Beomeosa (범어사) translating awesomely, as Nirvana Fish Temple has – according to my extensive wikipedia research – been perching high above Busan for 400 odd years; although with Korea’s turbulent history I assume it’s been burnt down and re-built countless times.
Anyways, as part of a zealous and over optimistic New Year’s Resolution, my friend and I decided to pull ourselves out of the soul crushing rut we found ourselves in and actually do things on the weekend, instead of staying at home or drinking ourselves silly. So a few days ago, we decided to hike across Geumjeongsan (금정산), Busan’s mightiest mountain.
Grabbing our respective girlfriends, we awoke early, caught the subway across town, hoped on a freezing bus to Beomeosa (which was free, but somehow I managed to pay for!) and, once there, began our hike. In our hast and over enthusiasm at actually having found something we wanted to do, we forgot about the snowfall the previous day and the fact it was January. The rocks were as slippery as… well ice, and the way up proved far too treacherous for us blundering amateurs. If it wasn’t for the serenity of Nirvana Fish Temple however, the whole wintery day could have been completely squandered.
Peruse, if you will, the photos I captured on that most perilous of days: