The main agenda for today was to visit the famous Woljeongsa Buddhist Temple in Pyeongchang County. While planning our trip to Korea, my wife asked me if I had any specific places I wanted to visit, and I mentioned that I wanted to see a real Buddhist temple.
Here we are
In addition, at the end of the day, Jiyul's father decided to stop by the tomb of King Sejong the Great (Yeongneung) in Yeoju, which was equally impressive. Let's start from the beginning.
Table of Content
- The way to the Pyeongchang County
- Souvenirs
- YouTube Video
- Relevant Links
- Conclusion
The way to the Pyeongchang County
The long way east
We started with waking up, breakfast and some TV.
The setup at Jiyul's parents' house
The Woljeongsa Buddhist Temple is located in the far east of the country and requires a bit of driving. My wife's father was our driver, and he is not young anymore, yet he handled the trip perfectly. He was really happy that we came to visit.
As we know, it's going to be cold again, we decided to try these out:
I have never seen this before
They are self-warming insoles for shoes.
However, spoiler alert: my feet sweated through these insoles, which ruined my socks and made walking very uncomfortable, so I ended up throwing them out very early.
We had to drive almost to the Sea of Japan (East Sea)
Koreans really hate that name, Sea of Japan, by the way.
The road goes through a lot of mountains and tunnels
On the way, you see the real Korean countryside and nature. Countless farms, solar panels, small towns and villages, and, of course, mountains.
This is a typical view of the way
It's interesting that I really enjoyed looking at mountains, but my wife, who grew up in Korea, prefers the Canadian countryside with flat surfaces, rivers, forests and lakes. I guess we always feel that the grass is greener on the other side of the fence.
A reminder of the 2018 Winter Olympics
The Woljeongsa Buddhist Temple is located in Pyeongchang County, which is the home to the PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympic Games. It's a really nice place to host the games, because the mountains are beautiful, yet they do have all the infrastructure.
I won't lie, I was a bit moody in the morning and during the drive, but after we had lunch and coffee at the restaurant, my mood went up.
I managed to call my cousins in Russia because I wanted to show them the mountains, then we went to the washroom with Appa (the father), and finally headed to the restaurant.
Odaesan Minsok Sikdang (오대산민속식당) restaurant
Odaesan Food Village
Because Pyeongchang County is located high in the mountains, there is a very special food associated with it that is only offered locally.
My wife's parents picked Odaesan Minsok Sikdang (오대산민속식당) restaurant because the father really wanted to try the food there.
Here is the meal for 4
What they offer is called sanchae jeongsik, a meal featuring a variety of seasonal wild vegetables that can only be found there, many (or all) of which are grown locally and collected on these very mountains. The meal felt very natural and healthy to me, and the owner of the place was serving us himself. At the end, I said "jincha mashisoyo" (very delicious), and he was happy. I noticed how carefully he was washing the windows carrying about every customer. There were also many photos, new articles and awards featuring this place.
We came out of that place happy, and the free coffee that many Korean restaurants offer at the end really helped to boost the mood.
The coffee was good
It's interesting to realize how easily a person's mood can be changed after a good meal. I have never thought about it when I lived in Russia and met my wife. We are all animals after all.
Woljeongsa Buddhist Temple
Buildings, monks and the fresh air
We can't just walk to the temple from the restaurant in the winter, so we had to drive a bit more. It was founded in 643 by the Silla monk Jajang, so the place is 1,383 years old.
Octagonal Nine-Story Stone Pagoda
Being originally from Russia (a city of Samara, which is 400 years old), Canada felt like a very young country to me, which, I guess, it is. However, Canadians do a really good job of preserving their history, even though they are not always proud of it (like Americans). In Russia, however, especially in the 90th when the Soviet Union collapsed, the government was weak and didn't have money for culture and history. Plus, the Soviets destroyed a lot of pre-Soviet history.
There are many very opposing views on history in Russia, Canada and US, and I guess in Korea, but Korea managed to preserve its culture and history well, which also applies to food, not only buildings and religion. This can only cause a feeling of respect. They found what really matters and what is beyond political arguments.
The main entrance
The temple complex is not that big, but there are quite a few buildings available to the public, and a section of the temple that is closed to the public's eyes.
If I remember correctly, the top-right section is for monks-only
Here we could see classic Korean architecture.
The sun and snow work well together with those buildings
We could also see real monks walking around.
I tried not to film them in general, but I hope it's ok
This temple is connected to another temple via a trail, so I was imagining how in old times they would walk from one temple to another to exchange food, news and gossip.
The entrance to the trail
What was interesting to me is that the lamps on the bridge had solar panels.
Very technological monks
The mountain air was fresh, but it was still cold, so it was time to leave. We stopped by the
Souvenirs
What are we bringing home
YouTube Video
See more in the video
Relevant Links
What was mentioned in the article
List of relevant links:
Conclusion
Final Thoughts
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