Hanoi - Day 9 & 10

(12/31/09-1/2/10)

The plane landed fine in Hanoi, though I could smell that someone had gotten sick two seats behind me just before landing. The driver from the hostel was 20 minutes late picking me up, but at least he showed up. It was a bit cooler in Hanoi at 17C instead of the 25-30C it had been in Saigon.

The traffic was crazy here as well, and I had been thinking about getting a motorbike in Hanoi, but I saw two people fall off their bikes in the space of 15 minutes and they didn't even get hit. The hostel is near a rather busy part of town, so I checked in and then headed out to explore. The buildings here are really strange. It seems like when they put up buildings, they know that another building will be put practically touching the old one, so the fronts are rather ornate and finished well, but the sides are often just plain concrete without even a layer of paint.


There are some interesting little side restaurants and shops on the street where my hostel is, one of the most interesting was the pho place on the corner that had chicken heads on display. They did make a tasty meal, though.





I got a ticket for the 3:30 water puppet show, shopped around a bit to find some things for Logan, and then found a cafe near the theater to get a cup of coffee. The cafe overlooked the lake, which made for interesting people watching. The coffee in Vietnam is similar to that in Cambodia - they use sweetened condensed milk, so there's never a reason to add more sugar. It's almost too sweet for my taste, but the condensed milk makes it thicker and creamier, which is a nice texture.




There were a lot of people in the plaza near the theater. It seemed that part of the reason was there was a flower exhibition of sorts, which was less than impressive, as well as a large sign announcing the 1000th anniversary of Hanoi in 283 days.


The water puppet performance was very interesting. I had assumed that it would be something similar to marionettes, but it was far from it. The puppets were on long wooden poles that were attached to the bottoms. The puppeteers were behind a curtain in the water, and moved the puppets all around the pool of water. There were several stories told with the puppets. I couldn't understand any of the words or songs, but there was a little guide that was provided in English that gave a synopsis of each section.


At the very end they lifted the curtain so you could see how the puppets were moved, and then the puppeteers took a bow. It was a very entertaining show, and well worth the ticket price.



After I left the theater, I decided to do a walking tour of Hanoi. I had read that Hanoi and Saigon were high crime areas, so I was especially on my guard. I made it a point to look at my guide book only when absolutely necessary, and when I did it was away from intersections and off the road so that most people wouldn't notice me. I memorize street names and directions so that I would have to look at it less often, and I didn't walk slowly but with purpose to make it seem like I knew exactly where I was going.



The tour started off fine, and I was seeing some interesting side streets, though the actual destinations were less than impressive. For example, this lovely yellow building was one of the temples on the tour.



I got near the gate at the north end of the city, and I started walking onto smaller and smaller side streets. I thought some guy was following me, but I wasn't sure. About a minute later I turned my head around and he was right behind me with his hand on the outside of my backpack, and the small pocket was open. My heart started pounding as I turned all the way around and asked him repeatedly what he was doing and why my bag was open. He tried to hid his hand, so I grabbed it to see if there was something in his fist that he had taken from my bag, but there was nothing, and I didn't see anything in his pockets. I knew nothing important was in my front pocket except my notebook journal. The only thing he said in English was "Not me", so I finally let him go, after warning him never to come near me again.

I was fine while I was talking to him, kept a level head and didn't freak out. But as soon as he walked off, I could feel the adrenaline so I made a beeline back to my hostel. I was quite annoyed at the people who had been on the street that I had seen in my peripheral vision who had quite obviously witnessed this guy attempt to steal from me, and had done absolutely nothing to stop him or to help me.

Once I got back to the hostel, I felt much better, but I decided I wasn't going to venture out on my own again. I hung around the hostel where people were starting to get ready for that night, which was New Year's Eve. We were told there was going to be a party on the roof of the hostel, and that in order to attend we had to wear a mask. The hostel provided supplies and we had to make our own mask. So I grabbed a drink and set about making a pretty cool mask out of paper and paint and rubber bands, which I still have hanging in my apartment.



The party was crowded but fun. Around 9pm we moved to another bar wearing bright sombreros, but that was crowded too, so when I heard a couple say they were heading back to the hostel, I asked if I could go with them (since I wasn't ABOUT to walk by myself at night). We had dinner at the chicken-head place, and then I headed upstairs to go to sleep. I knew it was New Year's Eve, but I'd celebrated enough, I was tired, and I had to be up early the next day for our tour of Halong Bay.

Cambodia - Day 3 & 4

(12/26-12/27/09)

The next morning was a little later, I got to sleep in until 5am. Kim got me on the motor bike to the entrance to Angkor around 5:20 while it was still pitch black - sunrise wasn't until 6:15 or so. I didn't bring a flashlight with me on the trip, so I just tried to stay close to the one or two people that had as we walked from the outer wall, over a small river, and down the stone pathway to sit in front of the large pool on the left side of the temple. There were several people there, offering chairs and hot coffee or chocolate, in exchange for a dollar. I took the chair and a coffee, but mostly because I couldn't see my hand in front of my face, and appreciated someone showing me where to sit and wait. I could hear as people were seated beside me, but couldn't see them for about half an hour.



The stars were amazing, though no one was able to capture them, no matter how expensive their camera looked. It started to get lighter around six, and people spent the next hour taking pictures at as many possible angles, light exposures, and shutter speeds as they could. After taking one or two shots, though, I preferred to just sit, watch, and listen. There was a German couple sitting on my right, and a couple from Newcastle on my left.



After watching the sunrise for about an hour, I went to the nearest 'restaurant' to get some breakfast, which was little more than some wooden tables under an awning. It was good, but slightly dissapointing. I had ordered banana pancakes. The pancakes were good and fluffy, but they'd just been put over a plate of bananas. Oh well, they were only $2.



As I was eating, I was keeping an eye on the temple, as the sun hadn't actually made an appearance yet. Most people had left, but there were still several people waiting around for the final moments. Their wait was well rewarded when the sun finally did peek over the edge of the temple, and I took one of my favorite pictures:


I had missed out on taking an elephant ride the day before, so I was determined to make it there on time. We got to the starting point, but we were about 45 minutes early. So Kim took me to the Terrace of the Elephants, where I wandered around for about half an hour. I met a girl there who was just waiting for tourists. She first asked if I wanted to take her picture. Usually when I took their pictures, the kids were eager to see what they looked like in the screen - she didn't seem to really care.


She then lead me down some steep steps to the five-headed horse, which is a famous carving at the Terrace. As I began to walk away, she told me she was an orphan, and asked for money so she could go to school. I don't like giving money to the kids, as it encourages them to beg, but I had a few Khmer bills in my pocket that I didn't want (that were only worth about 50 cents), so I offered them to her. She seemed to get angry, shook her head, and asked for dollars. I had dollars in my wallet, but I wasn't about to give them to her. I told her that she could take the Khmer bills if she wanted, but it was that or nothing as I started walking away. She said something in Khmer and scowled at me, which I'm pretty sure was something lovely and nice, and as I had almost dissappeared down the stairs she grabbed the bills from my hand.



After that, I headed back to meet Kim so he could take me to the elephant ride place. On the way there, we saw three elephants that had already left.


The ride was only about 15 minutes, but it was pleasant and quiet, a nice break from the loudness of the tuk-tuk and motorbike.



Kim met me at Bayon, and from there we headed out to Beng Melea, which was the best part of my trip. Beng Melea is about a 90 minute ride out of Siem Reap by motorbike. The countryside on the way out there was the most beautiful thing I've ever seen. Unfortunately I couldn't really take pictures because I was clinging onto Kim to keep steady, and we were going fast enough that any pictures I would have wanted to take would have been blurry. If you ever go to Cambodia I HIGHLY recommend taking a trip out into the country. Even if you're not going anywhere in particular, the trip itself is worth it.

Anyway, we got to Beng Melea way too soon, and a girl showed me the entrance, and then proceeded to show me through the ruins. We got back to the beginning, and I told her I wanted to sit down and write for a while and that she could go back to where she'd been. She just sat next to me and waited - apparently I'd highly overestimated her English skills. I had wanted to go back through the temple and explore on my own, but eventually she said something to me about a "$2 guide", and I realized I'd been had. Unfortunately (or fortunately as the case may be), the smallest bill I had was a 10. I tried to make her understand that I was going to go get something to eat and get change and come back.

Well, I did leave to go get something to eat. I was looking at the little shops across from the entrance to the temple, when I was asked by a woman if I wanted to buy notebooks and pencils for the kids who needed them for school. I told her I didn't have any small bills, and she told me she had change. So after a short conversation, I'd talked her down to $3 (which even so was pretty expensive, all things considered), and bought a packet of notebooks and pencils. She yelled something in Khmer, and within about 30 seconds, I was surrounded by about 15 young kids all clamoring to get something from me. They were genuinely happy, and I can honestly say I've never seen a child get so excited about pencils before. I'd seen the school that the kids went to - it was about 6 miles away from where they lived, and they all walked there every day. I wish I could have gotten a picture of them, but it was rather sudden how quickly they arrived, and then went off to play with their new things.



After that, Kim drove me all the way back to the Roluous Group, which is about 13km east of Siem Reap. I didn't think to take pictures on the way back until we were passed by one of the strangest sights ever:



It wasn't moving at all, merely bouncing slightly with the movement of the bike. My first thought was "That poor pig. I wonder how they killed it." And then I realized it was blinking. It was alive! My next thought was "That poor pig!! I wonder what he's thinking strapped upside-down like that!".

We went to all the temples in the Rolous Group, including Lolie Temple which was built in the late 9th century.


There was a small school there, where the monk in the picture approached me and started talking to me. He showed me his school, which was little more than the space underneath the hut with some benches and a cracked whiteboard. He told me quite a bit, and though he never outright asked for money, I could tell he was trying to get me to offer to donate something.



On the way out to Beng Melea we'd had to stop at the side of the road at a stand that lookd like they were selling really old water in used bottles. Turns out this is a gas station, and it's perfectly normal to buy gas from a place like this to put in your motorbike.

We got back to Siem Reap around 2:30. I cleaned up from the bike ride and laid down for a short nap, and of course woke up 3 hours later still tired, sore, and sunburned. I had dinner at the guesthouse, and then Kim took me to the market area. He asked if I wanted him to join me, which I said yes to. He said he wasn't feeling well, and declined, so I asked him to come back for me in about 2 hours. I spent about 45 minutes wandering through the city. It was really touristy, and not that interesting. I bought a wallet, which I'd been needing (the one I bought in Korea after I lost my other one just barely fits Korean won, and was too small for dollars). Then I found a cool bar called Angkor What?, where I had two beers at 75 cents a pop (expensive, when compared to 50 cents at the bar next door), and met the owner and a guy from Ireland who came to Cambodia for the weekend and has now been there five months. They also donate 5% of their profits to the local children's hospital. I pulled myself out of the bar at 9 when Kim came to pick me up, and I headed back to the guesthouse. My plane flew out early afternoon the next day, so I packed everything that night.

I checked out of Earthwalkers at 6:30 and had breakfast. Kim took me and my bags to a few more temples, the second of which was Ta Prohm. This could easily have been my favorite temple, if it hadn't been so hugely overcrowded. The pictures I took are deceptively empty of people - I was waiting up to 10 minutes to take some shots because people were walking by, and there were even lines in several places to take some pictures.


I did manage to find a few spots that weren't as crowded, and even some that were completely deserted.

The place is a maze, and when I thought I'd made it out the other side (where Kim was supposed to pick me up), I realized I had come out the same entrance I came in. So I braved the crowds one more time and made it back through.


I went to one more temple, and then we had to leave for the airport. I made it there in plenty of time, but they didn't start checking people in until about an hour before the plane boarded. The flight itself was a half hour late, but I somehow managed to be the first one on the plane, which was nice. We landed in Saigon about an hour late, and this time the person that was supposed to pick me up actually showed.

Coming up next - Saigon and the Mekong Delta. Stay tuned for more.

Cambodia - Day 1 & 2

Even though I was only gone nine days, I did so much that I'm going to have to break the trip down into the cities that I went to. Otherwise I'll be writing for hours with no end in sight.

(12/24-12/25/09)

I started out in Cambodia, even though my first airport stop was in Hanoi. I got off the plane in Siem Reap, and for the first time I actually got to walk on the tarmac. Siem Reap is a very small airport, and rather primitive in comparison to other international airports. My visa information was written in by hand, and to enter the country I didn't have to go through any metal detectors, customs, or immigration - I just had to pay for my visa.


When I left Seoul, the temperature was about -6C/21F, but not snowing. When I got to Siem Reap, the temperature was around 30C/85F, which was a welcome change. The guesthouse where I was staying was supposed to pick me up, but I didn't see a sign anywhere with my name on it. I asked at the counter, but there was no public phone I could use to call them, and my cell phone didn't get reception there. So I sat down to wait and see if they showed up. I started chatting to an older guy from Denmark named Henny while I was waiting, and we ended up sharing a cab to the guesthouse because my pickup never showed.


The guesthouse wasn't that far from the airport, maybe a 7 minute ride by car. I checked in, making a point of saying that no one had ever arrived to pick me up - not sure if I ever got an apology for that. The room was nice but plain, with only a fan instead of air-conditioning (as I didn't really feel like paying extra for it when I originally booked the room). I'd also severely underestimated how HOT Siem Reap would be (I was, after all, sitting in snow when I booked it). The people running the guest house are very nice, and the woman who owns the place has the cutest daughter I've ever seen. She's learning three languages: Thai, Khmer, and English.


Because it had gotten dark and I didn't really know the area that well, I decided to stay in for Christmas Eve night. That way I'd be able to wake up in the morning at 4:00 to get to the temples for sunrise. I paid the front desk for a tuk-tuk driver the next day to take me at dawn to a hot air balloon, and then take me on the 'grand circuit' of the temples. I spoke to a driver later that evening who was hanging around outside the guesthouse. He seemed nice, and asked if he could drive me around the next day. I told him I'd paid for one through the guesthouse, but he could talk to them and see.



The next morning the same driver knocked on my door at 4:30am to take me to the temples. First stop was the hot air balloon. As nice as it was, I had hoped we'd be up in the air as the sky got brighter, not just when the sun came over the horizon. I'd been getting antsy because it had gone from pitch black to rather bright before they let us up in the balloon. While I was waiting, though, I got a chance to talk to my driver. His name is Kim Sour (pronounced Kimsoor), and he was very interesting to talk to. He had lived in Siem Reap all his life, and learned how to speak English over the last five years from talking to tourists. Considering he hadn't really taken any lessons, he spoke very well and even knew some slang ("If you're knackered, you can go back to your room").


I was up in the balloon for about 15 minutes, and then after breakfast we headed to the 'great circuit'. At this meal was where I met my first 'Angkor child'. These children are everywhere. They are small, thin, and adorable. They aren't in the least bit shy, and have no qualms about asking you to buy 10 postcards for a dollar, Khmer scarves, some photocopied travel books, or even handmade paper ornaments. If you politely tell them you're not interested, they'll try to bargain you down to a lower selling price. And they are persistent. The heartbreaking thing is these kids do this all day, every day. It's how they survive. If you're still not interested, they'll try to strike up a conversation with you, like asking you where you're from. When you say the country, they will promptly name the capital, and then ask you again to buy their item.



There are two different routes people generally take to explore the temples. The small circuit is more popular, as it includes Angkor Wat, Bayon, and the temples closer to the entrance of the Angkor Archaeological Park. I wanted to go on the big one because I thought it would be less crowded because the temples were further out (and I also thought it started at Angkor Wat - I was wrong).


We started at Preah Khan -meaning 'sacred sword', which was a Buddhist temple built around the 12th century.


I probably spent the most time at this temple because I was simply awestruck at what I was seeing. It took me almost a half an hour just to get through the front gate. Unlike in the west, where banisters, handrails, and no entry signs would be situated everywhere, you are allowed to climb or explore anywhere you like. The only exception is areas of the temples which are under reconstruction, or which are too unstable and might fall in on top of you. There is nothing that can describe, in pictures or in words, what it's like to be in this part of the world. The sounds of birds in the trees, animals in the underbrush, and occasionally someone playing traditional Khmer music near the temples. The smell of algae in the water, incense burning at shrines in the temple, and morning mist evaporating from the leaves of plants. The feel of the jungle heat, the slight breeze, and the exhilaration of clamoring your own way over stone ruins that are thousands of years old can only be experienced, not described.

After Preah Khan I went to Neak Pean, which is another 12th century Buddhist temple. It's a small island temple that's in the center of 8 pools of water. There's a horse at the entrance to the main temple that's saving some drowning sailors. There was an older French couple walking around near me. I almost asked them to take my picture, but I couldn't quite pluck up the courage to ask, in French or in English.


I spent most of the rest of the day being driven to various temples around the park. I was clamoring over piles of rubble, through broken stone windows, scaling steep and narrow stairs, getting sunburned, and just in general have an exploratory grand ole time.






I had finished the grand circuit before noon, so I went to a few on the small circuit. I had wanted to do an elephant ride after lunch, but they only do them in the morning. It would have been nice to say that I rode an elephant for Christmas, but I was willing to wait a day. I was seated along at lunch, and then the restaurant seated another lone traveler at my table. I didn't mind at all, and after chatting for a bit about what we'd seen and were going to see, we exchanged facebook info and I headed out.


By this time I was getting a little tired, and more than a little sunburned. I decided to do one more temple, and then head back to the guesthouse, so I went to Bayon. It was amazing - I could spend days exploring that one temple. While we were pulling up to the temple, I heard a loud sound that I thought was coming from the tuk-tuk, but it sounded like the whining of construction machinery. Kim Sour said it was cicadas. If it was, they were louder than anything I'd ever heard before, including the ones I'd heard in Mokpo at the White Louts Festival.







I heard several languages while wandering around the temples. Most of them I recognized, including Japanese, Chinese, Korean, French, German, English, Spanish, and Italian. Some I had no clue. I did hear some people talking about the tuk-tuk drivers and they way they swerve around all the time like they're drunk. I wanted to pipe in that the reason they do that is to avoid the massive potholes and bumps in the dirt road that would make for a highly uncomfortable ride, but decided against it.

I'm so glad my friend Kathryn suggested I bring a face mask. In Korea, I only use them to keep my face warm, though the Korean use them to protect themselves from getting/spreading diseases as well. The roads in Cambodia are dusty, and things kept flying into my eyes. They're constantly sweeping or raking the leaves in the park so that only the dirt shows. I bet if they didn't it wouldn't be as dusty, but I'm sure there's a reason why they do.

After Bayon, my battery (the second one!) was dying, and I was getting more burned, so I asked Kim Sour to take me somewhere I could get sunscreen. We stopped at a gas station, where I got soap, sunscreen, and two 2-liter bottles of water ($2 inside the temple, 60 cents outside). They only had 12SPF left, so I made a mental note to apply it liberally and constantly the next day.

I went back to the guesthouse and tried to plug in my camera battery to charge it, but the power in my room was off. I asked at the desk, and they said all the power had been turned off because they were fixing the air-conditioning. They must have meant the air for some of the guest rooms, because the main area was pretty much an outdoor room with a roof and three walls. So I started reading a book on Angkor, but fell fast asleep in the lobby for about 90 minutes. When I woke up the power was back on, so I plugged in my battery and got cleaned up.

Then I decided to go through my pictures and delete any extra or blurry pictures. I'd taken over 600 pictures in one day! I hadn't realized the settings for my camera were set at the max resolution, which must have been why my first memory card didn't even last me a day. I'm so glad I brought a second one, and that I'd put the bigger one as the back-up. Otherwise I would have had to delete pictures from my first day in order to make room for the other 8.

Kim Sour was supposed to pick me up around 6:30, but I was ready to go by 6. I talked to "The Old Man" as Kim calls him (the tour-guide/receptionist) about tomorrow. I decided to take a motorbike on my second day instead of a tuk-tuk. It's not as comfortable, but it's much faster, and since I was going out of the city it was the logical choice.

So I went to a restaurant where they serve western, Asian, and Khmer food, and have an Apsara dancing performance afterwards. I had an ice milk coffee with my dinner. They use sweetened condensed milk instead of regular milk. I didn't know that when I had coffee with my dinner in the morning, but I learned rather quickly not to add any extra sugar to my coffee.



The dinner was decent, and the dancing was facinating. It told a story, but with much slower and stranger movements than I'd ever seen. At first glance it looks rather easy, but on closer examination, the extended positions that they keep their hands and feet in, and the slow steady movement they use, is probably much harder than it seems.

Kim picked me up from the dancing around 8:30. When I mentioned beer, his face lit up, and he said "OK" and hoped on the tuk-tuk. He took me to a bar on a small side street with all Cambodians, no Westerners. The 'snow beer' was 50 cents a glass, and though the musive was loud, we had a great conversation. He told me more baout his schooling, old folk tales, his version of history of the Khmer Rouge, and How to say my name in Cambodian (Kolab or Kolap means Rose). He wants to be a tour guide, but it's $3000 to get a license, $2000 if you have a high school diploma. He finished 7 of the 12 years of public school, so he'd have 5 more years to pass in order to graduate. He speaks English well, but he says he can't read or write well. After a few beers, we headed home, because the next morning was sunrise at Angkor!

Buddhist Boot Camp Pt 2

After we talked with the monk, we made our "Dream Pouchee", or dream pouch. The Koreans are really big on "dreams", and a very common question is "What is your dream?" It's kind of like the American version of "What do you want to be when you grow up?", except it's not just for kids. Anyways, they gave us this pouch, and all we really did was to string the tie through the top so that you could pull it closed. This, however, required a diagram on the board and several people walking around to help. After we had made the pouch, we were supposed to write our "dream" on a small card, and put it in the pouch and close it. We also had to put our names on the outside of the pouch so no one's would get mixed up. Then after everyone had finished and put their dream pouches in their pockets ("Keep it close!"), they taught us how to bow.

You start with 'hapjong', or standing straight, with your feet together, and your hands in front of you in a praying type position. Keeping your back straight, you then bend your knees until you are in a kneeling position. Then cross your feet, keeping your knees together, and put your head down to the floor. Move your hands to the side of your face near your ears, first putting them palm down and turn them palm up, and then palm down again. Then sit back up with your back straight and put your hands back into the hapjong position. Uncross your feet, and without using your hands, push off your knees back into a standing position. This is generally repeated a minimum of 108 times.

After we finished the pouches, around 9:30, we headed outside into the freezing cold and walked up a rather steep side of a mountain to the Jeokmyulbogung, another building on the premises. When we got to the top of the mountain, there were strings of lotus lanterns all lit up towards the building.



When we got inside, we were instructed that we would be doing the 108 bows. The first 50 would be done together to the beat of an instrument, and then afterward we could do the rest at our own pace. I was able to do about 25 or so before my knees started to protest, so after that I simply bowed at the waist each time they hit the bell. I stopped bowing all together after the first 50, but about half the people there completed all 108.



After the bowing, we were taken part way back down the hill to where we were sleeping, the girls in one room and the boys in another. It was traditional yo, which is mats, or in our case blankets, on the floor. They gave us whole warm baked potatoes for a bed time snack, and asked us to have the lights out by 10pm, as we were to get up at 3am to start the next day.


Usually sleeping on the floor isn't that bad because of the ondol, or under-floor heating. It actually makes for cozy sleeping arrangements when it's cold outside. It is not cozy, however, when you have the ondol turned up all the way, and the floor is so hot that it burns you if you touch it with your bare skin. And so this was the way I fitfully tried to sleep through the night, already having a pretty bad cold made worse by going in and out of the cold air and warm buildings. They came and woke us up at 3am, saying that we needed to be at the Bubundang building at 3:30 for the "dawn devotional chanting". I was in no condition to wake up, and respectfully asked if I could skip the yebul (chanting) and wake up in time for the breakfast. I was allowed to go back to sleep, which was rather hard considering they didn't turn down the heat at all and I was sweating in my bed. Everyone came back around 5:45 after meditation and chanting (which I'm glad I missed, because apparently there was a considerable amount of bowing as well). We walked back down to the Heungnungwon building for a traditional Temple-style breakfast, called Balwoo Gongyang. The sun was just coming up.


We had to watch a video before we ate that showed us the proper way to eat the food. There is a specific order that you have to undo the bowls and napkins that you are given, and a very specific way to eat your food. You only take what you will eat, as it is an insult to the people that made the food for you not to finish. You also have to clean your bowls when you are finished, with a yellow radish, and then eat the radish, otherwise that's wasted as well. They're pretty strict about eating everything you take, they actually walked around the room and made several people finish their food that really didn't feel up to it.



After a silent, regimented, and rather unappetizing breakfast, we were allowed free time for an hour. Most of us slept. Then we made lotus lanterns, which was actually quite fun, and made for a lovely decoration for my apartment when I got home.



After we finished the lanterns, we hung them outside to dry, and then headed back up to the Yaksajeon to make bowing beads. We were each given a small plastic bag with string, and 109 beads inside. We had to melt the ends of the string and pull it to a point so we could put the beads on it. Then we were supposed to do one bow for each bead we put on. They said that if you couldn't do one for each, you could do two or three beads for each bow, but no more than 5 at a time. So you bow (from standing to kneeling and then standing again), and then kneel down and put one bead on the string. Then stand up and do it again.


I did my beads 5 at a time.


I counted them carefully each time I put them on the string, but after counting the whole thing three times, I only had 107 beads. So I had to go ask for one more. After everyone had finished putting their beads together, the monk that had talked to us the day before came back and spoke to us again, thanking us for taking part in the program, and saying that he was happy that we all participated fully and hoped we had a good time. Then we followed him around the room about 6 times, chanting vowel sounds, and then we hung our dream pouches on the wall (you can see them in this picture behind the monk).


When we had all finished, we headed outside for a group photo with the monk.



Then we were done, so we headed back to the main building to change into our own clothes, and get on the bus. The people that I went with were pretty tired, and once we'd gotten back to 'civilization', it was a unanimous vote to go for coffee before getting on the subway to go back home to a hot shower and a real bed.

I definitely recommend a temple stay to anyone who wants to be convinced that they never want to become a Korean monk. Or if you want to exercise your knees. Or if you enjoy getting up before the sun. Or if you like a militant environment in the guise of a restful retreat. Otherwise, just enjoy the temples as a tourist. :)