디시인사이드

Last week, I visited the eastern part of Jeollanam-do for 3 days and 2 nights. The first day was Namwon and Gurye, the second day was from Gurye to Yeosu via Suncheon, and the last day was from Yeosu to Suncheon.

Due to the limitations of traveling, I was only able to visit about 3 places per day. Since the itinerary was planned around three places - Saseongam on the first day, Hwaeomsa on the second day, and Hyangiram on the last day - the itinerary was somewhat inefficient, but the visit to Hwaeomsa on the second day was a satisfactory enough itinerary. Please refer to the bottom for detailed schedule.

I took the KTX departing at 5 am and arrived at Namwon Station around 7:20 am. Go to downtown Namwon on foot.

A fascinating sight that lasted for about 5 minutes with the sunrise.

On the way, we visited Manboksa Temple. Namwon, which embraces the northern part of Jiri Mountain, including Jeongnyeongchi, cannot show the natural beauty of Jiri Mountain like Gurye or Hadong, but it is filled with more intimate scenery.

Gwanghalluwon. I think it is probably the best garden attached to a government office during the Joseon Dynasty. A group of koi fish are hibernating in the pond.

Mandarin ducks can't get out of their morning sleep. There were a lot of mandarin ducks here in Gwanghalluwon. In addition, there are literally birds such as ducks, black-faced vultures, crows, and woodpeckers.

Now take the bus and go to Gurye. The first place I visited after leaving my luggage at Gurye Terminal was Piagol Yeongoksa Temple.

Dongseungtap, the poem and bell of Yeongoksa Temple. Unfortunately, the owner is unknown, but it is undoubtedly the finest pagoda on the Korean Peninsula.

These pieces have survived over 1,100 years...

Dongseungtapbi. The turtle-shaped tombstone base, that is, the turtle base, is mainly crawling on the ground, but there are rare ones that swim through the current. The representative work is the Monument to Zen Master Wonrang, which recently disappeared from the first floor of the Central Museum. Even more precious than that, there are those that have wings and fly, and the noble ones of Dongseungtapbi belong to this category.

The road to Yeongoksa Temple is 20 miles along the Seomjin River and 20 miles along Piagol Valley. Aside from the beautiful stupas, Yeongoksa Temple is a very beautiful place. The serenity and coziness of Jiri Mountain that can be felt at Yeongoksa Temple, located here where you have to follow the long Seomjingang River that flows along the mountain and then run for a long time to Piagol, is a charm that cannot be experienced in other temples in Jiri Mountain.

Saseongam Temple was visited next. You can only get to the entrance of Saseongam by bus, and you must purchase a separate ticket for the Saseongam village bus, which costs 3,400 won for a round trip, to comfortably climb up to Saseongam. Of course, if you use a car, you can go directly to the bottom of Saseongam Rock.

The view from Saseongam is truly amazing. Saseongam, located atop Osan Mountain at the inflection point where the Seomjingang River turns from Amnok to Gurye-gu and again in Gurye-eup toward Gwangyang, cannot help but have a beautiful view.

I got out of the shared bus with its acrid brakes and walked towards Gurye town for about 40 minutes. Gurye has a well-organized bus schedule, but in this area where Saseongam is located, there are not many buses, so it is faster to walk. After eating in town, I moved to my accommodation at the entrance to Hwaeomsa Temple relatively early.

On the second day, we departed along the Hwaeomsa Valley, shrouded in darkness. The 20-minute journey, climbing lightly through the silence of the damp road at night, as if it had rained all night, was quite secluded and refreshing.

Gakhwangjeon, engulfed in darkness.

This is my fourth visit to Hwaeomsa Temple, but perhaps because it is always a sunny day, this is my first time experiencing an atmosphere like this, but the winter rain seems to bring out the deep flavor of the temple.

Since my first visit, I have always come to Hwaeomsa Temple early in the morning. I thought about how valuable it is to be able to have all of this space to myself, as I wandered around Gakhwangjeon for about 20 minutes.

Hwaeom temples generally face south, but the arrangement of the central building often faces east. A representative example is the Muryangsujeon Hall of Buseoksa Temple. Although the building itself faces south, the seated Buddha statue inside is placed towards the east. In the case of Hwaeomsa Temple, the main axis, including Daeungjeon, faces south, but only Gakhwangjeon, which is larger than Daeungjeon, faces south.

Gakhwangjeon, standing in great silence.

What was even more refreshing about this visit was the influence of this stone pagoda. This four-lion three-story stone pagoda, located on the hill behind Gakhwangjeon, is the representative tower of the four lion stone pagodas and shows the essence of the sculptural beauty of the Unified Silla Dynasty. It was only recently reopened to the public after a long period of restoration work.

According to one theory, the monk statue at the center of the stone pagoda's stylobate, which is said to be Yeongi Josa and his mother, and the offering statue on the stone lantern have worn-out expressions and are difficult to recognize, but they are looking at each other, reminiscent of their affectionate relationship. This type of arrangement can be seen at Geumjangam Site on Mt. Geumgang, but it is known to have collapsed due to bombing during the Korean War and has not been restored until recently.

What makes this place even more special is the view of Hwaeomsa Temple from here. It was a moment when I felt embarrassed for discussing Hwaeomsa Temple when I had not been here during my past three visits.

The clouds stay for a while and go...

When you look down, the Seomjingang River and Gurye-eup spread out far into the distance.

Gakhwangjeon Hall and Geumjeongam Hermitage seen behind it.

Now I came back down and visited the Nine Rocks for a while. Nine layered rocks are famous for using the shape of quince logs as pillars, but the hermitage itself is also a beautiful place.

The short bamboo forest path on the way up and down also adds to the charm of the road to Gucheungam.

The hill behind Gakhwangjeon is crowded with people when the plum blossoms bloom.

I think Hwaeomsa Temple took up about 40% of this article, and it is a place that is worthy of giving that much emotion. For information on the layout and aesthetics of Hwaeomsa Temple, please refer to the article I recently posted at the link below.

Now, come down to Gurye-eup again and take an intercity bus to Suncheon, then transfer to a bus to Seonamsa Temple and drive for about an hour. Traveling using public transportation is worth the effort, but it is inevitable that the travel time will be doubled.

Seonamsa Temple’s mascots, Seungseongyo Bridge and Gangseonru.

Among the Iljumun Gates on the Korean Peninsula, the Iljumun Gate of Seonamsa Temple is the earliest to be built. The left and right sides are blocked by a wall, giving a sense of the special nature of Seonamsa Temple.

Everyone knows about the conflict between the Jogye Order and the Taego Order at Seonamsa Temple. This fight, which led to a gang fight between monks holding wooden poles, came to an end only last year.

Seonamsa Temple has been fighting against fire for a very long time. The last one was in 1819, when most of the buildings were built after a fire. The foundation of the main hall represents the pain that was experienced over the years.

The biggest charm of Seonamsa Temple can be seen as the arrangement of the homely temple. The joy of going around and encountering buildings is the charm of Seonamsa Temple.

Wontongjeon is the building I love the most. This building, which appears when you enter the narrow gap between Palsangjeon and Buljojeon, kindly has a central section protruding forward to make up for the lack of eaves.

Another point of Seonamsa Temple is “Dwisunggan.”

I had many questions about the Janggyeonggak building after looking at old photos, but when I looked at the internal structure, I understood that it was a two-story house during the Japanese colonial period. It is a structure in which four inner pillars are built like four pillars, and sutra plates are placed around them.

Myogong, the new mascot of Seonamsa Temple.

On this day, we originally planned to go to Yeosu and see the night view of Yeosu, but due to heavy rain, our plan was canceled.

The last day was not as fortunate as the weather in many ways. It wasn't unexpected, but I took the bus to Hyangiram Temple at 5:30 a.m. to see the sunrise, but despite my efforts, the sun didn't peek out from the clouds all day.

Haedong Yonggungsa Temple stands out greatly due to its accessibility to downtown Busan, but among temples overlooking the sea, I cannot find any particular advantages of Haedong Yonggungsa Temple other than the fact that it is very close to the sea. Rather, Hyangiram is fulfilling its role as a natural tourist attraction through various natural features, and the temple itself is harmonized with the scenery overlooking Namhaedo without artificial sculptures or incongruities.

I returned to downtown Yeosu again. I am glad to hear that construction on Jinnamgwan will finally be completed this year.

On the high platform across the bridge, there is a Tarubi monument and a monument to the naval battles. If you go up a little further from here, you will reach Opodae.

The view of downtown Yeosu from Opodae.

I came back down and headed to Odongdo. I went there expecting to see camellias in full bloom, but it seemed it was still too early for them to be in full bloom.

The trails on Odongdo Island were very well maintained. Along with Hyangiram Hermitage, it is a representative tourist destination in Yeosu.

I went up to Suncheon again and visited Suncheon Bay Wetland. Perhaps because the weather was extremely unlucky that day, a strong wind advisory was issued and heavy raindrops hit the entire body. I was very disappointed because I had originally gone there expecting to see the sunset, but the huge flock of whooping cranes was truly spectacular.

Suncheon Bay was under construction as a national garden and even the Yongsan Observatory was under control, so there was virtually nothing to see other than the reed fields. Despite my desire to take a leisurely walk, this plan was thwarted by strong rain and wind, so I booked an early express bus and returned home ahead of schedule.

The entire schedule was as follows. Please keep this in mind if you happen to visit on foot.

Day 1 - 01.17.

05:00 Yongsan Station (KTX bound for Yeosu Expo)

07:20 Namwon Station

07:50 Manboksaji

08:20 Breakfast

08:50 Gwanghalluwon

10:20 Board the bus to Gurye (Gurye Bus No. 7-8, 10:10 from Namwon Terminal)

11:30 Gurye Terminal (Gurye Bus No. 8-1, 11:40 departure from Gurye)

12:10 Yeongoksa Temple

Departure at 13:20 (Gurye Bus No. 8-1, 13:20 Piagol Bus)

14:00 Gurye Terminal (Gurye Bus No. 3-8, 14:20 departure from Gurye)

14:30 Jukyeon Village Hall (walking)

14:40 Saseongam entrance (take the village bus)

15:00 Saseongam

15:40 Departure

15:50 Saseongam entrance (walking)

16:40 Arrival in Gurye-eup, dinner

17:20 Gurye Terminal (Gurye Bus No. 5-1, 17:30 Gurye departure)

17:40 Arrive at accommodation

Day 2 - 01.18.

06:00 wake up

06:40 Departure (walk)

07:10 Hwaeomsa Temple

09:30 Departure

10:00 Return to accommodation (Gurye bus number 5-3, 10:20 departure from Gurye)

11:00 Gurye Terminal (intercity bus to Suncheon, Gwangshin Express departing at 11:10)

11:50 Suncheon Terminal (Suncheon Bus No. 1, departure at 12:00)

13:10 Seonamsa Temple entrance (walking)

13:40 Seonamsa Temple

14:40 Departure

15:10 Seonamsa Temple entrance (Suncheon Bus No. 16, 15:10 Nagan departure)

16:20 Suncheon Terminal (intercity bus to Yeosu, Geumho Express)

17:30 Yeosu Terminal

18:00 Dinner and transfer to accommodation

Day 3 - 01.19.

05:00 wake up

05:40 Departure (Yeosu Bus No. 111-1, 05:30 Mipyeong Departure)

06:40 Entrance to Hyangiram (walking)

07:10 Hyangilam

07:50 departure

08:10 Hyangilam Entrance (Yeosu Bus No. 111-1, 08:20 Hyangilam Exit)

09:00 Downtown Yeosu (Jinnamgwan, Gosodae, Ohpo University)

Departure at 10:00 (Yeosu Bus No. 2, bound for Yeosu Expo)

10:20 Odongdo Island

Departure at 12:30 (Yeosu Bus No. 2, bound for Yeosu Expo)

12:50 Yeosu Expo Station (Mugunghwa bound for Yongsan, departs at 13:19)

13:50 Suncheon Station

14:00 Suncheon Terminal (Suncheon Bus No. 66, departure at 13:50)

14:30 Suncheon Bay Wetland

Departure at 15:30 (Suncheon Bus No. 66, Inwol departure at 15:30)

16:00 Suncheon Terminal, dinner (express bus to Seoul, Geumho Express departing at 17:00)