These three college "boys" came and stayed with us for a few days while they were visting Korea. One of them is the youngest son of my college roommate. (How it happened that he got old enough to be a college boy while his mother and I are still so youg I don't know - that will require some thought!) It was a delight to share in their enthusiasm for their adventure. It reminded me that I have not delivered the promised post from our trip to Gyeongju in March. So - here it is!
Gyeongju is south and east of us. To get there, we took the KTX, Korea's version of a bullet train. It is fast! This is a picture of the scenery flashing by as we speed along at about 200 mph!
Gyeongju (sometimes spelled Kyongju) is an important historical site for Korea. It was the seat of the Silla dynasty, which unified Korea and ruled peaceably for about 1000 years. It has many well-preserved sites, including several UNESCO world heritage sites. This picture is a reconstuction of one of the palaces, which included a lovely garden and pond.
This bronze temple bell is known as the Divine Bell of King Seongdeok. It is the largest of its kind in the Orient, cast in 771 AD. It is over 12 feet in height and wieghs 18.9 tons.
One of the places we went was a living history theme park. It had areas dedicated to traditional crafts and lifestyles during the Silla dynasty. This gathering of pottery people greeted us as we went to the ceramic village.
Here, Layden is dying a silk handkechief using traditional plant dyes. I think he looked pretty cute in his flowered apron!
We were treated to a martial arts demonstration, which included horseback riders. I had not really thought of Korea as having a horse culture (these are the first - and only - horses I have seen here) but they were important, especially to the military.
Puppet show - all in Korean. It was really charming. Something about a commoner who falls in love with the princess, who gets changed into a tiger so she can be with him. At least that is the best we could figure out. We enjoyed it anyway - we don't let the language barrier keep us from enjoying as much as we can.
Korea often has odd surprises and unusual things, like this, for instance. It is the Men's Room - large ceramic fixtures behind a thatched fence. Hmmm - well - I guess they work ok. And no one can say they are so poor that they don't have a pot to.... well, you know...
More Korean ingenuity. The vendors on this steep path to Bulguksa Temple solve the problem of a slanted cooktop by putting rocks and a tire underneath one corner. I love the upholstered chair - quite fancy.
Bulguksa Temple. This beautiful temple complex is a UNESCO world heritage site. It was originally built in 528, and has been added to and reconstructed numerous times in its history.
I am standing in front of a big wooden clapper, designed as a sort of dragon fish with a pearl in its mouth. It is about 250 years old. Gongs and clappers are used to remind the fauthful to pay attention and remain aware and mindful.
Rooflines of the temple. These are endlessly complex and fascinating.
This is the view from the shrine to the Buddha at Seokguram grotto. We are high up - if it werent a hazy day you could see for miles... The grotto contains a very famous and beautiful statue of the Buddha in a unique cone-shaped shrine. We hiked along a trail and then climbed a (seemingly endless) series of steep, uneven stone steps. I REALLY wanted to see this. I was, I must say, rather disappointed we were not allowed in to the actual grotto. We had to view Buddha through two sheets of protective glass, and no photographs allowed. None of this disturbed the Buddha, who remained serene and lovely and very impressive during the 4 minutes we were allowed to view him. Here he is, in a commercial photo:
He is really rather splendid - worthy of the UNESCO desgination and worth the hike.
It isn't only ancient history that is interesting here. Look at this TINY car!
Korea has a lot of very beautiful birds; many of them I have not seen before. In the mountains near the temple and grotto, there were a lot of these, which is, I think, one of the many varieties of wagtails. But I am not sure - if you know more than I do, speak up!
There is a lot to do in this interesting part of Korea. If you want to see more pictures and learn more about Gyeongju, here is a link:
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