Buyeo

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Off to see the lovely lotus flowers. We took the bus from Suwon to Buyeo, it was less than 15,000 won for the ticket and there is a bus pretty much every hour. The journey took two hours and we were deposited at Buyeo bus station. We bought our tickets for going home for later in the evening and we set off to explore the city. Armed with a free tourist map of the city, we headed off to check out some of the sights. Buyeo is famous because in the past, it was the home of the Baekje Dynasty. Buyeo was the capital of the Baekje Dynasty from 538-660 AD. It was known as Sabi Fortress back then. The Korean peninsula was ruled by three kingdoms in acient times, these were the Baekje Dynasty, Goguryeo Dynasty, and the Silla Dynasty.

We headed out of town to find the lotus ponds and the lotus festival that was occurring this weekend. It was about a fifteen minute walk to Gungnamji Pond and Seodong Park, where the lotus festival was taking place. The lotus flowers were out in full force, as was the sun. We spent an hour or so wandering around the park, taking photos of the lotus flowers. The park was pretty big and we didn't cover all of it due to the heat, man it was intense. I was constantly sweating, there was sweat running down my face, I felt and no doubt looked disgusting. We took photos of the bigger lotuses and some of the smaller lotuses, there were also tonnes of pretty sunflowers about. There were also a lot of stalls, with different crafty things that you could do, it would have been fun to do some of them if it wasn't so hot.

We left the park and headed back along the road to a cafe by the entrance to the park, that we had researched before we came to Buyeo. The cafe was called at267, we wandered inside and the air con was pumping. It was lovely and cold, felt like we were in heaven. It wasn't too busy and we grabbed a table. We ordered our food and drinks. I ordered a bacon cheese burger and an iced coffee. The food arrived the burgers were monsters. The chef had cut it in half and when the lass brought it over, she said to be careful with it. I let go of it, so that we could take a photo of it and it bloody collapsed and went all over my shorts. The staff weren't very helpful as I asked for a wet cloth to clean myself off with and she gave me some wet wipes, hmm not really the same thing at all, a proper cloth would of made it an easier job. Also they delivered Mel's burger and then had to take it back again as they had forgotten to put the burger patty in. Not the greatest service. The burger was okay, I wished that they had put the salad on the side or shredded the lettuce a bit more, as that would of made it easier to eat. Also the chef must have a sweet chili sauce fetish because our burgers were smothered with it. The burgers were passable, but I doubt I would eat there again. At least the coffee was good.

We finally dragged ourselves away from the air-conditioned heaven that the cafe was. It was so hot outside that we decided to try and find a taxi to take us to the fortress, Busosanseong, as it was too hot to walk. It took ages to find a taxi. The taxi driver advised us to take a boat trip on the river as it was too hot, to trek up the mountain fortress. The boat trip was an old fashioned style boat. I twas really cute. The return journey cost about 8.000 won. We took the boat up the river, the journey would have been lovely and peaceful, but they had the music blasting inside the boat and we could even hear it outside. We disembarked and sat chilling for a while. When we finally worked up the energy to move, we headed up the hill. We came to Goransa Temple, it is a small temple part way up the hill. We had a wander around it, and we drank some of their mineral water. Legend has it, that if you drink a cup of their spring water, you will look three years younger. Can't say it worked.

We headed further up the hill to a pavilion. It was hard work getting up there. The heat had zapped any energy I had. We took a little rest in the pavilion and then walked down to Nakwaam Rock. We had seen the rock from the boat, as it has red writing on it. According to legend, when the empire was invaded by the Chinese forces, 3,000 women threw themselves to their death in the river below. Call me cynnical, but the river looked pretty low, I don't know how they would have all died. We had a cool drink back at the rock, before taking the boat back. We had time for just one more stop, so we headed to Jongnisima temple. I think the entrance fee was about 1,000 won each. We wandered around the complex. There was a tiny lotus pond, the five storied pagoda, I think it is the oldest, but I could be wrong. There was also a Buddha statue in a big building. The statue really tickled me, I'll let the photos explain why. We didn't have time to visit the museum.

We headed back towards the bus station. It was only about a five minute walk from the temple. The area round the temple was really cute, they had put a lot of effort into making it look nice. Our bus left around 6:30 and the traffic wasn't too bad. We were deposited back in Suwon around nine, The journey took a little longer than the estimated time of two hours and ten minutes, but it had been quicker on the way there. We went off in search of food and had a late dinner, before heading home.

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