In my travels in Asia I often find unique styles of temples in each country distinct from their neighbours. Korea has its own unique style of green painted timber structures in a standard formation. However, we recently discovered Manbulsan Temple just outside Daegu, with incorporates many features from across Asia. This creates an extraordinary pan asian complex in complete contrast to a typical Korean temple, more reminiscent of the temples in Bangkok. Getting there was a pain, however, we did find an easier route coming back explained at the end. The english website said there was a bus from Dongdaegu. When I called tourist info they said the korean site says the bus is from Dongbu not Dongdaegu, but about 10 mins away. The korean site also said there was a connecting bus from Yeongcheon to the temple which is about halfway to Gyeongju from Daegu. The bus to Yeongcheon was 3300w ($3) and lasted 40 mins. At Yeongcheon we tried to ask for the connecting bus to the temple but were told there was no temple bus. Instead we were told to take a local bus to Impo. The local bus cost 1200w ($1) and went thru single lane country fields which do not allow two way traffic. I'd never gone anywhere this rural before. If I was not with six friends I would have felt panicky wondering where this bus was going thru rural farmland, with no buildings or other traffic. The bus ends at Impo-ri which is a roadside stop for this small hamlet. There is a lone taxi driver at Impo. Since there were seven of us we needed two cabs but he said he is the only cab driver here. There was an Impo train station on the map so we tried to ask if we could take a train to Daegu from there coming back. He said the station is closed and no trains stop there (which I later confirmed is correct checking the Korail website) So we had to split into two groups while he shuttled us to Manbul temple. He charges a flat 4000w ($3.50) with no meter and its only 5 mins to the temple. We also took his number so we could call him coming back. When you arrive at the temple there is no entrance to pay admission or any information office or map so its a good idea to have a printout of the map from the webpage. Although here is a good interactive map from their website http://www.manbulsa.org/global_site/eng lish/infor/in.guidance.asp First there is a floating buddha in the centre of a pond by the main gate. The main approach road in slopes upwards and is lined all the way with standing buddhas a few feet apart. This continues until the road opens into the main parking lot. At the far end of the parking lot is a triple gold stupa similar to the glowing gold stupas at the Royal Palace in Bangkok. Unfortunately this was made of plastic so it does not have the same glowing effect in the sun. The stupas are lined with rows of smaller buddhas set in alcoves all the way to the top. At the base of the stupa are rows of red hooded babies in a praying position. Many people had placed coins on the babies as part of a prayer or for good luck. Behind the stupas is the main hall. This opens into a typical korean temple with giant gold buddhas set in elaborately decorated shrines. However the entire interior of the hall was lined with row upon row of tiny glowing gold lit buddhas in their own alcoves making the chamber hot. At one end was a doorway that led to a back room. This was the biggest surprise as it let to a long hallway that spanned the entire length of the building. It was filled again with rows of glowing gold buddhas in many sizes. As it was a narrow corridor the passage was quite hot from all the lighting. The alcoves reached all the way to the ceiling and it really was an amazing and unexpected sight. Outside this building was the large bell pagoda. I read this is the largest bell pagoda in Korea. There is giant central bell and smaller side bells. You can ring the side bells but the central bell gong is tied by rope and padlocked. The giant bell has buddha carvings all over with peoples names, either inscriptions to honour dead people or people that have made donations to the temple, we werent sure. There is also a large designed area for where the gong is supposed to strike. The top of the smaller gongs had bronze dragon designs on top. Walking past the large bell pagoda we came to Tibetan style spinning wheels. There is one large wheel and other smaller ones arranged in a square formation. Inside is a track like a maze where people are supposed to do meditation walks trying to reach the centre. Next there is a field of lifesize gold buddhas arranged in rows in the garden. Again these are fibreglass so do not have the glowing effect that gold paint had in the temples in Bangkok and the rest of SE Asia. This leads to a steep roadway leading up to the next level of the grounds. Again the path was lined with standing buddhas along with coloured flags blowing in the breeze. The heat made it a long walk as there was no shade along the path. At the next level was a small memorial building. This was more simpler in interior design and we rested here to get out of the heat. Inside was a side room housing boxes for the remains of many people that had passed away. They were decorated with flowers and photos from different ages and decades. Beside the memorial building to the right side was a garden with rows of decorated stupa style tomb stones arranged in rows ascending upwards. As we reached the top there was an amazing sight of a giant sleeping gold buddha. People were rubbing his feet as prayer or for good luck. In the distance we could see the giant standing gold buddha on top of a hill at another part of the park. We then had to walk up another long roadway in the heat to the highest level of this side of the park. This was another cemetary but we had an elevated view down on the first cemetary with the sleeping gold buddha. This cemetary was again stacked upwards in rows leading to a seated gold buddha at the top. From the map there was now a path we could take that cuts across sideways to the adjacent small mountain that had the giant standing gold buddha. This was a comfortable walk as it was all shaded in the trees and no climbing as we were moving sideways across the same elevation of the mountain. The path opened to another cemetary which was behind the standing giant gold buddha. It now seemed a lot smaller up close even though it was still quite impressive. It was standing on a pedestal of rows of tiny gold buddhas in alcoves. The small garden area here had stone carvings which again had coins placed on them for good luck. We passed by more cemetary plots as we took the long path climbing down back to the centre of the main complex by the bell tower pagoda. In the basement of the first building we had entered was a cafeteria so we decided to check this out now as we were hungry. This was a free self serve cafeteria. They were serving a vegetarian meal which consisted of rice, soup, kimchi, and some vegetable toppings to make a simple bibimbap. When you are finished you have to wash your bowl and utensils and return them to the sterilization cabinets. I didnt see any donation boxes but we were grateful for some light refreshment. Its advisable to bring some snacks as there is nothing other than this cafeteria and drink vending machines in the park. Also wear comfortable shoes for hiking but easy to slip on/off for some of the shrines. You should also allow upto three hours to explore the whole park properly. Getting home we called the Impo cab driver whose number we had kept and did the five minute return trip in two cab rides for our group. At the convenience store in Impo, which is really the intercity bus ticket office, we noticed there was a direct bus to Daegu instead of going back via Yeongcheon. The Daegu bus ticket was 4600w ($4) almost exactly what we had paid on the two buses to get here. After a brief stop at Yeongcheon it went direct to Daegu Dongbu Terminal where we had left from this morning. I then read there were almost hourly buses from Dongbu to Impo which we could have taken but we didnt know that this morning. How to get there is a biggest problem we encountered and solved. What we discovered is that there are regular buses from Daegu Dongbu Terminal and Gyeongju that goto Impo just outside Yeongcheon. Impo is a roadside stop after Yeongcheon if coming from Daegu so make sure you dont miss it. From Impo you can take the local cab to the temple for flat 4000w. Make sure to get his number as you will need him to get back from the temple. The number he gave us was 017-515-9598 or the convenience store can call him if he's not there. Look for the times posted in the convenience store at Impo for the return bus times to Daegu as not all of them go there. Here is the Temple's English website although the directions they provide are wrong as there is no bus from DongDaegu terminal http://www.manbulsa.org/global_site/eng lish/index.asp The korean site is saying to take the bus from Dongbu, which is correct. However there is no connecting bus from Yeongcheon to the temple. http://manbulsa.org/infor/map/map03.asp #03 Here also are two friends blogs who had previously gone with more pics http://daleskoreantempleadventures.blog spot.kr/2011/05/manbulsa-temple-yeongch eon.html http://britneykaym.blogspot.kr/2012/05/ manbulsa-temple.html This was definately one of the best temples we had been to in korea and uncharacteristic from normal Korean Temples. Some of my friends didnt come as they said they were tired of looking at Korean temples. However, this one is has more in common with SE Asian styled temples and is a unique and different experience from going to other Korean styled temples. I dont want to call it a 'theme park' as it is a real practicing place of worship but it has many different attractions from various regions such as the sleeping gold buddha from Wat Po in Bangkok, Tibetan style spinning wheels, Mongolian style stupa graves, and the triple gold pagodas I saw in Phnom Penh and across SE Asia. Its a shame getting there is a hassle and there are no clear instructions on how to arrive from either the temple, the english or korean sites, or the tourist information lines, despite only being 48km from Daegu. However, when you do arrive you will be rewarded with a truly unique and unforgettable experience unlike other Korean temples and feel you have just visited one or more other Asian countries.