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Beomeosa Buddha
Busan, South Korea
Korean temples tend to be out of the way (compared to Japan anyway). Beomeosa feels a world away once you enter the grounds, but the Beomeosa subway stop in Busan is just a short walk and then short bus ride away.
Gwangju, South Korea
It’s Tuesday, and you know what that means…
Mudeungsan butterfly
I suppose today’s photo could have been taken anywhere, but it wasn’t. Today’s pic was taken on Mount Mudeung in Gwangju so it qualifies for Korean Tuesday.
Frequently when I go hiking I like to take along just my camera with a prime 24mm lens mounted on it. The size is smaller and weight is less than any other DSLR lens option I have. However, photos like today’s would be missed if I always opted for this lighter combination. Today’s photo is my second best hiking option, my 24-120mm f/4 lens which allows for a lot more zoom and subject isolation like this.
No Swimming sign in UN Memorial Cemetery in Korea (재한유엔기념공원)
There were two things that I packed for Korea that I never used. One was a long-sleeved shirt. I’m not sure if I ever encountered temperatures in the 70s during my two-month, summer stay in Korea, let alone the 60s (even after midnight). The other was a swimming suit. I never saw a swimming pool. I did see a couple of beaches, but several people told me that Koreans can’t swim, at all. In fact, while I was there a group of Korean kids died after their boat capsized just off the coast of the Boryeong Mud Festival (보령머드축제). Sad, but with no swimming pools it isn’t too surprising that the chance to swim or that the swimming skills of the natives are slim to none.
I found this sign to be a bit humorous. Is it really necessary to have a sign saying “no swimming” in a dry ditch that is less than one foot in depth? Maybe it is not always dry, but still…
BTW, this was in the UN Memorial Cemetery in Busan. I will have more pictures and stories from there later. It was an emotional experience for me despite the weirdness of this sign.
assortment of schneeballes from Schneeballen found in the basement of a Korean department store (Lotte I think)
Beginning today, and for the foreseeable future, Tuesday’s blog entry will be Korea related.
Today’s pic is of some schneeballes from Schneeballen; these delicious-looking treats can be found all over Korea now. I saw these several times before actually buying one. I imagined something between a pastry and a donut. Instead, these “cookies” from Germany are closer to something between a fortune cookie and a stale collection of balled-up tortilla chips. Needless to say, I didn’t go back for more. They weren’t very sweet, and I felt like I was going to lose a tooth trying to eat one.
Employees @ Gwangju Airport wave goodbye to the planes
By the time this posts I should be in the air on my way back to the USA. I took over 5,000 photos while in Korea, most of which I haven’t even looked at yet, and only about 60 have been posted here so far. I’ll return to my more regular photos from Japan tomorrow, but maybe I’ll do a Korean Kayobi (Korean Tuesday) on the blog for the rest of the year or so with a photo from Korea every Tuesday.