I landed in Seoul earlier today in the morning. For my inner clock, that was the middle of the night. I thought it would be a smart move not to sleep the night before my flight so I could compensate for the lost hours. Turns out it wasn’t, because I could not get any sleep at the plane.
After unsuccessfully fighting the worst jetlag ever, I decided that I might as well go for a walk around the area, which is Gangnam (the name should sound familiar ^^). It was already dark when I stumbled accross the Bongeunsa Buddhist Temple Complex. Turns out it was the best of all possible times to get there - but see for yourself.
The temple facilities are impressively illuminated and spaciously arranged to form an oasis of serenity right in the busy heart of Seoul. It was a welcome occasion for jetlegged me to escape the chaotic rush of this true megacity with over 10 million inhabitants, and take some pictures of the beautiful old temple buildings.
It’s quite a unique and surreal experience to walk through the over 1000 year old Buddhist Temple Complex and watching the buddhist monks and nuns doing their thing while seeing the luminous towers and hearing the car masses of Seoul in the background.
(It also feels a bit weird for a German-born to see the Swastika symbol so prominently displayed here, but of course the symbol has a whole different meaning in Asia than in Europe)
Here’s my summary of my short background fact check: The Bongeunsa Temple was fonded in 794 and became a religious centrum of the Zen Buddhism in Korea after the second world war. With its long history and the unique location right in the heart of the busy and futuristic business area of Seoul, the temple is an oasis of serenity for around 200.000 buddhists.
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