City of Contrasts

Seoul is a crazy, beautiful, mixed-up city.  On Friday, Steph (France), Vroni (Austria), Philip (Denmark), and I (USA) set out to find a temple and a mall.  We took subway line 6 from campus to Yaksu, where we transfered to line 3, rode line 3 to Express Bus Terminal and line 7, and got off at Cheongdam.  The subways here are clean and simple.  All the signs even have English translations!

My little Lonely Planet Seoul guidebook, despite being 7 years old, accurately led us out of the station and, after about 15 minutes of walking, we found COEX Mall.  COEX is a ridiculously huge, mostly underground mall that has everything.  In it you can find conference centers, an aquarium, game rooms, a Lamborghini leather store, the kimchi museum, a giant theater, and StarCraft centers. And any store you could ever want so see.

Before going into COEX, however, we decided to take advantage of the beautiful weather and find the Bongeunsa temple, one of Korea's most traditional Buddhist temples - and it's really old!  Bongeunsa became the nation's leading temple by 1550.  What struck me the most, however, was the intricate detail of the artistry.  Everything was just so darn gorgeous! 

The temple is still used for prayer. Everything was hushed, as people bowed, lit candles and incense, and meditated. A light rain began to fall, which made the scene even more ethereal, especially when we came around a grove of well-pruned trees to find this:

Steph is standing in front, to give you some idea of the scale!

The most interesting part, however, was the contrast of the old and the new, the peacefulness and the modern hustle and bustle, the life of an acetic and the commercial life.  Crossing the street in front of the temple led to a modern-day shrine to consumerism.  And I couldn't help but wonder in which one I felt more comfortable.

While the day's adventure didn't end there, my wakefulness is rapidly fading, so I will tell the tale of Friday afternoon at a later date.

The Team!