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Published: September 20th 2009
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Last weekend, Chantelle and I, along with our newfound exploring friend, Ryan (the dedicated McMaster graduate), decided to hike up Bomunsan, one of the designated Daejeon Eight Sights To See.
We started off by meeting at Daejeon Station, then walking in the direction of the mountain. We went through about an hour of city walking before we officially saw the Welcome to Bomunsan sign. Being the hiking newb, I was starting to fatigue but was determined to trudge onwards.
At the Bomunsan map, we pinpointed the main areas we were hoping to hit such as Ryan's two temples on top of two mountain peaks as well as my Seated Statue of the Buddha.
One of the first sights we came upon was a small cluster of beautiful temples and Buddha statues located at the entrance of the trail. Spending a good 15 minutes there, we snapped pictures until we were satisfied before continuing on our nature hike. I must mention that I managed to get a great snapshot of myself posing with a giant happy-looking Buddha just for my brother!
The main path was nicely paved and was quite busy with human traffic, considering that hiking is
Korea's national past time. The awesome thing the 3 of us discovered was that the path could be considered one big exercise circuit! Start off with some hiking, then you'll hit Checkpoint #1, a bunch of exercise machines along with the option to hula (as I noticed a couple hula hoops dangling from a branch nearby). Once you're done your quick exercise, continue hiking until you hit Checkpoint #2, etc. I've never seen anything like that but we were quite amused, occasionally trying out the equipment.
Once in while, we would stop and rest (with me calling most of the stopping), especially if we saw more monuments and statues. Several areas were beautifully landscaped as I noticed many locals frequented these parks.
We decided to switch into a more intermediate hiking mode and began to hike off the paved trail and up the mountain. It was a beautiful clear sunny day but we were saved by the cool shade of the forest trees. I don't think I've ever detested stair-climbing so much as we began to ascend up the mountain and all I could see were flights and flights of stairs.
We finally came upon one of
Ryan's temples and oh freakin god were we not impressed when we noticed that it was under construction and CLOSED for the time being! With that being it, I still had to take a picture of the construction.
An interesting note that I learned is that usually when hikers hit a certain spot, mainly the peak, they'll create some sort of rock pile formation commemorating the moment. The pile stays untouched until other hikers come and add a rock for each person that made it to the same spot. We managed to see two similar rock pile areas and I was just so thrilled to be a part of it!
We hiked on and I guess I wasn't paying attention but right when I thought we were on our way down (I have a whacked sense of direction), we arrived at the second temple! I had no idea how high up we were until we came into the clearing and saw an incredible view of Daejeon city. There wasn't a tree or rock or ANYTHING in our way and of course we snapped photos to our heart's delight. Afterwards, the three of us just sat on a rock
overlooking the city in silence, taking in the stunning view and realization that we were here, that we had made it.
The area was called Bomunsanseong (a mountain fortress). It was built with stones piled up along the perimeter of the walls on the mountaintop standing 406m above sea level in the south of Bomunsan. It is assumed the fortress was built when Baekje was at war with Silla.
We decided to head back into the city as the sun looked like it was about to set. Unfortunately, being the klutzy goof that I am, while walking through the overgrowth, I slipped and fell, rolling my ankle in the process. After taking a quick breather and deciding I could still walk, we continued on, taking the most direct route back down the mountain.
The direct route also happened to probably be the most advanced and probably not the best idea for my ankle, however, by taking this route, we accidently stumbled upon, yup you guessed it, my seating Buddha!! I was so overjoyed when we saw it. However, it wasn't at all what I thought the Buddha would look like but it didn't matter, it was a
good kind of different!
My Seated Statue of the Buddha aka Maaeyeoraejwasang is a work of the latter period of the Goryeo Kingdom. It sits south to Jangsubawi (a rock where people prayed for long life).
For those shocked about the ankle thing, no worries, I've been practicing the R.I.C.E technique daily and the swelling and redness have gone down. I'll be able to get back onto those mountains in no time, just gotta watch where I'm walking next time.
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