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.     

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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.