Trying to discover the more unique temples I'd seen a couple of people post pictures of Beopjusa Temple. It caught my eye due to a giant standing gold Buddha outdoors. At first I was confusing this with Seoraksan which has a similar bronze Buddha. Beopjusa was in fact not as far from Daegu as I thought and an easy day trip if you have the right directions.

Beopjusa Temple is located in Songnisan National Park northwest of Daejeon. The closest town is called Boeun and I was trying to find a local bus that would connect to Boeun via Daegu.

I checked all the websites for the Daegu bus terminals and could not find anything that went do Boeun. This town is not listed as its probably not a final destination so only a stopping point on route to somewhere else.

I tried calling several tourist information lines who told me the same thing. They advised the Boeun bus only connects to Seoul and Daejeon and that I should go via Cheongju which is 50km and a 90 min bus ride in the opposite direction from Daegu.

Checking the bus site for Daegu Seobu bus terminal it told me there was a bus at 9.10am and 11.10am. The first one was too early as it still takes me an hour by bus to get to the terminal so I was hoping to catch the second bus.

When I got to Seobu terminal the bus times had changed and it now said the next bus was 11.40 which meant I had a whole hour to wait. I was trying to see if there were any other places I could connect but didnt see how.

Finally I took the 11.40 bus for about 13,000w ($12). I could have went via Daejeon but was taking a chance on this bus in the hope he would stop at Boeun en route to Cheongju. I did see signs for Boeun and the National Park from the highway but he did not exit to make a stop there

Eventually by 2.20 we made it to Cheongju. This was after he had stopped for 20 minutes at the Gumi bus terminal as well wasting more time. At Cheongju I was able to get another ticket to the Songnisan National Park for 8000w ($7.50) which luckily was now about to leave at 2.30

This bus took 90 mins and made a stop at Boeun. At Boeun one of the departure signs was for Daegu which meant there was a bus although I couldnt find it online or via the tourist information offices so it was safer to stay on the more travelled routes even if they take longer

At 4pm I made it to Songnisan Park after leaving home at 10am, so six hours later. I checked the return times to Daejeon. There was a bus at 5.40 and the next one after 7pm. I wanted to go back via Daejeon as I expected it to be quicker then Cheongju which is in the wrong direction.

The approach into Songnisan was very scenic and picturesque. With a long road staring straight ahead at a mountain peak there were touristic shops and restaurants at both sides of the street.

It is not uncommon for larger temples to have some traditional restaurants nearby but the layout had more of a European feel with the wide sidewalks and patio tables outside. It would have been nice to stay for a meal if I had more time.

The temple was about another 1.5km walk in and after the tourist street ended there was parkland, some sculptures, and hotels. On one side thru the parkland was a pebble barefoot walking trail. The sign explained some of the merits but not too many people were trying it out

Finally as you enter the park there was a map of the many hiking trails around the mountain range. This is a popular hiking destination and many groups of hikers in hiking gear were coming and going to the mountain. I seemed to be the only foreigner here.

There was a map of the Beopjusa Temple complex which was at the foot of the mountain so fortunately no hiking. There was also a park rangers office to give information to hikers

Entrance fee to the park was 4000w ($3.50) which includes the entire park and hiking range as well as the Temple. It was another walk thru woodlands to get to the temple though the buildings were becoming visible thru the trees.

After passing thru an outer gate it leads you to a larger inner gateway in a larger structure

This had a figure on an elephant before leading to an outdoor lantern corridor leading to the next building.

This gateway had double large doors and inside a pair to giant guardians on either side. They were either playing instruments or holding weapons.

Now we were in the complex proper and I wanted to head over to the giant Buddha. With all the hanging lanterns and artificial outdoor corridors it was hard to get a good panorama shot. I'd seen a door at the base and wanted to see what this was and whether you could go inside.

After removing your shoes it does lead you down a few steps into a circular chamber. Here there were rows of small gold Buddha's each with individual poses.

The outer corridor circled round and after completing the loop there was a staircase down to a further level. Here was an inner chamber we had just circled around.

At the centre was a seated diety below a stained glass ceiling. The outer walls of this chamber also had their own gallery of carvings showing various scenes from stories

Another prominent landmark of the complex was a double storied building. Inside was a chamber with three giant gold Buddha's almost 4 metres high

The background artwork was very detailed showing many characters as well as the ceiling art. Photography was not allowed inside where people were in prayer so I was careful about getting one.

A lady in charge then wanted to know where I was from. When I told her I was originally from Canada she wanted to know which city and told me there was a twin Beopjusa Temple in Toronto. When she showed me the address on her cell its actually Milton Ontario about an hours drive outside Toronto

I tried to look this temple up later on the internet and even contact the email address she gave me but it seems its just a country house that is being used inside as a temple.

One of the other buildings seemed to be a portrait gallery and had many individual portraits ranging from historic to more recent

Half of the complex was private and not open to the public but there were new buildings being built and painters outside starting to fill in the timbers

Another distinct feature of this complex is a large Japanese style five storied wood pagoda. I didnt know if you could go up but the interior was interesting nonetheless.

Inside each of the four sides had a different Buddhist display. This was along a central pillar that had its own artwork on each side and stretched up to support the building

There was also an unusual feature of a giant bronze flagpole as well as the regular temple bell and drum

I was now pressed for time hoping to be back for the 5.40 bus to Daejeon but luckily remembered and noticed there was one more place to visit.

There were two giant rocks that had a carved seated Buddha on the face of one of them.

When going closer there were actually two carvings on either rock facing each other. There were also Chinese characters carved onto the the other side of the rock

It was now about 5.20 and cutting it very close to be back for the 5.40 bus to Daejeon. If I missed that the only choice was to go the long way back via Cheongju which took me six hours coming.

I had to run the almost 2km all the way back to the bus terminal past many bemused Korean hikers.

Being on buses all day I didnt have a chance to eat so made one quick stop to buy some street food to eat on the bus, hoping this delay wouldnt make me miss the bus.

I made it to the terminal by 5.35 panting and sweating and got my Deajeon ticket for another 7900w ($7).

This is one of the nicer temples and more scenic settings and it would be nice to make more of a day of it than being so rushed. I was given wrong information and it took me six hours to get here at 4pm. Now I had to rush for the 5.40 bus not knowing how long it would take me to get home on a different route.

The Daejeon bus stopped via Boeun and took 90 mins. I was surprised because we came to a very modern bus terminal which I hadnt been to before on my last two visits to Daejeon. Both times I went to an old terminal at the west end of town and never saw this one before

It was very modern and connected to a shopping centre. I wanted to look for something to eat since I hadnt eaten properly all day. Then when I looked on the board for Daegu bus times one was leaving at 7.30 and the last one 8.40. I thought buses would be much more frequent connecting the two large cities

I took a chance and bought a ticket for the 7.30 while it was meant to be departing. My seat number was 24 on platform 10 but I got the two reversed and ran to platform 24. Luckily the driver checked my ticket before he pulled out to who knows where.

I ran back to platform 10 at 7.30 exactly thinking I had missed the bus. Luckily he only pulled in at 7.30 and waited 5 mins or I would have missed this bus.

Finally I was back home in 3hr 40 mins door to door vs the 6 hours door to door it took me to get there. I was trying to go via one bus to Cheongju in the hope he would stop at Boeun and connect me to the park.

The easiest way to get there from Seoul or the north is via Cheongju (although Seoul also has direct buses). But if coming from anywhere in the south best to go via Daejeon. Both Cheongju and Daejeon have direct buses that will run to Songnisan Park via Boeun so no need to try to get to Boeun itself which is where all websites are telling you to go from.

Again it was a very scenic and unique temple that wasnt too hard to get to if you have the right directions. It would have been nice to have spent more time there, not to have been so rushed, and to have had a meal on the touristy street, but unfortunately that wasnt to be