Our driver took us across the parking lot, we crossed the highway and he had us stand on a very narrow shoulder of the highway against concrete barriers. At first we were confused, and the girls were extremely disappointed because it was obvious that there was not a beach close. Then he had us look into the sea, and we noticed the color of the sea had multiple colors swirling around. The sea had yellows and oranges and deep browns.
We were then given a short history lesson on how this area is the run off from the gold mines. After finding the gold, it would be washed then the water would run off into the ocean. The metals and material from the washing changed the color of the ocean! It was so crazy beautiful. The large jacks looking barriers were my favorite! The colors exploded off of them!
When we got back to the car, we noticed an ancient building on the hill top. It was super beautiful! We were told that this was the old gold mine factory. It looked like something out of an old English country side book!
After leaving the beach-less sea, our next stop just a few kilometers away- the Golden Waterfall. This was a quick, park and take a picture location. The waterfall has the same yellow, orange and brown look, since it also has the metal run-off.
The best part about the waterfall was our Little Monster! It was well past his nap time and he was not excited about us taking him in and out of the car so many times. He was also mad because he wanted Little A's glasses! M&M was sweat enough to giver him her glasses, but that was not what he wanted. As we were trying to get a picture, he was screaming his head off. All the tourist around us were laughing and thinking it was the cutest thing ever. I just shrugged my shoulders, smiled and had them take the picture.
The entire waterfall was completely fenced off. It really was a gorgeous waterfall, though! The color of the water and the different orange and yellows of the rock made it extremely unique.
After the waterfall, our next destination was the Gold Museum. As we were driving around the corner to get to the museum, we were passing by a gigantically fabulously gorgeous temple. We asked if we cold stop and see it, so our driver parked right up front and took a bunch of pictures outside the temple of us!
This temple is called the Chuen Ji Hall. On top of the temple was a huge bronze statue. It appeared that the statue was in the backyard of the temple, so we asked if we could get closer to the statue and take a picture.
The best part about having a driver, is that they speak the native language. He then proceeds to go into the temple and talk to the temple workers. He motions for us to come into the temple. I couldn't believe it! We have been to many temples around Korea, I've been to some in Bali and we have seen a lot in Taiwan, but we haven't ever been in one. I felt like I was trespassing. As we walked in, we are greeted by a beautiful water fountain.
We keep getting deeper and deeper into the temple. The art is simple amazing! We walk by worshiping patrons, burning incenses and chanting priests. We also pass dorms and a small kitchen, and we still climb stairs higher. When we get to the top, there is a beautiful marble mural! The marble has a picture that was hand etched into it. The kids were in awe as they touched the mable and could feel how the artist made the mural.
As we walk to the front of the railing, we are greeted by a beautiful and breathtaking scene! We are now on the roof of the temple and can see the colorful rooftop and rainbow dragons that adorned the roof! I was super confused as to why we were on the roof. I wasn't going to complain, because it was amazing! I was looking around, trying to see if I could see the statue somewhere on the ground floor behind us.
As we turn around we behold a gigantic bronze statue of the God of War, Guang Gong. The statue was not in the backyard of the temple, it was on the roof! It was actually so big and directly above us that we couldn't get a picture of it.
We ended up staying on the roof for a while. It really was something else! Something amazing!
When we finally decided we better get back to our car, we left the rainbow of colors and beautiful architecture and descended the stairs. We got back to the car and went to the Gold Museum, which was literally just down the street.
We set up a meet time for an hour from being dropped off. We paid the admission fee, and walk in. We were super disappointed with the Gold Museum. The museum was more like an amusement park with no rides and no acts. It was outdoors, except a few buildings. There wasn't a ton to see. There were buildings, but we couldn't go in very many of them. The kids were hungry, so we stopped by the restaurant and ordered some food. Either we were all super hungry, or it really was the best food we ate! We all ate every bite!
By the time we were done eating, we had enough time to stop at a picture spot, then go and meet our driver.
Our last stop in this area was Jiufen. Our driver was insistent that we had to end at Jiufen! He said everyone goes there and it is so popular! The roads to get to Old Town Jiufen, our destination, were extremely busy and backed up. When we finally made it there, our driver pulled over and pointed to an alley, and said that was where we needed to go and he would be back in 2 hours. The alley was a huge bottleneck with a million people trying to fit into this tiny opening for an alley.
When we finally made it in, we were disappointed. We didn't know what to expect, but we didn't expect to be in a huge alley market. Old Town Juifen turned out to be an endless alley with street booths selling clothes, food and miscellaneous items.
The girls were excited to buy trinkets, but after walking a good distance, it was plain to see that there weren't many mindless trinkets in the alley.
We did get some delicious goodies to eat! Our favorite was a pancake ice cream cookie! It was a scoop of ice cream between two pancakes!
We all enjoyed our treats, but with how crowded it was, and the kids alreay had a long day, we didn't last the full 2 hours. After about 40 minutes, we called our driver and asked him to come pick us up.
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