After waking up in my pajamas and windbreaker, I enjoyed a great breakfast at the temple. I was surprised that the breakfast at the temple was so good, just like the dinner the previous night. At the temple, no meat is allowed, as well as no leftovers. Although I could not go vegan forever, having no meat for two meals was a good reset for my body.
After breakfast, I climbed a large mountainside and got an amazing view. While at the top, the sun started to beat down on us and the chilly air quickly turned into oppressing heat. We got many great pictures before heading down the mountain, packing, and preparing for another seonmudo session.
At the seonmudo session, many participated in yoga exercises with complex movements. These movements helped open the body to “energy worship” for connecting to cosmic energy.
After that session, we had tea with the head monk of the temple. He answered many questions, such as how to become a Buddhist monk and about the history of the temple. I was shocked to learn that there used to be hundreds of thousands of Buddhist monks in South Korea, and that the temple had been around for over 1500 years.
After leaving, we had a delicious lunch (with some beef) and other bibimbap. At the end, I had a small cup of coffee, which was delicious and had a small taste of chocolate. I am normally not a fan of drinking coffee in the United States so I was surprised that this drink was so tasty.
That afternoon, we went to the Cheonmachong tombs, which were huge earthen mounds that housed rulers from the Silla dynasty. I was really interested to learn how they constructed such large mounds, especially with no modern equipment. We then had free time to explore more of the tombs, the surrounding village, and a long line of shops.
After arriving in Pohang, I went with a couple friends to the Kyochon chicken restaurant. It was difficult trying to order, as the workers only spoke Korean, but we were able to perform charades and use google translate enough to order regular, soy, and honey chicken boxes. The workers were incredibly nice; they even gave us various beverages as complimentary items. The chicken was delicious, although there was a lot of bones and fried breading relative to the quantity of chicken. Pohang is so different from Seoul, even just the small amount I have seen so far, so I am interested to explore more the next few days.