Pusoksa

On the wall of the Beewon Guesthouse in Seoul, Korea, my home for the past few days, there is a flyer that reads, ‘PUSOKSA: This is my favorite place in Korea. – Lee’.

A few color photos accompany the flyer, as well as instructions on how to get there: ‘Subway Line #2 to Gangbyeon. Dong-Seoul bus terminal: Yeoungju. After getting off bus cross street & transfer to the village bus for Pusoksa.’ I checked the index of my Lonely Planet book for ‘Pusoksa’. Nothing. I checked for ‘Yeoungju’. Nothing. The only information I had to guide me to Lee’s favorite place in Korea (whoever Lee is) was the few short sentences on the flyer. With no other agenda planned for my day today I figured Pusoksa would be the perfect adventure.

I got a late start, which turned out to be quite an inconvenience as Pusoksa was much further from Seoul than I anticipated. After sleeping in and becoming preoccupied with all-you-can-eat toast and jam in the guesthouse kitchen, I finally left the guesthouse at 9:30. I honestly was unsure where I was going or even whether I would make it to Pusoksa or not, but all I wanted was an adventure. Even if the whole day was spent criss-crossing Korea on public busses then at least I could say I tried. At 10:30 I had crossed Seoul via the subway and made it to Gangbyeon Station.

Fortunately there was a bus leaving for Yeoungju… but not until 11:15. I began to realize that if I made it to Pusoksa at all then it would most likely be a very brief visit before dashing back to Seoul to catch my flight back to the US tomorrow.

At 1:45 I stared out the window of the bus to Yeoungju as it pulled into a rest stop. I had hoped the bus would have arrived by then, but a rest stop certainly meant that Yeoungju was nowhere nearby. I wondered how far Pusoksa was from Yeoungju… A half-hour? One hour? Two hours? If I didn’t get to Yeoungju soon there was a good chance I’d have to take the first bus back to Seoul without seeing anything. I tried not to think what would happen if I arrived in Yeoungju after the last bus to Seoul left… missing an international flight back to the US is an ugly situation I never want to have to deal with.

At 2:45 the bus finally pulled into the Yeoungju bus station. Some quick improvised communication with words exchanged in English and Korean – but none of which were understood – got me a ticket back to Seoul on a bus leaving at 7:00. I had four hours to find Pusoksu and get back to the station. Before I left the Beewon Guesthouse I had asked the receptionist to write ‘Pusoksu’ in Korean for me on a pad of paper… that turned out to be essential information. After showing the Korean spelling to a few locals I was guided to a bus stop in Yeoungju and onto a rickety public bus headed into rural Korea.

I stared at the clock at the front of the bus as the minutes ticked by like seconds. Three-fifteen came and went… then 3:30… then 3:45. Finally the bus pulled up at a cluster of small Korean restaurants and a dirt pathway leading into the distance. A handful of Korean tourists were there, but I was definitely the only white man for miles.

I had only an hour before I had to catch the bus back to Yeoungju, so I had to hurry. I didn’t have time to read the signs describing the history of Pusoksu, but a Google search tonight revealed that the name means ‘Temple of the Floating Stone’, it was founded by the great monk Uisang in 676 AD, and that the temple was built to invoke Buddha’s help in fending off an impending invasion of Korea by Chinese armies. The temple worked for Uisang and his fellow citizens – the Koreans succeeded against the Chinese and secured the unification of Korea. Also, thanks to Uisang, visitors to Korea can enjoy one of the most beautiful sights in the country in an incredible natural setting.

Lee was right, Pusoksa is beautiful. I began my visit by hiking up the dirt trail to the entrance to the temple, then slowly ascending the steps through various pagodas to a giant temple at the top that housed an amazing giant golden Buddha statue. From the top of the temple complex I could see the entire grounds of Pusoksu spread out below me, and I spent the next half-hour admiring the natural beauty of the place and snapping my favorite pictures of my visit to Korea. After capturing the gardens and temples as best as I could with my camera I headed back down the dirt path and rushed to catch the bus back to Yeoungju.

My visit to Pusoksu was brief, but somehow I feel like it completed my visit to Korea. Of the four short days I have here I spent two in Seoul and the surrounding area and one at the DMZ. Until today I didn’t feel like I had really seen Korea. I had seen a big city and a site of incredible political controversy; both interesting places, but not the real Korea. Today was an adventure. I saw plenty of rural Korea on the bus rides to and from Yeoungju and Pusoksa. I met several friendly Koreans on my way who were anxious to help me – including a young South Korean soldier who gave me his phone number and told me to call him if I missed my bus back to Yeoungju. Finally, I saw the wonder itself – Pusoksa in all its ancient glory, surrounded by lush green mountains and the natural beauty of Korea. The day was a success… I had made it to Pusoksa.