Gorgeous Gyeongju

Tim and I had a three day weekend at the beginning of March, so we decided to head down to Gyeongju, the ancient capital of Korea.  We had heard amazing things about all of the beautiful history that could be seen there, so we wanted to see it for ourselves!  On Saturday afternoon, we took a four hour bus ride south to Gyeongju.  We wanted to take the KTX bullet train, which would have saved us an hour, but it was full due to the holiday weekend.  But the bus ended up being just fine!  We got to see the beautiful countryside pass us by out the window.  And the bus had TV's, so we got to watch the Olympics.  Since we felt some loyalty to Korea in the Olympics, it was fun to cheer along with the Koreans on the bus!

When we finally arrived in Gyeongju, Tim and I easily found our hotel, which was only a minute's walk from the bus station.  Then, we went out to take a walk around the city.  We walked through a huge outdoor market that was on the side of the road.  People were selling everything from clothes, socks, live fish, seaweed, rice noodles, etc.  Since we didn't want to partake in fish and seaweed for dinner, :) we found a Korean BBQ place that looked like a good place to eat.  It was!  It was also one of the restaurants where you take off your shoes at the door and sit on the floor.  Those are my favorite!  Being shoeless and sitting on the floor, while eating from a grill in the middle of your table is such a brilliant thing.  Also, the restaurant had a really cute atmosphere because it was family-owned.  So the owner's kids were running around, watching TV, and being just so adorable.  If you can't tell by now, we LOVE Korean kids!

The next day (Sunday), was our tour day!  Since we had already found out the night before that the tour buses were full, we decided to do everything on our own!  I think it was better that way, too!  The night before, we had planned out everything we wanted to see, and figured out how to get there.

Our first stop was the Bulguksa Temple, and it was gorgeous!  The temple was originally built in 774, and was a center of Buddhism and prayer.  The prayers offered here were commonly for protection from foreign invasion, which has been a very real threat all throughout Korea's history.  In fact, the temple was burned by Japanese invaders in 1593, and had to be restored in later years.

The temple has 33 steps, which symbolizes the 33 steps to enlightenment.

An interesting part of the temple was the Overflowing Shadow Bell Pavilion.  It is called this because its sounds "overflow the whole Universe like a shadow."  It was built imitating the shape of an imaginary mountain called Mt. Sumeru, which was considered to be the center of the world and 33 heavens, according to Buddhist legends.  Below is a picture of Tim in front of the Bell Pavilion.

This is the Buddha of Cosmic Light, which was inside of one of the temple's halls.

Tim is standing in front of these beautiful stacks of prayer rocks.  In Korea, rocks are thought to be very powerful.  Here, each rock represents someone's prayer.  They are stacked on top of each other because it is believed that placing a rock on another rock's surface makes it more likely for the prayer to be answered.  I thought it was gorgeous.

Below are pictures of us in front of important Buddhist pagodas.  The first is called Seokgatap and the second is called Dabotap.  They refer to the truth of Buddha's words, and also represent balance, as the first is simple, and the second is more complex.  Also a correlation to the people standing in front of them...?  Hmmm... :)

Simple.

Complex.

The temple was beautiful, and we enjoyed seeing the history and symbolism that was there.  We even saw a Buddhist service with monks worshipping.  It was really interesting to see.  While Christianity is a major religion here now, Buddhism is a big part of the history, and many people still practice it today.

Our next stop was the Seokguram Grotto.  It is famous for the majestic Buddha carved in granite that is located there.  To get there, we took a bus up a mountain, hiked a little ways, and waited in line for about 45 minutes.  It was definitely worth the wait.  The huge stone Buddha was breathtaking to see in person!    

                         

After the temple and the Grotto, we took the bus back to the main part of the city, and rented bikes!  We had fun exploring the historical sites this way, as many sites were close together.  It was a beautiful day, and many people were outside playing in the field, flying kites, and having picnics!  It was such a great atmosphere, and we loved all the things that we saw!

These mounds are tombs of Kings.  It's like the Korean's version of the pyramids, just much smaller. :)  We got to go inside one of them and see some of the artifacts that they had found in the tombs.

This is the Cheomseongdae Observatory, which was used for studying the stars.  There are 361 and a half stone slabs that make up this structure, which is equal to the number of days in a lunar year.  It's so beautiful and dainty-looking, I think.

And here I am riding my pink bike in front of the Observatory!  Tim kept laughing at me on that bike!

Here's Tim at the Seokbinggo Ice Storehouse, which is an ancient refrigerator.  

This is the Gyerim Forest.  There is a legend that says Al-ji Kim, who was the start of the very powerful Kim family, was born here in this forest.  The legend says that some people heard a rooster crowing in the forest, and then found a golden box hanging on a branch.  In it, so they say, was Al-ji Kim.  

My cute tour guide!

To end our day, we found our way to the Anapji Pond, where banquets and joyous celebrations were held.

We had such an amazing time in Gyeongju!  We loved all of the history and beauty that we were able to see.  I hope you enjoyed your Korean history lesson! :)