Apr 15, 2011
It is the head temple of the Jogye Order of Korean Buddhism. It is situated on the slopes of Songnisan Mountain.
From the bus stop we followed the road and eventually lead us to the Orisup Trail. There were a lot of things to see and buy.
after passing all the food stands, we finally got to the start of the trail.
There is a large rock with a hole in the middle beside the main gate. You can drink spring water that comes out of the hole. Nadia drank some water, I did not.
There was this weird side park that had animal shaped bushes(?)
Finally got to the main gate where we paid to enter. it was super cheap. less than $5.
Inside the temple you can see Palsangjeon Pavilion which is the wooden building shaped like a tower. It's a five-story pagoda and is the only one of its kind left in Korea.
There was a Lotus Flower Pond but it didn't look like one. There is the Ssangsajaseokdeung (Two Lion Stone Lamp), the two lions holding up a stone lamp.
The Golden Maitreya Statue of Buddha weighs 160-tons. Covered in gold leaf, the Buddha was made possible by over 30,000 donations. There is a little museum type thing inside.
There were these images of Buddha carved into a rock and some Chinese(?) writing
Walking back to town we decided to follow the ajummas by crossing the river hopping on stones
This is a special walkway which is said to offer a quick test of your health. Mainly the pressure points in your feet. The walkway is made of little clay beads. If you're in pretty good shape, it shouldn't pain you to walk on the beads. I ended up walking on it only half way... it hurt a lot!
