안동...part one

안동 (Andong) is a small city south east of Seoul about three hours. It is said to be the most conservative place in Korea, priding itself on maintaining ways of life that have been quickly forgotten in recent decades as Korea has been undergoing a massive transformation into an advanced and modern nation. Andong sits nestled amongst mountains and rivers, farmland and foothills. It is quiet, the air is clean, the roads are narrow and the people are relaxed. It is a stark difference from the intensity of Seoul, and a nice relief to be out of the city for a little while. The high speed train does not travel to Andong, so we boarded an early morning bus to take us on the journey. The busses here are crazy nice!  So there was no dread for the long journey, rather a nice relaxing chance to dig into my book (do I ever really take my nose out of a book?) or stare out the window at the ever changing landscape.

We arrived still early in the morning and met with Josh's coworker and her husband, a couple who we have spent a little time with already. They are from the area and did a stellar job at showing us around. We went out of the main city on narrow winding rural roads, through never-ending apple orchards or rice paddies, yellow with the coming harvest. Our destination was a village in the middle of nowhere, where the river makes a horseshoe bend. The village is a snapshot into a life that is hard to find anywhere anymore. A simple, quiet world exists out there. The roads are not paved.... nature is raw and untouched. The men and women who live there are open to having visitors and welcome people to glance into their lives, walk through their farms and enjoy their little piece of the world. I imagine that these people are able to make a decent living for themselves by the art projects they are happily working on to sell to the visitors like us. I was glad to be able to visit this place, for the sheer beauty and simplicity of it, but as with almost everything in this country it was, well... crowded. So many people wanted to see this pristine place that it lost it's value, in a way. I would have given up my opportunity to see this place just to know that it exists somewhere, still untouched and unspoiled. But none the less, it was a gorgeous day and the sun was filling me with good energy and I made the most of the feelings that I was overcome with, vowing to revisit them later.

It was a day of walking and hiking and more walking. We went to a temple, high in the foothills, this temple is the oldest known wooden structure in all of Korea. Amazing. The place was huge! The size itself was a shock, let along the complexity of the structure. The sign posted nearby said that the structure was first renovated in the early 1300's, so it is estimated that is has been around for hundreds of years prior to that. The compound is made up of ten buildings built into the side of the mountain. The buddhist temples that are densely scattered throughout Korea are really incredible. They each differ in style, shape, colors, and size, yet have a similar structure. The thing that stands out the most to me is the location of these massive structures. Most often they are on cliff edges or tucked into mountain valleys, or built on the highest point of a hill overlooking a valley or the city. The tranquility felt at each one, however, is similar. The bells softly chime with the breeze and the smell of burning incense add to the mystical atmosphere of the temple grounds.