary, the sound of the waves crashing against the rocks, the feel of the cool morning air against your cheeks… and the company of some fearless birds. Ah~ bliss~
I think it was a good 30 minutes before we decided to move on. If you walk a bit further on, you will see a bridge leading to the Fisheries Science Museum. I think it was still closed at the time. And we didn’t really plan on going there, so… We just took pictures. 🙂
It was with a bit of heaviness in our hearts that we had to leave the place. While going up the stairs, I felt my legs lagging a bit. It was so peaceful and relaxed. So chill – literally and figuratively. The combination of a temple and the majestic ocean is just SPOT. ON.
I’m glad we came all this way to this place to check it out. You don’t have to be a Buddhist in order to appreciate this place. If the temple does not humble you, the ocean will.
For now, I leave you with a pic of She and I waiting for our bus to take us to the next stop. Phew.
* Photo credits: Peach and I.
