We failed to wake up this morning. Someone maybe happened to set an alarm from their highschool days that was set for Monday through Friday and today was a Sunday. That person may or may not have been me. So, we missed the morning meditation and breakfast as well. We did wake up at the perfect time for walking up the mountain to reach the Buddha statue.
Afterwards, we finished our temple stay with a final yoga and tea with the head monk. The final yoga was not relaxing at all, but it provided a good stretch that was much needed after sleeping on the mattresses they provide. The mattresses were worse than concrete. I thought it was fine until I woke up. Tea was nice and we got to listen to the history of the temple. I thought it was interesting that the temple fell into disrepair for a period before being reclaimed. Here’s the cute dog that was waiting outside the building:
We quickly packed and hit the road once tea was done. The temple visit was nice, though the initial confusion soured the experience. I definitely think that some form of Korean martial art is needed on the trip along with some nature. This might not be the perfect thing to do for the Plus3 trip, but it was a solid experience. Then, we had lunch. Despite thinking we were ordering scallops, we actually got a fish instead. The beef we all got was better than the fish, but the fish wasn’t awful. I definitely ate some bones, so I’ll feel that tomorrow.
Our brief stint in Gyeongju wouldn’t be complete without visiting Cheonmachong tomb. I was in charge of researching and presenting this as part of Tourism, so I have some limited background knowledge. The tomb is from the ancient Silla kingdom, one of 3 Korean kingdoms at the time. The tomb itself was named after the heavenly winged white horse depicted on birch bark. I enjoyed the visit to the tomb and also the surrounding shops. I tried to buy my sister a Chiikawa plush, but the search was for naught. So I bought her a Pochacco plush instead, which is a Sanrio character (same brand as Hello Kitty). We didn’t end up eating anything, but I’m excited for Pohang (written on the bus ride before Pohang). We also stopped by Woljeonggyo Bridge and took some pictures like good little tourists.
We arrived in Pohang at the hotel we will be staying at for a couple days. It is much more spacious than the one on Seoul, which makes a lot of sense as Seoul is much more dense. I did rest a bit (and washed my feet after the temple stay) before heading out to explore Pohang. I got into a group with Rohit, Emma, Kali, and Ben to eat some dinner and check out Songdo Beach. We got there by bus and walked the streets until we found a nice chicken place called Songnim Chicken. We ordered the traditional chicken, the spicy chicken, and grilled nogari. The nogari was not good as it was just fried fish that had barely any flavor. The traditional chicken was good but the portion size was off. There was barely any chicken both in the plate and also compared to the amount of bones. Finally, the spicy seasoned chicken was the best thing we had there, though it was actually spicy (unlike other things called spicy), so some group members struggled with eating it. I enjoyed the kick of the spice. After, we ended the day with Caffe Bene, where I ordered some cookies & cream and vanilla gelato, which was a nice treat before exploring the beach. I know Emma bought the Chocolate Devil, which had gelato, shaved ice, and more all in one. I definitely know where I’m going tomorrow. Lastly, we explored the beach area and took a nice walk to the top of an overlook. The beach was great and I would love to see it during the day.
Hechi for good luck
