2009 Spring Visit to Soyang Dam and Cheongpyong Temple, Chuncheon, South Korea - Part 1

Julianne and I got out of the apartment today and headed to Soyang Dam and Cheongpyeong Temple in Chuncheon.

This was our second trip. We had visited before in September of 2008 (Part 1 of 6). During that visit I took a lot of pictures . . . that particular series of posts ended up being 6 parts.

2008 Sept 20 Soyang Dam and Cheongpyeong temple Part 1
2008 Sept 20 Soyang Dam and Cheongpyeong temple Part 2
2008 Sept 20 Soyang Dam and Cheongpyeong temple Part 3
2008 Sept 20 Soyang Dam and Cheongpyeong temple Part 4
2008 Sept 20 Soyang Dam and Cheongpyeong temple Part 5
2008 Sept 20 Soyang Dam and Cheongpyeong temple Part 6

Looking back I realize now that I never really completed the entire series of posts. I think, however, that I did put together a lot of info and pics . . . so I'm happy with what is there.

I even did a special posting with Information about Cheongpyeong temple, Chuncheon.

The official site of Korea, Koreasparkling, has an entry on the temple too. It has pretty decent info on traveling there,

Admission Fees

Ferry Cruise: Soyang Dam → Cheongpyeongsa Temple dock - Hours: Mar~Oct -9:30am-6:00pm (30-minute intervals, 7-minute ride) / Nov~Feb- 10:00am~5:00pm(1 hour intervals, 7-minute ride) - Round-trip fee: adult 6,000won/teenager 5,400won/children 2,900 won * management expenses for the village and Cheongpyeongsa Temple included.

Local Transportation

1. From Chuncheon Station, take city bus No. 12-1 and get off at Soyang Dam (30 min ride). 2. From Namchuncheon Station, take city bus No. 12 that runs via Intercity Bus Terminal. Get off at Soyang Dam (30 min ride). 3. Taxi takes 20 min from Chuncheon Station to Soyang Dam. 4. From Soyang Dam, walk 35-40 min to Cheongpyeongsa Temple.

Julianne and I took a taxi to the dam. It does take about 15-20 minutes, and costs 16,000won. You can also get a taxi home, but be aware you may have to take a bus back if you can't find a taxi (you should be able to find one though).

Oh yeah, the ferry ticket cost us 5,000won each--not the 6,000won the official website of Korea entry says . . .

There's also some useful info at this link from wikitravel.

"Here, on the way to the boat docks you'll find about 20 little eating places. Strangely they all sell the same things: Shellfish, twigim and corn. In summer you can buy bottled water for 1,000 won. One place did sell a few boiled sweet potatoes and another had some fried grasshoppers. If you prefer to eat anything else, then eat before you arrive. Or, there are about three places at the bus stop at Yanggu Pier with food - first place on the left serves an excellent potato pancake for 5,000 won."

The poster doesn't mention, though, that if you take the ferry to the temple that there are restaurants (open air sit on the floor Korean style) that line particular sections of the path you walk to the temple--so you can eat if you get hungry. There are also pop machines at about 4 or 5 different locations before you start the steeper part of the hike up to the temple itself.

Another link with a very basic description of Lake Soyang is here.

Anyways, a major reason for going back to the dam and temple is that it's spring, and I have a new wide angle zoom lens with stabilizer . . .

This is the view standing on top of the dam looking at its front.

I also had on my circular polarized lens filter . . . it really helps with the sun glare and light conditions.

On top of the damn there is a waterfall . . . a lot of people love taking pics there.

I'm not sure what this monument is about . . . and wikipedia doesn't have an entry for Soyang dam . . .

Julianne and I skipped taking pics in front of the dam as we did that last time and got some really nice shots . . .

Standing on the other side of the top of the dam . . . nice view.

Here's the row of snack tents the poster at wikitravel refers to . . . and yes, they ALL have the same snacks . . . if you want western food style snacks BRING YOUR OWN--you won't find them here.

This is from the 1988 Olympics in Korea . . .

I still haven't been inside this building . . . not sure what is in there . . . but when you get to the end of the building . . .

. . . watch for these stairs leading down to an observation deck with picnic tables. It has a really nice view of the dam and surrounding area.

Standing on the observation deck looking at the back part of Soyang dam . . .

It still makes me laugh every time I see a "tourist" map in Korea that has NO ENGLISH--lol, what makes it useful for tourists?

Keep walking down the road to get to the ferry docks . . .

Take the right fork going down to get to the ferry dock.

I think you can pay a fee and get taken for a ride in a speed boat that flys all over the area and does fast turns, etc. It looks like a lot of fun but not all that camera friendly so I haven't gone on it.

The ferry dock.

Ticket booth. As my Korean is limited I just walked up and said, "Duge ticket juseyo." (Two tickets please give me.) You don't really need to speak any Korean, however, the guys know why foreigners come there and will help you get your tickets.

Waiting in line for the ferry . . .

Julianne pointed out the textures and shapes of the rocks . . . so I took a pic.

Ferry boat cabin and navigator station.

The views on the trip to the temple are nice. Nothing breathtaking or epic in terms of landscape views . . . but they're still pretty nice.

We got off here, and I was puzzled . . . the docks looked different, and so did the location. I realized that the drout has been so severe that the water doesn't run the 700 meters or so into the distance to the normal dock location anymore--wow.

People like to pile stones along the paths leading to temples in Korea . . .

To the left of this couple there SHOULD be water . . . the last time we took the ferry it dropped us off where the path curves to the left up ahead in the shot.

Expect the hike to the temple to be a little longer due to the new ferry boat dock location.

About 10% of the way to the temple--if you don't stop to take pics, and are in good shape, you can expect it to take you about 30-45 minutes to get to the temple from the docks.

Here's a pic from part 4 of my September 20, 2008 trip to the temple looking back from almost exactly the same spot--holy crap!


Part II coming soon . . .

J

Chuncheon, South Korea -- Buddha's Birthday Parade 2009

Last night Julianne and I headed to Myoungdong in downtown Chuncheon for dinner. After eating we were walking towards the taxi stand just down from the main intersection and ran into the start of Chuncheon's Buddha's birthday parade . . . the timing could NOT have been more perfect, and unexpected, lol.

A little while ago Julianne got a severe migraine (we had to go to the ER, see the story here) so we were unable to go to Seoul for the big Lotus Lantern Festival this year.

Luckily for Julianne and I we did some pre-festival/parade scouting of Jogye temple in Seoul to see what the 2009 lanterns look like. See here for pics of the 2009 temple lanterns, and also check out my Cheonggyecheon stream lantern sculptures at night too.

It's very cool that somehow life set up this nice unexpected surprise for us to be in the right place at the right time in order to see a mini-version of the Seoul parade in Chuncheon.

The military marching band wasn't bad. I've heard a fair number of them back in Canada . . . it's too bad they don't use the big bass drum we use back in Canada to mark the pace for marching--it makes a really cool big echoey boom as you march . . .

I don't know where the parade began or how long it ran for . . . I was surprised that they didn't shut down the street for it to go through. There also didn't seem to be much of a crowd watching. There were some people, but I think they just happened to be downtown on a Friday night and stopped to watch . . .

It's REALLY hard not to contrast this parade with the one in Seoul . . . and I shouldn't . . . but . . .

The lantern sculptures were nice . . . but a little small.

This truck had balloons and paper lanterns in it that they were giving away. Julianne wanted one but nobody offered . . .

This guy was running back and forth from the truck to the people on the streets giving out balloons and lanterns.

There's a magical glow to the women who wear these costumes and hold the glowing lanterns . . . I have some even nicer shots from last year's parade in Seoul where literally HUNDREDS of women walk by during the almost 3 hour parade--the parade in Chuncheon lasted about five minutes . . . lol.

I had no time to try to use the different manual settings on my camera so my flash wouldn't wash the pic out too much . . . I just gave up and was using the nighttime pre-set . . .

Still, the colors are nice.

Oops . . .

The dragons rotated on the back of the trucks--but I wanted to see FIRE. The dragons in the Seoul parade send out blasts of fire which lookl totally freaking awesome at night . . .

I was surprised that there were no people standing on top of and in some of the sculptures but I guess they weren't big enough to withstand the weight of a person in the platform box on top.

Kiddiemobile . . . lol.

Dragonfish?

This was another sculpture that I thought might have a real person in it but it was just a mannequin-type thing.

Then these guys go by with a massive set of speakers and stereo system.

Miniature pagoda . . .

This dragon was probably the best one . . .

One thing I noticed about the people in the parade . . . they weren't as happy and friendly as the ones in Seoul. I don't know if they were tired and if it was near the end of a long parade route or . . . but the spirit of this parade had a different feel to it.

That being said, when the parade line stopped for a minute two grandmothers with two children right in front of me smiled at me when I greeted them in Korean and bowed . . . it might also be that because Chuncheon is a more rural area with a lot less foreigners than Seoul (holy understatement Batman!) . . . yeah.

I take a pic and lower my camera. I look around and something in my peripheral vision grabs my attention. I see this guy setting up his video camera and pointing it right at Julianne and I. I turn and point my camera at him to take his picture--wondering if he'll take the hint and stop filming us . . . nope. He thinks we're bonding or something . . . I imagine that I've been on the local Buddhist TV news as a foreign Buddhist that came all the way out to Chuncheon for the parade . . . . I wonder if this is one of those rare times in Korea where my shaved head actually draws positive comments, lol.

After the parade Julianne says she wants ice-cream so we head over to Baskin Robins.

Julianne points out a box we've never seen before. The English is funny . . .

After getting our ice-cream we head back towards the taxi stand that is near the main intersection of Chuncheon. I take some pics of the lanterns and pagoda . . .

We then head home to enjoy our ice-cream and feel the happy love . . .


J

I saw two surprising things while going out for dinner: a KFC ad poster and Navy SEALS in Korea (?)

Julianne and I went out to get something to eat a few nights ago and I saw this,

The text on the side door says,

Gangwon Military
Survival Team
Chuncheon ZeroPoint
NAVY SEALS

A couple things come to mind . . . usually special ops people in foreign countries don't advertise who they are. I also doubt very much that there are U.S. SEALS in Chuncheon, South Korea--but who knows . . . it's possible.

I did a very brief Google search to see if I could find out if there are SEALS posted here . . . and didn't find anything.

My theory is that some guys want to look cool and decided that they should be called Navy SEALS too. I'd seriously like to be a fly on the wall if they ever drive by some authentic US SEALS who decide to ask them why they are using this name . . .

Julianne and I had dinner at KFC. While eating I noticed this poster.

I seriously think that the person who made the English for this poster might want to bone up (pun intended, lol) on their idioms and slang.

J