Buddah’s Birthday

Happy Birthday: A giant Buddah statue carved into a rock wall at Sudoksa Monastery

Two three-day weekends in two weeks? Yes, please. Last week we celebrated Children’s Day, this week we celebrated Buddah’s birthday. Taking full advantage of the extra day off my friends and I visited some local beaches and Sudoksa, a beautiful Buddhist monastery near Seosan. Locals – even a few monks – were out in full force, shopping, dancing, and of course, eating. Vendors selling ice cream, roasted chestnuts, roasted corn, waffle cakes, sweet tarts, and chicken were kept busy by the mass of people visiting Sudoksa to pay homage to Buddah the birthday boy. Needless to say, a celebration of this sort is hard to come by back in Seattle, so I was very lucky we braved the traffic and windy weather to take part.

Way cooler than Christmas lights: A man hangs lotus prayer lanterns at Sudoksa.

Read on for a gallery of photos from a most excellent weekend.

Probably the only Boston Terrier in the Korean Penninsula

Beach in Daesan, 20 minutes south of Seosan

Mystery Rope or future “Lost” subplot

The sun sets in Daesan.

Fishermen in Daesan

A beach in Daesan. Rocky and cold, a bit like Washington’s beaches.

Gokki Beach. Warm water, soft sand, much like Californian beaches.

Sam in the Yellow Sea

A strange ball of steyrofoam or something washed up on shore. Strange but cool looking.

Windsuit and Sunbrella: Common beach attire in Korea

Traditional Korean grave. Possibly the best view a dead guy could have

Hat salesman asleep at the base of Sudoksa

Folk Dancer

Temple guards

Lotus lanterns

Instead of throwing coins into a fountain, you have to somehow stick it to this wall before your wish comes true

Massive Buddah sculpture carved into a rock wall

Looking Down

Fishing boats on glassy water.