Wow, with the help of a Korean teacher friend of mine, I found out about a place called Samkwangsa. Just a 20-minute bus ride on a small bus, a ‘village bus’ …bus number 15, and you move out of the commercial hub of Seomyeon and step into an oasis of serenity.

On the first visit, we arrived at night. Hundreds of people, mostly older women, were moving about. Walking around the pagoda, doing bows or sitting in the shrine area.