We got three days for Lunar New Years (Chinese New Years to the rest of the world), so we hopped a bus to the city of Gyeongju (pronounced Kyung-Joo) in the southern part
of the peninsula. We had heard that this was one of the top tourist destinations in Korea outside of Seoul and Jeju island, so we had to check it out.
Like all of Korea, it's easy to get around Gyeongju on public transportation. We were able to go out into the country for an amazing hike up Namsan mountain (see future blog post), out to the coastal hills to Bulgoksa Temple, and north of town to a traditional village of houses that go back hundreds of years. In just three days we were able to visit three UNESCO World Heritage sites, eat great food, and have a fabulous time.
Gyeongju was the capital of the Silla Kingdom from 57 BC to 1000 AD, and is known as the "museum without walls," because of the tremendous number of ancient artifacts of various kinds that are found in the area. There are burial mounds of the kings, early Buddhist temples, royal palaces, and numerous statues and carvings. Many of these are plunked right in the middle of town - or rather the town was plunked on top of these. In fact, right outside our hotel window is a park filled with massive burial mounds - most of which have never been excavated.
There are hundreds of these burial mounds scattered all around the area, from downtown out into the countryside.
There are lovely parks with walking trails that meader through the tombs
This is the mound that was right outside our motel window. These mounds are about 50 feet high and consist of dirt piled on top of a stone burial chambers. There was only one that you could go into, but it was really cool. You could see where the body was found and all the fancy gold and jade artifacts that were buried witht he king (crown, sword, gold belt, etc.)
At the far the burial mound park is an ancient stone celestial observatory. It is built out of 365 stones, and its shape reflects the changing number of hours in a day throughout the year.
Okay, so we took their word for it and didn't count the stones. And no, it isn't a kiln or a chimney, its the oldest known observatory in asia.
Another Gyeongju attraction that was within walking distance of our hotel was Anapji Pond, built for king Munmu in 675. It was part of the palace gardens, and it filled in with sediment over the centuries. When archeologists dug it out, they found all kinds of items that had sunk to the bottom when courtesans capsized their boats. Even though there weren't any flowers to look at in early February, it was still quite beautiful.
Beautiful isn't it? That's ice on the right.
It was even more beautiful at night.
During the day this was just an island full of dormant plants, but at night is was simply magical.
The next morning we woke up, had breakfast at Paris Baguette (a popular bakery chain in Korea), and hopped on a bus to Namsan Mountain. The hike up Namsan was so amazing that it deserves it's own post, but it was a 5 mile loop hike that takes you the top of a mountain while leading you past numerous thousand year old Buddhist stone carvings.
One of many ancient carvings we passed along the way up Namsan Mountian
The next day we headed out to Bulgoksa Temple, considered to be the finest temple in Korea. It is especially famous for its stonework foundation and pagodas. Although is was beautiful, it was apparent from its gardens that it would be especially spectacular in the spring or fall. Even though we got there early, it was still quite crowded. I don't know if this is because it was Lunar New Year, or just because it is so important to the Korean people, but it was nice to see how they revered the place, and many came to pray (it is still an active place of worship).
Most Korean palaces and temples don't have much stonework, but this one sure does
An elaborate stone pagoda
Guardians painted on a doorway
No temple in Korea is complete without a big ass bell
I still don't know what the story is on the little cairns you see at Buddhist temples, but I really like them
On the mountain top above the temple there is a grotto that looks out at the Eastern Sea, and inside there is a spectacular carving of the Buddha that is considered to be one of the best in the world. Unfortunately you aren't allowed oto take pictures of it. It takes about 45 minutes to walk up to it, and then you are ushered past it single file. You get just a few moments to take it in, but its worth the walk. We found it touching how important the statue was to the Buddhist families who made the trek.
Later that day we headed north of town to see Yangdongmaeul village. We in a hurry to get there because we wanted to get there before it closed, so we skipped lunch, figuring that we would get it there. The problem is that this isn't a folk village where they have restaurants and put on shows of horsemanship and blacksmithing, this is just a very old village that didn't build new houses. It was like a Korean version of the colonial town of Beaufort where my parents lived. We were starving, and thank god we met a woman who sold traditional Korean beverages out of her house. She hooked us up with some sweet rice drink (like a pot of rice in sugar water), and a ginger cinamon drink. Not exactly filling, but it allowed us to enjoy the rest of the day. What we liked best about the village was the contrast between old and new.
Park the car, grab some Kim Chi and leave your shoes at the door
I wonder if they're watching Korean costume dramas
The thatching on the roofs was well engineered
Our visit to Gyeongju was quite memorable. We would highly recommend it to anyone coming to Korea. We plan to go again when it isn't winter so we can enjoy the gardens and parks.
Thanks for reading. We'll post another one soon
