a rural road trip

As winter weather made cycling difficult, padyatri retraced routes he used to ride by bicycle, this time by car. Although the water had not frozen, it was a chilly day, with temperatures around 1°C, and there were few people around and little traffic. The lush greenery of summer had turned brown, adding to the atmosphere of winter.     

 ]

Hyeonseo-myeon 현서면 township office and the Yeongdeok 영덕 County Sports Complex used to be his starting points when he cycled. Banghojeong 방호정 stands on rocks along the river. It was built in 1619, a pavilion erected by a Confucian scholar of the Jo 조 family, whose deep longing for his late mother led him to set it on a site overlooking her grave.   

 

The Manan 만난 three-way intersection is a place one passes through when traveling from Banghojeong to Bunam-myeon 부남면. The area is known for red peppers and apples, which are symbolically represented in decorations at the entrance to the bridge.

Bunam-myeon is a quiet rural village located along the route to Yeongdeok and Cheongsong 청송. The township office, a police substation, restaurants, karaoke bars, coffeehouses, and a barbershop are visible along the road.    

Naeryong-ri 내룡리 is a farming village situated at a three-way intersection on the road from Bunam-myeon toward Yeongdeok. From here, the valley road leading to Okgye 옥계 blends harmoniously with the surrounding rocks, offering a beautiful view. 

Until 1981, Okgye was the end of the unpaved road coming from Yeongdeok. It is a well-known place that becomes crowded with vacationers in the summer. When he got out of the car, the chilly valley breeze made him shiver. 

After leaving Okgye and driving along a typical country road, the closer he got to Yeongdeok, the more the mountains turned completely black. He recalled seeing news reports that the worst wildfire in history had broken out last March, reducing all the nearby mountains around Yeongdeok to ashes. The hills visible behind Yeongdeok County Sports Complex also burned out.                                                                                                                                                          

It was reported that the fire was caused by the carelessness of a grave visitor. With restoration expected to take at least 30 years, it is hard to put into words the sorrow felt by local residents and visitors alike. After having lunch in Yeongdeok, he set off at noon. On the way back, he took the newly opened Pohang 포항–Yeongdeok Expressway and returned more quickly than on the way there.

English exam

 

Korean high school seniors take the College Scholastic Ability Test 수학능력시험(CSAT) and gain admission to a university. Although it has been a long time since padyatri graduated from high school, he sometimes solves the CSAT English questions for fun. Among the subjects, the English section in particular surprises even native speakers from English-speaking countries such as the UK and the US because of its level of difficulty.

Out of a total of 45 questions, 17 are listening comprehension questions administered over 25 minutes, while the remaining 28 questions test reading comprehension over 45 minutes. This allows approximately one minute and forty seconds per reading question, which places significant psychological pressure on test-takers due to time constraints. This year’s Questions 24 and 34 require a particularly high level of inferential reasoning. Question 24 asks for the main idea of the passage. These questions are intended to distinguish top-tier students from those in the middle range.

The answer to Question 24 is (2), and the answer to Question 34 is (3).

wooden duck

Around the year 676, it is said that a Buddhist monk threw a wooden duck from the top of a mountain to determine the site for a new temple. According to the story, the wooden duck flew down the valley and landed at a specific spot, where a temple was subsequently built. This place came to be known as Apgoksa 압곡사 鴨谷寺. Apgok 鴨谷 means “the valley where the duck sat.”

Someone described Apgoksa as a tranquil sanctuary embraced by the mountains, where it feels as though all the worries of the world simply fade away. padyatri had wanted to visit this place for a long time, and since he happened to have something to do in Gaeum 가음, Gunwi 군위, he stopped by on the way back. As you leave the main road and walk 1.4 kilometers along a cement-paved mountain path, a temple nestled deep in the valley comes into view. Although it is possible to drive up, he parked in the open area near the entrance and walked from there. 

Apgoksa was built by making the most of the narrow land on the mountain slope. Its simple and unadorned beauty, with restrained decoration, combines with the aged and weathered wooden buildings to put visitors at ease. Traditional Korean earthenware jars in the courtyard contain various fermented pastes and sauces consumed by monks and devotees. A large white dog greets visitors in a leisurely manner. 

It happened that a Dharma gathering was being held on the day padyatri visited. You can see the shoes of the abbot and the devotees placed on the wooden step stool. Although it is located close to the mountain summit, clear water always flows from the stone water basin beneath the wooden duck, accompanied by the sound of water, creating a cozy and tranquil atmosphere. 

On the left side of the L-shaped building is the kitchen, the central part is the Inbeopdang 인법당 人法堂(monk's residence and dharma hall) called Apgung- bogung 압곡보궁 鴨谷寶宮, and the protruding hall on the right is the Josajeon 조사전 祖師殿(Patriarchs’ hall). Except for the kitchen, a wooden step veranda(툇마루, toeutmaru) runs along the front of the building.

On both sides of the calligraphy signboard of Apgungbogung, two additional ones read Sayusu 사유수 思惟修(dhyāna, 禪, Seon) and Apgukam 압궁암 鴨宮庵. Beneath the signboards, there are four pillar couplets of calligraphic inscriptions. They are written in classical Chinese, and roughly translated, they imply the following.

  

Sitting silently through the quiet night in the mountain hall,

Many thoughts arise, yet none are worth clinging to.

Do not hold on to even the slightest attachment in the mind,

For the sensory objects and their consciousness are originally empty.

If you walk up the uphill path on the right of the temple for a short distance, you will be greeted by a scenic view along with two stupas and a pavilion. Next to the pavilion stands a stupa tomb called a Budo 부도, which enshrines the relics or remains of a revered monk. 

apple orchard village

On his way back from Hwanseongsa 환성사, instead of returning through Hayang, padyatri took a route heading east, crossing two mountain passes to get back to Daegu. It was a mountain path he had never taken before. After descending from the second pass and entering a village, he was surprised to see that the entire area around him was filled with apple orchards. He hadn’t known that there was a place like this in Daegu. 

Later, he learned that it was Pyeonggwang-dong 평광동, which is famous for apples. It is said that during the Japanese invasions of Korea in the late 16th century, a refugee surnamed Woo 우 who had fled from the north first settled here. Today, most of the villagers are his descendants.

Dr. Woodbridge O. Johnson(1869–1951) was an American missionary who, when he opened a hospital in Daegu in 1899, introduced and planted Korea’s first western apple trees. This marked the beginning of Daegu’s apple history, and the trees he planted became the origin of apple cultivation in the region. 

Pyeonggwang-dong, a village nestled deep in a valley on the eastern side of the Daegu Basin is a place that has been growing apples for over a hundred years. The access road into the village follows a narrow valley, and once you pass through it, a fairly wide basin village unfolds.

Most of the villagers are engaged in apple farming. In this valley, there were once enough residents to have an elementary school, but like many other rural schools, it was closed due to population decline. Now, about 190 households remain. The apples grown here are excellent in sugar content and firm texture, thanks to the deep, well-drained sandy loam soil, the large temperature variations in its climate, and the clean water flowing from nearby valleys.

back there again

Hayang 하양 is a town located on the eastern outskirts of Daegu, and when you take the newly opened subway east, you will arrive at its terminal station, Hayang Station 하양역. A Buddhist temple named Hwanseongsa 환성사 環城寺 is located about an hour’s walk from Hayang Station. After getting off at the station, you keep walking westward, leave the town, cross a mountain pass along a paved mountain road, and continue on for a while until you reach the temple situated on the mountainside deep inside a valley. Padyatri visited again after a long time.

It is said that the temple was named Hwanseongsa because the surrounding mountains encircled it like a fortress. It was first established in 835 and later burned down during the Goryeo period. After being rebuilt in 1635, it underwent multiple restorations up to the present due to the nature of its wooden structure. This temple is located not on the usual flat land or narrow mountain slope where ancient Korean temples were typically established, but on a wide open mountainside with a gentle incline. This little-known temple is one of the most peaceful and cozy places padyatri has ever visited.

When you arrive at the entrance of Hwanseongsa, Iljumun 일주문 一柱門 stands at the front. Iljumun is a gate that marks the outermost boundary of a temple. It is named for its distinctive structure, in which two or four pillars are set up in a single row rather than in a square, with a roof placed on top. The original gate had been burned down, leaving only four stone pillars, but it was restored in 2005. The left side shows the photo before restoration. Of the four stone pillars, the leftmost and rightmost are square, while the two in the middle are octagonal. Some say this represents the Buddha’s teachings: the Four Noble Truths 사성제 四聖諦 and the Eightfold Path 팔정도 八正道.

If you go up past the gate, you can look up and see Suwolgwan 수월관 水月觀, the pavilion, which was built in the 17th century. It means the moon reflected on the water, which symbolizes an illusion that disappears without having any real substance. Through this, a seeker learns the teaching that all phenomena in the world lack inherent existence, and that one must abandon attachment. As another story passed down in the temple's legend, when Suwolhwan was built, a large pond was present. The moon reflected in this pond was so beautiful that the pavilion was named Suwolhwan. The large pond that existed at that time has since disappeared. Instead, a small pond has been newly created on the right side of the path leading up to Suwolhwan.

Visitors proceed under Suwolgwan and climb the stone stairs directly ahead, reaching the courtyard in front of the Daeungjeon 대웅전 大雄殿, the main building of the temple, which features a Buddha statue in the center and bodhisattva statues seated on either side. The front courtyard is centered around a three-story stone pagoda, with the Daeungjeon standing at the highest point directly ahead, and the other temple buildings arranged in a quadrangular layout below it.

The view looking down from Suwolhwan toward the entrance, and the scene below it. Each of the foundation stones has a different shape. 

Perhaps because it was a weekday, it was even quieter, and only one or two visitors appeared from time to time. A monk was leisurely sweeping the fallen leaves in the courtyard.

more fulfilling

It has been one year since the onset of acute prostatitis. After taking tamsulosin, finasteride, and fluoroquinolones for several months, the symptoms improved significantly. Urination frequency has returned to normal, and padyatri no longer feels any discomfort in daily life.

However, about six months after taking the medication, the frequency of urination gradually began to increase, and he also started waking up more often at night to go to the bathroom. Around that time, he thought carefully about whether he should keep taking the medication, and he learned that tomatoes are good for the prostate. He also looked up foods that can be harmful to the prostate. 

After taking a health supplement containing lycopene, an antioxidant in tomatoes that benefits the prostate, together with prescription medication for a week, he noticed a difference in efficacy before and after, and decided to stop the prescription medication. 

He also stopped consuming dairy products, which may be harmful to the prostate, and replaced them with black soybean milk, and ate a lot of cabbage salad, generously topped with tomato ketchup. Although it was a bit disappointing to give up dairy products he had eaten all his life, especially his favorite fermented cheeses like Emmental, it wasn’t tough. He originally didn’t drink alcohol or coffee, didn’t smoke, and didn’t eat meat except for fish, which has likely helped maintain his prostate health. He also reduced his cycling time by a third. 

As a result, he has been able to maintain prostate health for five months without medication.

The healthiest state is when you don’t even notice your body. If you free yourself from greed and attachment and live without suffering, what could be more fulfilling than that?

deep within the valley

At the tail end of autumn, for the first time in almost two years, padyatri made a loop around a remote area on the eastern outskirts of Gayasan National Park 가야산 국립공원. It was a bit chilly, but the pleasantly cool autumn weather made it a great day for cycling. Because this area is rural and the harvest season was almost over, mud spilled by passing farm machinery had dried and stuck to various parts of the paved road. Every time a car passed, it kicked up a cloud of dust. At this time of year, the hard part of cycling on country roads is breathing in dust whenever a car passes.

Starting from the Unsu-myeon 운수면 township office parking lot, heading north, you’ll soon reach a stream you have to cross, and in the distance, Mt. Gayasan comes into view. A three-story stone stupa is located on the road leading to Jageun-ri 작은리 鵲隱里, standing on the site of a former Silla-period temple.

Jageun-ri, a small village nestled deep in the mountains, is made up of several small hamlets. Jageun 작은 means 'small' in Korean, but here it means a place where magpies hide—that is, Magpie Hidden Village. The apple orchards around the village sit just below the mountain summit at the very end of the valley. Whenever padyatri came to a remote area like this, he always wondered how the people living in such mountain villages made their living, because there was hardly any land suitable for farming. But that curiosity was resolved when he saw the apple orchards scattered around. He realized that apples are the specialty product of Jageun-ri.

A Catholic chapel(mission station, 공소) is located next to an elementary school in Suryun 수륜. After passing Suryun and riding along the road toward Goryeong 고령, he turned right and went through a village. After a while, he climbed a short but fairly steep hill and then rode down the slope heading toward Baekri 백리, a secluded mountain basin village that he passed through while going from Suryun to Deokgok 덕곡. Since the route from Deokgok to the starting point in Unsu was flat, he pedaled comfortably.