Weekend Trip to Donghae: Takoyaki, Hotel, Buddhism Lecture, Mureung Valley, and the Unintentional Hike Up the Mountain to a Buddhist Temple in My Skinny Jeans

*The day's various adventures are contained in the main texts and the captions.

By 7:30 a.m., all 80 ETAs were on two Jungwon buses headed for a three-day weekend getaway to Donghae. The past two weeks had been intense, and the next two with Camp Fulbright coming up would be even more so! This was a time for us to recuperate and re-energize. The OCs said to bring some money and appropriate beachwear (conservative one-piece for women) - the forecast for Donghae was looking very favorable. 

This was a 2.5-hour bus ride, so we stopped once or twice for snacks and to use the restroom.
I bought some Takoyaki thinking they would be as delicious as the ones in the Philippines, but
was disappointed by my very first bite. None were wasted, however, as I persevered through each
bite and also managed to entice some of the other ETAs to have some. They seemed to actually
like the Takoyaki but were being sheepish...

This is the room I shared with two other ETAs. We had mats for beds, and our own bathroom!

Much-needed lunch after a long bus ride!

A two-hour-ish lecture on Buddhism. The long bus ride to Donghae and the recent lunch we
just all ate combined forces with the speaker's very calm way of speaking to make this
a very sleepy occasion for many ETAs. As I struggled to stay awake, I saw many other heads
bobbing up and down, eyes closing, and faraway or blank stares. I tried to stay awake by reading
the handouts we were given, but fell asleep mid-sentence, only to jolt back away a few milliseconds later.

After the lecture, we headed off to the mountains, where some of the OCs would be taking a group of interested ETAs on a hike the following day. We headed there this afternoon primarily to go see a temple and experience the beauty of nature that surrounded it! Anthony said that the temple was a ways off up in the mountain, but that we could just walk slow and enjoy the view on the way there. Sounded good to me.

We arrived there at around 5:30 p.m. Anthony told everyone that there might be a service of some sort happening at around 6:00 p.m. and to be back on the bus by 6:30 p.m. (the times might be mixed up in my head).

The view right after we got out of our buses. This was about thirty minutes away from our hotel.

I am beginning to really understand why many people associate Korea with the color green.

I took photos of signs since I was overwhelmed by everything there was to see and couldn't really focus long
enough to read. I figured the photos would help me identify the places I had been and seen here on my blog. You're welcome.

Self-explanatory. A huge map of Donghae

Everything was beautiful. I would stop just to take a breath and then continue, and then
stop again remembering to take a photo.

Welcome to one of Donghae's gorgeous hiking spots

This is reminding me a lot of Washington, actually. I'm not missing home. I really am not.

I could walk around here all day! 

A cool looking building. Beginning to wonder what the actual temple looks like!

We passed this area where people were swimming in the shallow spring. ETAs jumped in - tentatively at first - and were
splashing each other with the RAs and the OCs in no time. I thought about jumping in too, but decided against it. 

I saw another ETA continue on her way, so I took one last sweeping look around the spring,
and followed her, wanting to arrive at the temple as soon as I could!

More beautiful buildings ahead!

Looking up at the mountain, I realized I still had a long ways to go to reach the temple Anthony talked about. I had no
idea why he encouraged us to walk slow and just enjoy the view when the entire mountain was standing between us and the temple. I had a long ways to go, so I continued following the other ETA in front of me. 

We passed this intricately-designed building and I stopped long enough to take a photo by it. Unbeknownst to me and the small group of ETAs that were with me, this was the temple that Anthony had been talking about. After taking some photos, we continued on our way... 

If there was ever a sign that I should not have continued, it should have been this road that literally just randomly disappeared. Still unsuspecting of the fact that I had already walked beyond the temple, I continued on. 

I was so ahead of everyone else that I could no longer see the other ETAs. I stopped to wait for some of them so I wouldn't wander off and get lost by myself. I took a second to take a picture of this map because, again, it's just good to have even though you may or may not be able to read any of the important signs on it.

I took a picture of this sign too, for good measure.

These stairs looked like they were finally going to lead to the trail that would lead to the temple,
so I took them. Once I got up there, I stopped to wait for other ETAs. I saw one coming towards me,
but she was the only one so I waited for others as she hiked past me. A couple more ETAs arrived.
Satisfied, I continued on. 

 A few minutes from these stairs, we reached a fork on the road: one led to a 5.5 km trail to who-knows-where, and the other led to a 1.1 km trail to also who-knows-where. I asked the girl with me if she knew Korean. She said she was an advanced student, so she read the sign to both trails and determined that the 1.1 km trail led to a "hall" - which she interpreted as leading to the temple. This made total sense to me, especially since this trail was very steep and would presumably lead us up the mountain and to the temple quicker.

Before continuing on, I asked the others if they had seen the other ETA come through. We didn't find her and I wondered if she had been advanced enough in her Hangul to know which path to take.

What seemed like thousands of steep steps later, we arrived on what looked like the top of the mountain. There were five of us: two boys and three girls. Completely soaked in sweat. Cell phones that had no service and low batteries. This entire time, I was suffering under three layers of shirts. It finally occurred to me that, being in the middle of nowhere, I could probably fold the sleeve of the top layer to allow more air and still remain "conservative" in the off chance that I should encounter a Korean citizen. The OCs have apparently successfully conditioned me not to show my shoulders in public places.

This is the group who were ahead of the pack, and who would obviously be the first ones to reach the temple. I kept
looking back but there were still no signs of the others. Several times, we thought of going back, but the thought that we were just a few steps away, just a few minutes away, just one more mountaintop away kept us going.

Steps! Here we are finally arriving at something other than a huge boulder. How excited we were!

Overlooking the view with the mountain-top temple right behind us

This tree looks more commanding and impressive in person. It reminded me of the cherry blossom tree in Kung Fu Panda for some reason.

This structure seems like an important one, so I took a picture.

The men taking off their shoes and going up the steps to go inside the temple

Burning candles right before the steps.

The temple on top of the mountain.

Incredible view!

Inside the temple. It was quite small. I immediately wondered how all 80+ of us were supposed to fit. At this point, it was getting pretty late. I suspected that the others had given up and were not coming after all. There was dispute among the members of our group whether Anthony had said to be back on the bus by 6:30 or 7:00 p.m. 

The other ETAs seated themselves on these pillows on the floor with beads on them. They were quiet and reverent. It looked like some of them were meditating. I took a few minutes to sit there, close my eyes, and breathe. I prayed, thanking God that we had arrived safely at our destination, and that none of us had been injured on the way. I prayed that He would bless everyone in the temple and around the mountain, and everyone who comes within a a hundred-mile radius of where we were seated. And I prayed that we would make it down safely - duh. The clingy, sweaty feeling of my skinny jeans reminded me of how much I had not anticipated hiking up a mountain to reach a temple today. 

I opened my eyes and looked to the right and saw this. Stacks of more mats, and books. I wanted to open the books but was not sure whether that was allowed so I didn't.

This open window/door makes me very nostalgic for some reason. It might be because of
the late-afternoon light streaming in.

I have no idea what this is but it was at the front of the temple so it's likely significant somehow

I thought about the many people who travel to this place and wondered about what they
say in their prayers or meditate about.

Are these prayers on the ceiling?

It was about 6:13 p.m. when I thought about getting up and going outside again. 

I was relieved to see these people outside of the temple. They seemed to be on their way back
down so I hurried to put my shoes back on.

Just before going down the steps

Another ETA quickly exploring the temple on his way down

Another ETA/one of my roommates at Donghae already putting on her sandals. Going up, a monk tried to communicate
with us, wanting to tell us that it was okay to keep our shoes on all the way to the top of the steps and to take them off once we get there. We couldn't understand what he was saying so we took our shoes off at the bottom of the stairs thinking this would somehow show more respect. As it turns out, this was not the case. Once our feet touched the stone steps, they got dirty, and we tracked some dirt into the clean, shiny, wooden floors inside the temple. An ETA with intermediate language skills was able to belatedly deduce all of this, much to everyone's distress. 

My offending feet. I had never felt so self-conscious.

A man sitting on his porch. He saw us come up and he saw us go down. While going back down, I thought about this man and the life that he leads. I didn't get very far, but he must have a deep and peaceful life living up there in the mountain and surrounded by silence and nature and meditation and dragon flies perched on clotheslines. 

We hurried down the mountain, increasingly convinced that we had taken the path to another temple. At this point it became almost quite obvious to us that everyone else must have gone to a different temple - somewhere much closer, less steep, and less dangerous than the one we had gone up on. It comforted me to see the group of hikers ahead of us. The men were lagging behind and the other women were standing around waiting for them. I waited for a few minutes as another ETA called the men to come down with us. She did this three times but they still were delayed for some reason. Feeling antsy, I told the other ETAs with me that I was going to go ahead and travel down with the other hikers. They seemed reluctant to see me go, but I was even more reluctant to stay and run out of daylight to travel by. 

The two women quickly followed behind me. We bounded and skipped through the mountain - sometimes terrifyingly so - and had occasion to reveal our differing opinions on the hike. 

ETA 1: Our buns are going to look so good after this hike!

ETA 2: We are in such big trouble...

Me: I don't think we're in trouble. We legitimately thought we were heading to the temple! I never even meant to go hiking, especially not in these skinny jeans!

ETA 2: This was definitely not the right temple

Me: But we didn't know that. I definitely heard Anthony say that we were hiking to a temple up in the mountains, which is what we did

ETA 1: Have you hiked before? 

Me: Yes. This is my third hike

ETA 1: Your third hike ever?

Me: My third hike ever.

ETA 1: Wow, you're doing pretty good! [To ETA 2] Did  you hear that? This is only her third hike! 

Our conversation was interrupted by Anthony's voice coming up from somewhere way down below us. I don't know how, but we practically ran down the mountain in our haste. We were sure at that moment that we were in big trouble, and that we would be publicly shamed - somehow. The thought grated against my soul, but my exhaustion soaked up a majority of this feeling. 

Anthony: Go, go, go! Hurry, hurry, hurry! Get back to the bus! Where are the guys? There are supposed to be five of you.

We headed to the buses, exhausted, sore, and embarrassed/indignant. The OCs were lined up along the trail leading to the buses like Jack and Jill's crumbs. When we saw Ashlee, the Chief OC, I internally cringed expecting her to yell at us, but was very surprised when all she did was hand us cold bottles of water. 

Ashlee: Drink up! Go on!

Dinner time! Very good food at the hotel

What a day. I was very grateful that the OCs didn't yell at us or publicly shame us - though one of them did give me the cold shoulder as I was walking alongside her on the trail. The silence was a bit awkward, but I had no energy to even attempt to say anything. Ultimately, I realized that they must have been very worried about the five of us, and were just concerned, and glad to have us all back safe.

MY QUESTIONS FOR YOU
Have you had a similar experience before in terms of going down the "wrong" path? Did you continue on until you reached the end, or did you stop and turn around?

At what point in this journey would you have stopped and turned around?  Do you think the long, strenuous, sweaty hike was worth the view and bit of silent meditation/prayer at the end?  Share your story, share your thoughts in the comment box below.