It was middle of October 1998 and I was in Busan. The autumn colour has not set in but the weather was cool and ideal for mountain hiking. It was my only off-day of the trip and my destination was Mt Geumjeong (금정산-金井山). A literal translation of Mt Geumjeong is Golden Well Mountain. The legend has it that a fish from the heaven descended to a well in the mountain and the well water glittered like gold ever since. The most prominent temple of Busan, Beomeosa (범어사-梵魚寺), also got its name from the same legend. Beomeosa means "Heaven Fish Temple" literally.
I took the subway and exited from the Beomeosa station. While there were buses going up to Beomeosa, I decided to take a walk up the slope and enjoyed the roadside scenery. It took me an hour though to reach Beomeosa which was supposed to be one of the five greatest temples in Korea. The original Beomeosa, as I knew, was built in the 7th century but like many other Korean historical relics, it was destroyed during the Japanese invasion in 1592 and only to be rebuilt later. Of all the things about the place, I enjoyed the conifers, the pine trees and the peaceful charm.
However, Beomeosa was not my final destination for the day. I was determined to trek up the 800m high Mt Geumjeong. I followed up a rocky stream which was to be found to one side of Beomeosa. I thought I would be the only soul trekking up the slope but to my surprise there were quite a number of Koreans going up the same route and they did it almost effortlessly. Before I came to Korea, I didn't know that mountain hiking was a leisure activity among the Koreans. It isn't a leisure activity in Singapore for sure but then again there aren't any mountain in Singapore to begin with.
It took me almost three hours from Beomeosa to get to the peak of Mt Geumjeong. While maybe not the peak. I was almost there but I couldn't figure out how to make the final ascent to the highest point "Gomobong" (고모봉-姑母峰). I was more like 795 metres above sea level before I called it quit. I took a picture of the weathered peak just to remind myself that I almost did it that year. From where I took my picture, many groups of Korean family were having their sopung (소풍-picnic) and eating their kimbap (김밥-seaweed roll). I relish the idea of a picnic after a mountain hike with my family and eating gimbap under the cool weather of autumn. 등산하는 것이 마음에 들어요.
The main entrance into Beomeosa
I took the subway and exited from the Beomeosa station. While there were buses going up to Beomeosa, I decided to take a walk up the slope and enjoyed the roadside scenery. It took me an hour though to reach Beomeosa which was supposed to be one of the five greatest temples in Korea. The original Beomeosa, as I knew, was built in the 7th century but like many other Korean historical relics, it was destroyed during the Japanese invasion in 1592 and only to be rebuilt later. Of all the things about the place, I enjoyed the conifers, the pine trees and the peaceful charm.
The main hall of Beomeosa
However, Beomeosa was not my final destination for the day. I was determined to trek up the 800m high Mt Geumjeong. I followed up a rocky stream which was to be found to one side of Beomeosa. I thought I would be the only soul trekking up the slope but to my surprise there were quite a number of Koreans going up the same route and they did it almost effortlessly. Before I came to Korea, I didn't know that mountain hiking was a leisure activity among the Koreans. It isn't a leisure activity in Singapore for sure but then again there aren't any mountain in Singapore to begin with.
The rocky stream leading up to the peak of Mt Geumjeong
It took me almost three hours from Beomeosa to get to the peak of Mt Geumjeong. While maybe not the peak. I was almost there but I couldn't figure out how to make the final ascent to the highest point "Gomobong" (고모봉-姑母峰). I was more like 795 metres above sea level before I called it quit. I took a picture of the weathered peak just to remind myself that I almost did it that year. From where I took my picture, many groups of Korean family were having their sopung (소풍-picnic) and eating their kimbap (김밥-seaweed roll). I relish the idea of a picnic after a mountain hike with my family and eating gimbap under the cool weather of autumn. 등산하는 것이 마음에 들어요.
Mt Geumjeong - 801.5 metres above sea level
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