More sights of Gyeongju

I decided to collect the rest of my trip to Gyeongju into one last post. We went to so many places for such a short amount of time that it's really not worth making individual posts about each one.

After climbing Namsan for 5 hours, we went to Tumuli Park. Here is the resting place of 23 Silla kings. Traditional Korean tombs for royalty always look like small rounded hills. They did not bury their kings underground. The tomb was placed inside of a wooden box, which was then covered by a huge mound of stones, then a mound of clay, then quite a bit of dirt. In Tumuli Park, there was one tomb which had been excavated and opened to the public. Though the actual tomb was not visible, a replica of how it looked when they first excavated in available for viewing. There are also many replicas of the various artifacts found in the tomb.

Me, with tombs in the background

Replica of the king's burial chamber.

If you want to see the actual artifacts found in the excavated tombs, you can then make your way over to the Gyeongju National Museam. My guide book says admission is 1000 won, but my admission was free because for some reason the museum is free and open to the public for a while. First thing you see when you enter is the Emille Bell. On the English description of this bell, it just tells that it is an important bell and that it is one of the largest and most resonant bells made in Asia. Personally, it doesn't look all that huge, but the English description left out the most important thing about this bell, the reason why it is so well known. Legend has it that when this bell was first made, it was a very poor quality bell. Then, someone had a vision and realized how to make it better. They needed to put a child into the molten metal in order to make the bell more resonant. The child that they found was named Emille. Now, whenever the bell is rung, the sound makes the sound of the boy's name, Emille... emille... emille....

Emille Bell

Evidently they have tested the bell to see if the story is true, but no traces of a human could be found in the bell. It's a fun story anyway. And one I've never seen on any English description. It's quite nice having someone around to translate and explain these things...

There were quite a few galleries to see inside the museum, but the one we enjoyed the most was the Buddhist art gallery.

Inside the Buddhist Gallery

Anapji Pond at night

After leaving the museum, we made a quick stop by Anapji Pond. This is the location of a pleasure garden constructed in 674. The pond here was actually completely man made. All the buildings burned in 935, so all that remains are the foundation stones (kind of a common theme in this city) and the pond which was restored in 1975. But, it's beautiful to see at night. They really know how to work the lighting just right.

Cheomseongdae

Sunday morning, we made a quick stop by Cheomseongdae. This is the oldest astrological observitory in Asia, so I guess it's worth seeing. Frankly, there's not much to do there, besides get the photo, so I wouldn't make this a priority on a trip if there are other things you want to see more than this. It's located in Wolseong Park, wich is another park with Kings tombs. Entrance to the park is free, but there's not much to see...

Gameunsa

Quite a far distance away, we found ourselves at Gameunsa. This is the remains of another temple where two pagodas still stand.

Sea tomb behind me...

Lastly, we checked out the Sea Tomb of King Munmu. There's not much to see here from the shore, but you're not allowed to go out to the rocks where the tomb is. It's the world's only underwater tomb. The king wanted to be buried at see so that his spirit could become a dragon to protect the country. His ashes were spread here. No one knows if the rock in the center of the islets is actually the tomb or not and people speculate that it is just a legend.

Temples of Gyeongju

The first temple we visited was Bulguksa, which is a very large temple a little far away from the downtown area where most of the big tourist sites are. This temple was founded in 751 AD during the reign of King Geyongdeok of the Silla kingdom. Much of the temple was destroyed during a Japanese invasion in 1593, because the temple was being used as a stronghold for Korean soldiers defending the area. Many artifacts remain though, and for this reason the temple is on the UNESCO World Cultural Heritage List. Some important features to see are the stone stairs (see above). These stairs are now closed for preservation, but one of the staircases has 33 stairs to represent the 33 stages to enlightenment.

Two other important historical artifacts of the temple are two pagodas that survived the Japanese attack, plus all the years of wear and tear. The names of the two pagodas are Seokgatap and Dabotap. Dabotap is the more ornate of the two pagodas. At the time that I went, it was under construction, but this is probably the most famous pagoda in Korea. If you live in Korea, you see this pagoda everyday, but you probably never realized it. If you're curious to see this pagoda, take out your wallet. Dabotap is featured on the back of the 10 won coin. The other pagoda, Seokgatap, pictured above, is a more typical style of Korean pagoda but is quite famous in Korea. Evidently when the temple was reconstructed in the 1970's they found some old documents and relics inside.

Here's a common sight at a temple. Place a stone onto a stone pile and make a wish.

The next temple we visited was Golgusa. This temple is about 3 km away from Bulguksa, but is much less crowded because there are no public buses that go to this area. This temple is quite interesting to see because of the Buddha carved into the rock face quite high up on a cliff. After climbing many stairs, and possibly scaling some rocks, you can climb right up to it. We found a monk praying at the top, tapping the empty gourd as you always see in Buddhist temples during meditation. I wasn't paying attention to what he was chanting at first, but Sanghyun pointed out that he was actually reciting names and addresses of donors to the temple. I guess this is like at our Catholic masses when each mass is dedicated to one or two families that pay some extra money.

Here is the Buddha, carved into the stone. As you can see, it is now protected by this small roof.

Monk praying for all the temple worshipers.

The last temple we visited was Girimsa. Though it is a big temple, there isn't too much to see here. If you're feeling you've seen too many temples in this country, it's probably not worth your time. It's a bit out of the way and no buses go up that way. But, there were a few interesting things to see. Here are the photos.

Namsan in Gyeongju

Namsan is a mountain area just a 5 minute drive from downtown Gyeongju. Not only is is a beautiful place to hike, but it is scattered with hundreds of Buddhist remains from the Silla period. I did only a short hike, but I still managed to see a lot. For those with better endurance than I, much more can be seen. This is a must see in Namsan. Enjoy the photos!

Jump shot from a nice view point near the top.

The first of many small shrines we found along the way.

A beautiful Buddha that has been restored

The tallest Buddha around...

Small hermitage midway up the mountain. Though the monks weren't chanting while we were there, they still played the mantras over a loudspeaker and you could hear them within a 500 m radius or so...
Carvings on the wall
Buddhist worshiper. She was right behind us most of the way up the mountain.

First post on Gyongju

I took lots of photos, but I'm off to Korean class right now. Just though I'd throw this photo from Namsan up here for your enjoyment....

Squirrel drinking yogurt drink... this is why all the signs say take your trash off the mountain!