gakwonsa temple

this past sunday i ventured to cheonan, on the outskirts of seoul, with friends smilja & jonna. i was determined to visit a buddhist temple before the weekend's end...and the determination paid off. little did i realize (by the looks of the subway map) that it would take 2 hours to get there, but i think it was well worth the trip. first of all, cheonan is the birthplace of these yummy walnut waffle-bite things, which were being made & sold on every corner. and, best of all, the temple, atop mt. taejosan, is home to a giant bronze buddha statue. it really was impressive... 15m tall & weighing 60 tons. one of his ears is about the size of me. the temple itself was lovely, as temples go. amazing architecture, brilliant colors, deep, resonating and peaceful sounds of the gong and chanting monks. we stayed until just after sunset, whence (thanks to smilja) we hitched a ride back to the metro station w/ a really nice guy, sagwon, who is a photographer. a bag full of walnut balls later & we were on the long ride home. ohm.