Songgwang-Sa Temple

After the green tea fields, we went to Songgwang-Sa temple, which is next to Mt. Jogye in Jellanam-Do. The temple dates back to the end of the Shilla dynasty and has been spotlighted as the center of Korean Buddhism. It was incredibly beautiful, and much larger than I would have guessed. They offer a temple stay experience that I would like to do sometime next fall. Here are some pictures from around the temple:







We had lunch near the outside of the temple. It wasn't that great, but Mr.Lee from the MOE explained to us after that it is a traditional meal for the temples in this area to eat. It was almost entirely vegetables.

Boseong Green Tea Fields

On the second day of our retreat, we went back to the Boseong Green Tea fields. This time, I made sure to go to where the tea was, not where the bamboo was like last time! We got some good pictures on my friends camera, and I hope he posts them soon. But for now...

Leah and I took a hike up in the hot, humid weather to a lookout point and could see green tea plants everywhere!


Here are Leah and I at one of the photo opportunity spots at the tea fields:


It was hot by the time we got back down, so we cooled off with some green tea ice cream. That is by far the best ice cream I've had in Korea!