Korea 2015

Among the things I wanted to do in Korea, doing a temple stay was high up on my list. The idea of it just sounded so peaceful, and I love spending time reflecting. The temple JJ and I decided on is the one of the oldest Buddhist temples in Korea and is surrounded by a fortress from ye olde Joseon days. It was up on a mountain on Ganghwa island which provides a dreamy view in the evenings. The room we stayed in was one of the cheaper ones, but the floors were heated (not uncommon in Korea since a lot of people still sleep on pads on the floor) and that made it feel super cozy. They provide you a traditional outfit to wear, which you’ll see if you scroll down. It was my absolute peak attractiveness so you’ve been warned. During the stay, you can also observe a number of meditations throughout the day, including one at 4AM, which was right up my alley.

As much as I cherished this experience, I will say I did miss Korean home cooking with all of its bold flavor. I love trying creative vegetarian and vegan foods and so I was quite looking forward to trying Korean vegan Buddhist cooking. But for me, it was quite bland because Buddhist cooking typically doesn’t use ingredients like onions, garlic, peppers, or really anything strong-flavored. So one of the soups I had tasted like really mild kelp water. They did have some Korean cookies out though called yakgwa, and I may or may not have eaten five of them that night. This experience for me was more of a rest for the soul than an adventure for the stomach, so I guess keep that in mind if you’re a foodie.