Gyeongju - the "Museum without Walls"

Gyeongju is, without doubt, one of the most spectacular places I have been to. I had little trouble seeing why it had been nicknamed the "Museum without walls". One can literally walk, in open air, through all the cultural and historical wonders at leisure. If one lives closeby, like I do, it is the perfect day trip in good weather. And most of the sites-to-see are within walking distance of each other.

On this particular Sunday, I was not in the best condition health-wise and I did not get to Gyeongju early enough in the morning. But I saw as much as possible in the time I was there, guided by some friends who live in the area. It was a delightful, cultural day in the sun...

Gyeongju was the capital of the Silla Kingdom, the longest surviving kingdom in the country, for nearly a thousand years (BC 57-935) and has a vast amount of historical and cultural heritage. UNESCO has designated Gyeongju as a World Heritage site (http://english.visitkorea.or.kr/). After visiting this fascinating place, this is hardly surprising and one can see why it is one of South Korea's biggest tourist attractions, even a millenium after the demise of the Silla dynasty.

According to the Korea's official tourism site, Gyeongju is the nation's most popular fieldtrip destination. (In fact, one of my schools' fieldtrip is to Gyeongju next week.) Ponds, tombs, mountains, temples, grottos, observatories and museums abound in this amazing place. It is also home to many of the greatest Buddhist treasures in Korea.

Cheonmachong Tomb (Tumuli Park) is home to ancient tombs of kings and noblemen of the Silla Dynasty. There are 23 tombs in total, the most famous being Cheonmachong and Hwangnamdaechong. Inside the tombs, relics can be seen from a time long past; remains, crowns and other gold accessories.

Gyeongju also boasts Cheomseongdae, the oldest existing atronomical observatory in Asia (http://english.visitkorea.or.kr/). According to the visitkorea site, it was originally designed to look to the stars as a means to forecast the weather. As one of Korea's national treasures, it is quite an impressive site up close.

What Gyeongju is most famous for amongst us foreigners, is the cherry blossoms in springtime. There is a definite window period to see the blossoms, however, as they last in Gyeonju for only two weeks. My trip to Gyeongju was at the end of the two weeks. Sadly, there was only one tree still cherry-blossoming in Tumuli Park. We certainly made the most of it by taking hundreds of pictures. The cherry blossoms at this time of year are absolutely beautiful.

So are the flowers in springtime, something Gyeongju certainly does not lack.

These particular flowers did not smell pleasant, hence the hilarity of the situation...

There are several places in Gyeongju to see some of the traditional Korean buildings and temples. The woodwork and designs of these buildings is something to behold.

Gyeongju "Museum" is certainly a place I will be visiting again, for its temples, a paddle around Bomun Lake and trip back a thousand years. Truly remarkable, I tell you.

The madness continues - April 15 to 17...

Once you realise that time flies in South Korea, you also come to realise that a year is not that long, actually, and that if you don't hurry up, you won't see everything you want to see before you leave the country. On the weekends, there is no time to rest or catch up with your writing and no time to stay at home and recover from a heavy week. There is exploration to be done and fun to be had and thus, the madness continues weekly; it's a cycle of non-stop movement, travel and happy exhaustion...

On April 15th, I planned to go and visit a friend, Bells, in Gyeongsan, about an hour and half by bus from Pohang city. From Heung-hae to Pohang, it is at least a 45 minute bus. So, all in all, the trip takes a good two hours. We had arranged to meet for supper and have an early night. Well, as Murphy is my dearest friend, my co-teachers decided to leave school an hour late. For most, this would be a minor setback in the evening's plans. For me, it was a giant hurdle, for I work in the mountains. This means:
- the carpool must drive back to Heung-hae (45 to 50 minutes depending on traffic),
- I must walk to my apartment from the drop-off location (approximately 15 minutes),
- I must collect and pack my belongings (10 minutes),
- I must walk to the bus stop (which I just passed on the way home) and wait for a bus to arrive (anywhere between 10 and 30 minutes),
- I must catch the bus to Heung-hae (45 minutes),
- I must buy a ticket for Gyeongsan and wait for the next bus to leave (average time for waiting + trip = 2 hours).
Therefore, total time travelling = minimum 4 hours = mission.

If I had got the right bus, I would have been there for supper at 20:30ish. Alas, I only got the 20:20 bus and only arrived in Gyeongsan at a mild 21:40. It ended up being quite a late supper, to say the least. Bells and I headed to the student area called Yeungnam, where the University is situated. Our "quiet supper" started very well; we went to a little bar/restaurant and ordered rice and pork and a pitcher of beer. As we were thinking of leaving, we started a conversation with a couple of young students to our left. They offered us a shot of a drink called Chong-ha, which is similar to Japanese saki (wine). Bells looked at me from across the table and said: "You know that if you accept that drink, we will never leave this place." And I said: "Oh no, rubbish. It's just one little drink." Well, the night did not end. We made friends with everyone in the establishment, I spoke every Korean word I have learnt since my February arrival. Our last stop was at a noraebang - a karaoke/singing room - with some of our new-found friends. It was a fantastic Korean experience, truly fantastic!

Saturday was difficult, to say the least. But we managed to wake rather early and head to Daegu. Gyeongsan is a relatively small place in Korean terms but it is also a semi-suburb of Daegu, a very large and happening city. Daegu is all lights and shopping, restaurants and tall buildings. I managed to purchase a desperately-needed sports cap and a handbag and we caught a bit of an outside concert for charity. The highlight was the finding of a little second-hand shop on the way to the subway. It was a lovely day, indeed.

In the late afternoon on Saturday, Bells and I took the bus to Pohang. It was the perfect time of day for a scenic trip through the rural areas; the light was soft and made the mountains and farming fields look movie-worthy. We listened to depressing love-loss, heart-break music and enjoyed the break in the madness.

After one hell of a good party, we woke up on Sunday for our trip to Gyeonju. Gyeonju is 30 to 40 minutes by bus from Pohang. This little place is full of absolute wonder. It isn't called the 'Outside Museum' for nothing. We had a glorious day, despite the aching headaches, in the sun and in the tombs and under the cherry blossoms and amongst the Spring flowers. A truly cultural experience for once...