2022
During my travels, I have visited a lot of temples before. From Angkor Wat in Cambodia to temples in Taiwan and Japan, each of them is unique in their own way. With that being said, not many of them are located by the sea, which makes the temple that I am about to mention really special.
Located near the outskirts of Busan, Korea, Haedong Yonggungsa was built by a monk so that sea can "meet" with the mountains. Despite seeing countless temples before in my travels, I must admit that I was blown away by the view. As I descended down the stone staircase leading to the temple complex, the way that the sea breeze and blue waters greeted me instilled a sense of peace and calm over me.
While the temple layout itself is quite simple, there is only one cafe and one main prayer hall with a couple more smaller praying places, the scenery more than made up for the trip. I found myself simply admiring and soaking in the atmosphere. There is something about the sea that makes you want to sit back and just relax.
I definitely enjoyed my time here. Climbing up and down the different parts of the temple was quite fun and I really loved the sea view. It adds to the beauty of the temple and the monk who founded the temple really knew how to pick a spot. The pictures taken here are just beautiful.
You can only visit the temple via bus from Busan though and the journey takes about an hour plus from Haeundae. There are food stalls and restaurants outside the temple for the hungry. Would strongly recommend visiting this place as it gives off a different vibe compared to the usual temples site.
What are some of your memorable religious sites visit? Do share them here!
