While in Kyeongju, we were fortunate enough to meet a great couple and their child: Paul Danehy, Shelly Simonds, and beautiful little Tessa (very little: born 16 March 1999!). Paul and Shelly are an interesting pair: they're Americans who have lived in Canberra, Australia for three years, where he is a Physics lecturer at the Australian National University and she a reporter for the ANU newspaper. It turned out, coincidentally, that they were living in Korea for two months in Taedeok, an area of Taejon just five minutes from our home. We shared many a nice dinner with them, so we made plans together for a little getaway on their last weekend in Korea. We chose Seonunsa, a beautiful old temple in a park by the Yellow Sea, roughly three hours southwest of Taejon. Here's the weekend's batch of pictures...

Can't get enough of that adorable Tessa, or want to learn more about our newest friends? Drop by Paul's web page.

Settling in for our bus ride: Paul, Shelly, and little Tessa.
The main temple at Seonunsa.
Cheris drinking some spring water by another Seonunsa building.
Paul strikes a handsome pose.
We decided to hike through the park to a hermitage (a remote, small temple where monks or nuns seek out an especially tranquil setting). Here's Rob, resting by a gnarly old tree, midway though our hike.
Tessa met her first monk along the way. Let's hope she likes the next monk better.
Cheris, up the trail aways, with some nice rock formations above.
Finally reaching the hermitage, we were glad we'd made the trip. There we found this amazing Buddha relief carving in the cliffside. The pictures, sadly, can't really do justice to this masterpiece.
Here it is again.
We climbed the steep stairs above that carving to find another small temple, perched on a plateau with an incredible view of the area. Here's that temple as the sunset prayers begin...
...and here's part of the view from up there.
Tessa got comfortable with our hotel owner's wife while we were checking out on Sunday morning.
Then we headed for Dongho Beach, the nearest stretch of seashore. It's a small and uncrowded spot, so we enjoyed the sun and cool sea breeze all afternoon. Here's Cheris on the rocks...
...and Rob just a moment later.
The view to the north: beautiful mountains on another stretch of Korea's crooked coastline. Too bad it was kind of a hazy day.
She sells seashells by the seashore. And this is where she gets her inventory.

take me back to the index, please