Today marks exactly one week since we have been in  Korea. Time goes fast especially when you are having a good time. Today’s first activity is a visit to the Bukhansan National Park for a hike up to the Seunggasa temple, which is a very renowned Buddhist temple. Since the topography of Korea is very hilly and has a lot of bending and winding roads, Koreans are very inclined towards hiking. They take this activity very seriously and tend to purchase a lot of the required merchandise like the walking sticks and even their hiking boots.

Personally this was my very first time going hiking so I was very nervous and excited all at once. I was mostly scared that I would fall tumble down the mountain and injure myself. Fortunately me, none of these were the case. Although I stepped in several water puddles(Which resulted into buckets of water getting into my shoes), it was an overall very entertaining experience.  I managed to support myself with a few tree branches and I was also able to take breathtaking image of nature and my surroundings.

As we got closer to the top, I could see the colorful and well decorated temple. There were several lanterns with little notes and messages which had been put in place mostly while awaiting Buddha’s birthday. As ai walked around, I noticed  how quiet it was, because most people had come either to pray individually or amongst the monks. There were also several writing all around the statues, the floor and even the walls.

After the 4 mile walk, we went out for lunch and then we returned to the hotel to rest and freshen up in preparation of our cooking class. During our cooking class we were required to cook a dish called Bim Bim Mbap. It is basically made up of a mix of carrots, mushrooms,  meat, egg and chives.  Our chef  showed us a brief demo on how she expected us to dice the various ingredients and how they should be presented on  the plates, for a typical Korean experience. The food overall was delicious and we  enjoyed the rest our evening