Announcer: Welcome to "Joseph Rosendo's Travelscope"... Whoo hoo!

where you join us as we accept the world's invitation to visit.

Both: Santé!

[Cheering] Joseph: Today on "Travelscope," I journey through South Korea in search of ancient roots, national treasures, and cultural connections in food, history, and sport.

Announcer: "Joseph Rosendo's Travelscope" is made possible by... Emerald Waterways.

It's been said that if experience is the best teacher, then travel is the best experience.

River cruising seeks to immerse travelers deep within a culture while moving gently through it.

With Emerald Plus, in-depth cultural experiences are included on every European cruise.

Emerald Waterways.

And No-Jet-Lag-- jet lag prevention.

Joseph: It's winter, and believe it or not, I'm in the middle of Seoul, the capital of South Korea, walking along the banks of the Cheonggyecheon, the stream that started life out as a royal sewer, then became a shantytown under an expressway, and now a pedestrian walkway.

Korea, unlike other Asian countries, has 4 distinct seasons.

The last time I was here was in the spring, when everything along the stream was lush and green.

Yet winter in Korea has its own special beauty.

Changdeokgung is one of 5 palaces in Seoul built during the Joseon Dynasty, which ruled for more than 500 years.

A UNESCO World Heritage Site, it was originally built in 1405 and contains many national treasures-- its building, structures.

The oldest bridge in Seoul is here and possibly its largest tree, a 300-plus-year-old giant.

Although it's been rebuilt many times because of war and fire, it's still considered to be the best preserved of the Joseon Dynasty palaces.

One of Seoul's 25 districts and hundreds of dongs, or neighborhoods, Insa-dong is a center of folk art and crafts, including traditional clothing or pottery, paper, and food.

Yes, yes, yes, yes.

10 of those, please.

[Speaking South Korean language] Fish and octopus.

Gee, I never thought of octopus and fish skin and chestnuts as going together, but, you know, anything's possible in Korea.

At the heart of the neighborhood is its hundred galleries.

I mean, this has been a home for painters since the Joseon Dynasty, which began in the 14th century.

On the weekends, they close the streets, and it's a festival, but even on the weekdays, it's a fun place to be.

♪ Happy birthday to you ♪ ♪ Happy birthday to you ♪ ♪ Happy birthday, dear... ♪ Chin-mae.

♪ Chin-mae ♪ ♪ Happy birthday to you ♪ Thank you.

Joseph, voice-over: Seoul will be a gateway to the 2018 Olympic Winter Games when Korea celebrates winter and sport in Pyeongchang, less than an hour by high-speed rail east of the capital.

South Korea's first ski area was built in 1975.

This one, Phoenix, was built in 1995.

Now, it is going to be a venue for the 2018 Winter Olympics, but you can see regular people are snowboarding and downhill skiing, and they'll be doing it before and after the Olympic Games, and you can, too.

South Korea has long had connections with Olympic sports.

It's the site of the 2018 Winter Games, it hosted the 1988 Summer Games and, like today, has many times held World Cup competitions.

As a cultural side note, at the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin, two Koreans won gold and bronze medals in marathon, yet because Japan had annexed Korea and was attempting to obliterate the Korean national identity, they were forced to perform under the Japanese flag and, what's worse, using Japanese names.

The Olympic Committee still credits Japan with those medals.

Korea's Olympic Winter Games will take place in 12 venues, including Alpensia Sport Park, where the world's best ski jumpers and other Nordic and alpine athletes will compete.

But they made sure it was after nightfall before they let me come out on Korea's Alpensia Olympic Mountain.

They wanted to make sure I had lots and lots of room.

Ya-ho!

Joseph, voice-over: Korea's Olympic Winter Games symbolizes the harmony of snow, ice, sport, and a gathering of the world's people.

Nearby but a realm apart, the Woljeongsa Buddhist temple is a refuge from a life of striving and competition to one of contemplation and spirit.

Woljeongsa Temple, located on 5,000-foot Odaesan Mountain, illustrates the relationship between peace and beauty embodied in Buddhist thought.

Founded in 643, the temple's spiritual forefathers hold that here, through chanting... meditation... and mindful activities, one may divest themselves of life's 3 poisons: craving, anger, and ignorance.

Woljeongsa Temple is located in Odaesan National Park, which is one of Korea's 21 national parks.

Joseph, voice-over: Temple stay programs are common throughout Korea and available to those interested in experiencing Korean cultural traditions and partaking of temple life.

And they were talking very politely... And that interests you?

Yeah.

And then I interesting about Buddhism.

You must have liked it.

You've been here 9 years.

Yeah.

Joseph: I can see how you could be here.

Doeom: Korean temples everywhere.

No noisy sounds.

Only water sounds and wind sound and also sometime bird will be singing.

Birds will be singing.

Yes.

No need to talk.

Just silently keeping quiet.

We eating as medicines to get enlightenment.

So you're not eating for energy.

We're mindfully eating.

Yeah.

Wonderful.

That's beautiful.

Joseph, voice-over: The tea ceremony, dao/do, has been a meditative practice for centuries.

Tea imparts a quality of wakefulness with tranquility, and Buddhists believe that the 4 Noble Truths and the eight-fold path can be found in a cup of tea.

[Speaks South Korean language] Very nice to meet you.

Nice to meet you.

This is my favorite part.

I love the tea, and I love the elegance of the ceremony.

What kind of tea is this?

Lotus root tea.

Is there any particular reason why, as monks, you're serving lotus tea?

It's made from pure water... Mm-hmm.

and if we drink this tea, our minds will be purified.

I understand that the lotus grows in what could be considered polluted waters, and out of that comes this beautiful beauty.

Beautiful.

They make beautiful.

It's a wonderful, wonderful Buddhist symbol.

You know, I understand here at the temple, it's very important, the relationship between beauty and peace.

I can see it here.

There's beauty, and there's serenity.

What do you like most about being a monk?

He wants to be free.

He wants to be free of it all.

Yeah.

Free of fear, free of pain.

Yeah, free of pains.

He want and are happy.

He wants to be happy.

Yeah.

Completely happy.

Yeah.

Complete happy.

Well, I want that, too.

This lotus tea gives us an opportunity to share with each other.

I can say that I strive for that, too.

I'm completely impressed with how much commitment you have to that way of life, so... kamsahamnida.

Kamsahamnida.

Joseph, voice-over: The face of Buddha is soft and calm, yet the temple's drum and bronze bell, national treasures, vigorously summon the monks to prayer, and all beings' attention to Buddha's path to enlightenment.

[Gong sounds] [Monks chanting] Joseph, voice-over: The hillside was covered with buckwheat coming into flower.

"The sprinkling of white in the gentle moonlight was almost enough to take your breath away."

That is from "When Buckwheat Flowers Bloom," one of Korea's most beloved short stories, written by Lee Hyoseok in 1936.

It so captured the connection between the lives of the common folk and the beauty of nature that in 1990, the author's home village was designated Korea's first national cultural village.

The cultural village celebrates the author's life, his story, and all things buckwheat.

Since ancient times, buckwheat has been one of Korea's national dishes, and I'm in the national town of buckwheat, with the award-winning buckwheat chef Souk Hi.

And we're gonna be making some buckwheat noodles.

Right now we're just mixing things up in here, made with two kinds of buckwheat.

One has a bitter taste.

The other one has a sweet taste.

OK. With this cylinder of buckwheat, we're gonna make magic.

Joseph: We'll be making buckwheat noodles.

She's gonna cue me on when to cut it.

Ah.

There you go.

Uh.

It cooks very quickly, of course.

Anyone who has done pasta knows how quickly buckwheat would cook.

This is really cool.

You only use these 3 fingers to grab the noodles and create your portion.

So you go like this, and then you get a nice portion.

You just hold it like that...

This, this, this.

with the-- There's our portion.

OK. OK, OK, OK. And the next thing, we're gonna put some chili sauce on top of there, of course.

Add a little spice to it.

Then we have radish-- pickled radish.

Ah, cucumber... bean sprouts.

If you're a vegetarian, in Korea you'd do very well because they love vegetables and they make vegetables taste really good.

So, Chef, we'll put a little bit of the sesame seeds on it.

Looks good.

Yeah.

And also looks delicious.

Mashittda.

Mashittda.

What a feast!

Mmm!

Mmm.

Kamsahamnida.

Kamsahamnida.

Joseph, voice-over: In keeping with the Korean desire to find a balance between nature, tradition, and life, at Museum SAN, art and architecture complement the surroundings, adapt to the changing seasons, and preserve cultural connections.

The museum's slogan is "Disconnect to connect," so while art exhibits may be cutting edge, the country's heritage is illustrated in the paper gallery and in 3 gardens, most particularly the stone garden, which features elements which hearken to the burial mounds of the Silla Dynasty, which can be found in the ancient capital of Gyeongju in southeast Korea.

When you come to Korea, you're going to learn about the Joseon Dynasty, which ruled till the beginning of the 20th century, for about 500 years.

Yet they pale in comparison to the Silla Dynasty, which existed from the first century B.C.

to the 10th century A.D., about a thousand years.

Now, during the flowering of the Silla Dynasty, Buddhism was accepted as the state religion, and what's most important, the Korean peninsula was unified under one rule, and the beginning of the Korean national identity took place.

Bulguksa Temple was built at the height of their power to represent where they already thought they were living-- heaven on earth.

Korea is a predominantly Christian country, yet it is culturally Buddhist.

Buddhism was accepted as the religion of the Silla Dynasty in the sixth century A.D., and many of the country's national treasures are pagodas.

And when you go to temples or temple complexes, you may see someplace like this.

These are basically wishing stones, or mini pagodas, which people have placed so that their wishes and their dreams and their hopes will come true.

Korea is a culturally rich country.

After surviving the devastation of wars and occupations, the Koreans are determined to preserve their heritage.

There are hundreds of national treasures, historic sites, and scenic spots.

As of 2015, there was 12 UNESCO World Heritage Sites, and two dozen more are proposed.

The town of Gyeongju, a museum without walls, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Among its cultural treasures are East Asia's oldest existing observatory, dating to the seventh century, and, in Tumuli Park, the burial mounds of some of the 56 Silla Dynasty kings and queens.

A handful of the Tumuli have been excavated, and on display in one are some of the tens of thousands of precious artifacts already discovered.

"Cities and thrones and powers stand in time's eye, almost as long as flowers, which daily die."

Rudyard Kipling.

Following Korea's cultural connections, I head west to the town of Jeonju, one of UNESCO's Creative Cities, with its historic Hanok Village and Experience Centers.

The hanok, or Korean traditional home, is an example of Koreans' ancient connection between peace and beauty.

Beautifully constructed wood-and-tile dwellings, they are considered vessels of Korean culture.

Jeonju Hanok Village consists of 800 dwellings where people still live traditionally, and visitors can experience indigenous arts and crafts such as paper-, fan-, and rice-wine-making and Korean-style dress-up.

[Cheering] [Shouting in South Korean language] Joseph, voice-over: There are food streets in most Korean cities and towns, but few are recognized by UNESCO.

Designated a Creative City of Gastronomy, what distinguishes Jeonju is more than a thousand years of traditional home cooking, its nurturing of creative chefs, and unique food festivals.

At the top of its culinary list is Bibimbap.

[Laughter] Joseph: And here it is-- bibimbap, the favorite dish of Korea and, as the story goes, created right here in Jeonju.

Now, it's "bap"--rice and "bibim," which means "mix," so it's rice mixed with vegetables, meat, and an egg on top.

It doesn't really matter what vegetables you use as long as you retain this color because those are the historic colors of Korea.

Bibimbap!

It's not only good to eat, it's fun to say.

Bibimbap.

Bibimbap.

Bibimbap!

Bibimbap!

Joseph, voice-over: Koreans love rice so much, some don't just eat it, they drink it.

I'm at the Korean Traditional Wine Museum, and this is one of the experiences you can have here in the Hanok Village, and Mr. Kim is the curator here of the museum.

He's explained to me that it's quite different creating wine from rice than creating it from grapes, which already have the sugar in the grape juice.

This is a carbohydrate, potential sugar, but the sugar has to be taken out of it before it can be mixed with ingredients and become wine.

Unlike in Europe, for instance, here in Korea you don't make wine and then put it away and it ages for years and gets better and better.

No.

You make wine for the season.

Winter is a good time to make wine because the air temperature is correct.

What Mr. Kim is doing here is he's preparing the rice and separating it out so he can put it into the water, which is one of the ingredients for making rice wine.

There's water.

There's, in this case, uncooked rice-- he's using cooked rice, of course-- and then there's yeast.

Well, you knew yeast would come into play somewhere in the making of alcohol, and it certainly is important here.

OK, here we go.

So we have... the rice.

This is kind of like stomping the grapes back in the day.

That's what he's doing.

He's stomping the rice in the water mixture and--to get the sugars out of those grains of rice so that the yeast can go to work on it and create alcohol, and, of course, you know alcohol is... one of the pleasures of drinking wine.

Mmm.

OK.

Put it into the jar.

Put it in the jar?

All right.

Getting it ready for the fermentation process.

Joseph, voice-over: If you study that archeological history of wine-making, it goes back thousands and thousands of years.

These jars, jars like this are ultimately used for the storing and fermenting of the juice of either the grapes or the fruit or whatever they're using.

Rice wine has been made here in Korea for over a thousand years.

OK. Two months have passed.

The wine is ready for drinking.

First it has to be put through the sieve.

I always liked rice.

Now I have another reason to like it.

[Speaking South Korean language] Mmm.

How is it?

My abuelita's arroz con leche was never like this.

Kamsahamnida.

Kamsahamnida.

[Women talking and laughing] Joseph, voice-over: Han-ji, or handmade paper, has been made here in Korea for about a thousand years.

In fact, it's been made here in Jeonju for over a thousand years, and the process is relatively the same.

Mulberry tree.

Strip the bark off of it.

You boil it to soften it, and then it's cooked to get the water out of it, and voilà, you have paper.

And they make more things from it than you would think-- certainly writing and artist paper, but they also make everything from fans, underwear, robes, and it's so strong they even make armor out of it.

Flower name is suku.

Joseph: Suku.

Yeah.

Korean name is suku.

OK.

I like that one there like you had it.

Yeah.

Good.

Good?

Yeah.

The other flower.

Like that.

Like that.

I like yellow.

You like yellow.

Yellow is fun.

Mmm.

Uh, this is glue.

Yeah.

Yours is beautiful.

Mine's not as beautiful.

OK, so, what else is new?

Handmade.

Kamsahamnida.

[Indistinct] There, there, there.

Jeonju is a town of selfies, and it's contagious, and sooner or later, you're doing it, too.

That's a lot of fun.

OK. Yay!

Yay!

Yay!

Here we go.

Kamsahamnida.

Kamsahamnida.

Joseph: Thank you for joining me on my South Korea adventure.

This is my second visit to South Korea, and I've discovered that apart from the many attractions of the capital city of Seoul, once you leave town, treasures await-- literally-- from World Heritage temples to Olympic venues, from historic villages to great food.

And as always, the greatest treasures are the people, and I'm thankful and grateful for the gracious and warm welcome that I've received.

And I can't wait to find out what I'll discover next time.

Until then, this is Joseph Rosendo, reminding you of the words of Mark Twain: "Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness."

Happy traveling!

Announcer: "Joseph Rosendo's Travelscope" is made possible by... Emerald Waterways.

It's been said that if experience is the best teacher, then travel is the best experience.

River cruising seeks to immerse travelers deep within a culture while moving gently through it.

With Emerald Plus, in-depth cultural experiences are included on every European cruise.

Emerald Waterways.

And No-Jet-Lag-- jet lag prevention.

For a DVD of today's show or any of Joseph's "Travelscope" adventures, call 888-876-3399 or order online at Travelscope.net.

You can also email us at TV@Travelscope.net or write us at the address on your screen.

Joseph: Now that we've traveled South Korea together, learn more at Travelscope.net, where you can follow my worldwide adventures through my eMagazine, blog, podcast, and on Facebook.

Stay in touch.

888-876-3399 or TV@Travelscope.net.

[Gong sounds] Kamsahamnida.

1, 2, 3!

Kamsahamnida!

Ready?

1, 2, 3!

[Shouting in South Korean language] And Koreans--oh, wait a minute, Jon.

Ready?

Jon: Action.

And Korean-style dress-up.

[Cheering] Thank you!