Woljeongsa Temple & Fir Forest Path

Full transcript

Annyeong, yeoreobun! Yul here. Take a deep breath. Smell that? That's fir trees. We're at Woljeongsa, a Buddhist temple on Odaesan mountain in Pyeongchang, and the road to it is one of the most beautiful forest walks in Korea.

Our story begins in 643. A Silla monk named Jajang had traveled to China and studied on Mount Wutai, the Five Terrace Mountain, linked with Munsu, the bodhisattva of wisdom. Legend says Munsu told him to find a mountain just like it back home. So Jajang came here, to Odaesan, written with the very same characters, and built a small hut. That hut grew into Woljeongsa.

But this temple has burned again and again. In 1307. In 1833. And then the biggest heartbreak: during the Korean War, the temple was burned down by Korea's own army, so that enemy forces could not use it as a base. Almost everything was lost.

Here's the twist. One thing stood tall through the fire: the octagonal nine-story stone pagoda, about fifteen meters high, from the early Goryeo period. It's a National Treasure. Look at the stone bodhisattva kneeling in front of it, offering a gift. In 1964, the monk Tanheo began rebuilding the temple around it.

Yul's tip! Walk the fir forest path, about one kilometer with around 1,700 fir trees. Inside the halls, keep quiet, don't step on the thresholds, and dress modestly. Want more? Try a temple stay, or the old monks' trail, Seonjae-gil, to Sangwonsa.

Next, let's visit a church on an island that looks like a Korean palace. Kaja!