Martoons

Cast of characters

Fred

Mr Go

*

“Mr Fred, we will stop here for sightseeing.”

The road had terminated at a temple.

“I don’t have a religion,” Go commented, “but I am interested in Buddhism and I like to visit temples.”

Just outside the compound were souvenir shops selling Buddhist paraphernalia.

Smallish loudspeakers hung from the entrance to the shop and played a continuous, monotone serious-sounding voice, reciting Buddhist principles and credos.

“Fred,” Go asked, “why don’t we go into the temple?”

Inside the corner-store sized compound were vending machines and pay phones. Fred followed Go around the concrete-surfaced area.

A handful of very elaborately-adorned buildings were spread around, made from logs and other wooden-carved accoutrements.

All were brightly painted with intricate designs and murals depicting Buddha’s life.

Go and Fred stopped around the back of one building, probably because it was in the shade and Go was sweating profusely.

It wasn’t all that hot but the air in the compound was, somehow, stuffy.

Gasping for breath, Go explained some of the panels to Fred:

“Buddha was the son of a rich man and was pampered throughout his childhood.”

He removed a handkerchief from his pocket and wiped sweat off his brow as they moved to the next panel.

“Finally, Buddha became disgusted with his protected life, left the sheltered compound where he lived, and spent the rest of his life traveling and teaching people how to achieve inner peace and balance.”

The largest log building in the compound was the actual temple.

They went up its several stairs to a wooden porch, took off their shoes and put them in a cubbyhole.

Fred was glad they were withdrawing from the claustrophobic, airless courtyard, for his sake but also for Go’s. It looked like he might faint.

* Will Mr Go be okay? *

There were slippers just outside the temple door for visitors, so they each donned a pair and slid open the rice paper door.

About a dozen people were inside on the linoleum floor, bowing to the big, golden – and prefabricated – Buddha. Fred and Go followed suit.

Later, after exiting the compound, they walked another 50 metres to the road’s end.

There was a gate and shack there, where a parks employee was collecting an admission fee.

Go paid their fee, which was about five dollars a head.

“Oh sorry Mr Go,” Fred interrupted. “I could have paid that. I’m not used to paying to hike. Most trails in Canada are free.”

Looking around him, hikers were heading off in a number of directions. “Ah! The moment I’ve been waiting for Mr Go!”

*

JiriPeak                      

Go waved him off and spoke humbly. “I am sorry Fred. My condition is not good, so we will take the cable car. Is it okay?”

Fred was now starting to see how his former boss’s health had deteriorated over the last month in exile.

Looking way up to the mountaintop, he wondered how Go was going to make it.

From up in the cable car they could see streams of Koreans below, like bright red ants, filling up the various trails.

Some paths were modified with ropes to grab onto. On steep faces, bright orange, solid iron staircases were bolted onto the mountainside.

The cable car didn’t go all the way up the mountain, only about half. They got out and started up a trail. Fred took the lead with Go a few steps behind.

Fred had eaten breakfast – kimchi and rice – but was hungry again and after 45 minutes of hiking started feeling weak and dizzy.

“Low blood sugar, Mr Go. By the way, how high is this mountain?”

“One thousand, nine hundred and twenty metres.”

Fred swallowed his pride and spoke out. “I’m a little hungry. Mind if we . . .” and he gestured to some of the snack vendors along the way.

Go pointed up to the peak. “Don’t worry, I am hungry too. We will buy something in a few moments. Better snacks up there.”

*

Tomorrow: The mountainside pair finally get some chow.