Today we headed "homeward" to Seoul, leaving our Danyong hotel along the Southern Han River and heading North, but first we stopped at the Mireuksaji Temple site, the greatest Buddhist temple in the kingdom of Baekje. It was founded by King Mu (600-641) of Baekje. Legend has it he was heading to another temple with his queen when appeared before him was three saints from a lake. The queen wished to build a temple on the site and this became the basis for the Mireuksaji Temple. The two stone pagodas and a lovely statue of Buddha (the temple itself no longer stands) behind them in a perfectly symmetrical fashion. The west pagoda is a National Treasure being the oldest stone pagoda in Korea.

Before leaving Danyang a few of us visted the Gusa Cave and had an amazing experience journeying underground observing incredible rock formations and underround springs. We maneuvered through tight crevices in the rock along a metal walkway and up and down small stairways to see some amazing undergound sights!!

Last stop of our incredible five day journey through Korea was brief but important....It was to visit a stone monument from the Korgoryo Kingdom, the only one of its kind in the nation. The monument was erected to commemorate the incorporation of a number of fertresses along the Namhangang River by Goguryeo troops. It was discovered in 1979 in a village named Ipseok. The monument has been severely eroded by age and negligence on the part of local residents who didn't understand the importance of the monument. The monument dates back to the late 5th century when King Jangsu of Goguryeo moved the capital to Pyongyang and extended the Dynasty's territory southward to the basin of the Hangang River. The monument is of great importance to Korean History of the Three Kingdom Period.