Templestay Program

Korea faced a shortage of accommodation for the 2002 World Cup, and the Jogye order opened monastery guest quarters as an answer. It was meant to be temporary. Instead it became a permanent programme at around 140 temples, used heavily by Koreans themselves as a way to step out of a demanding work culture for a weekend. There are two broad formats: a structured programme with a schedule - seated meditation, the 108 prostrations, a tea talk with a monk, a lantern or prayer-bead making session - and a free rest stay where you are given a room and left alone. Both involve the temple's rhythm: lights out around nine, the drum and bell before dawn, the pre-dawn service around three or four, and barugongyang, the formal monastic meal where nothing may be left uneaten. English-supported programmes are listed separately. The mountain temples are the ones worth choosing.

What you actually see

• The monastic day - early lights out, pre-dawn drum and service.
• Barugongyang - the formal meal where nothing is left.
• The programme sessions - meditation, prostrations, tea with a monk.
• The rest option - a room and no schedule, at many temples.

When to go

April to June and September to November. Book ahead - the popular mountain temples fill, especially in autumn. Filter for English-supported programmes if you need them.

Honest expectations

You sleep on a floor mat, share facilities, and rise before dawn. Phones are discouraged or collected. It is a working monastery, not a hotel - the schedule is not negotiable on structured programmes.

Nearby

Among the temples running it: Magoksa, Daeheungsa, Hwaeomsa, Songgwangsa, Tongdosa, Sudeoksa.