RF given the time of year the last few hotels have air conditioning set to ‘heat’ options only with lowest temp at 24degrees. Too hot to sleep! So it’s A/c off and windows/balcony doors open. Phew!
We drove past a cool building in a park created and used for several expos. Alex stopped for us to take pics. The site has hosted several expos evidently and the building is only a tourist attraction.
Then to a place Alex says is not on our agenda – he brings guests he thinks will be interested. A small private museum – Silla Arts and Science Museum.
It was full of replicas of relics, info on their early astronomy and local architecture. Also outlined that the Koreans were printing books 70 years before the German Johan Gutenberg invented the printing press. It also showed the building techniques for the Seokguram temple we were about to visit. The stone rivets holding the curved ceiling of the grotto around Buddha is engineering at its best.
I purchased some rubbings from stone roof tiles and other decorative stonework. It was helpful to understand more about the Silla dynasty.
Onto Gyeongju National Park up Tohamsan mountain to Seokguram temple, the site of a Buddha carved into the rock, which then had a grotto built from stone around it.
All very complex and cleverly done.
The grotto is shaped by hundreds of different granite stones. No mortar was used in its construction; the structure is held together by stone rivets.
No photos allowed so pinched from Wikipedia.
The position of the Buddha’s hands symbolizes enlightenment. (Right hand on knee left in lap).
This temple is a secondary temple. Next stop is Bulguksa temple which is headquarters for Buddhism in this area.
Sooo many people – we ditched it to have Bibimbap for lunch and to come back later in the day for Temple and Cherry blossom.
Bibimbap is a Korean rice dish with gochujang and mixed vegetables, is a very popular dish around the world. Also, kimbap is a Korean dish made from steamed white rice (bap) and various other ingredients, rolled in gim (sheets of dried seaweed.) The restaurant was called Wild Vegetable Bimimbap. This was Suzie’s fave so far. It grew on me, was nice to have some veg and a bowl of your own food.
RF. Alex says I need to tell you all that Koreans eat everything (I think we are a bit fussy for him)
The dogs here are so pampered and taken everywhere- clothing, groomed perfectly, lots are carried especially in Seoul. Here they are a walking around a bit more.
We visited the site of the Yellow Temple destroyed – Hwangnyongsa – by the Mongolians in 1238 during the Goyrea dynasty after the Shills dynasty. There was nothing to see except a lawn area. But they aim to reconstruct sometime in the future.
RF. Population of Gyeongju is 240, 000.
Suzie shouted us a taste of Gyeonju Bread made from barley with red bean paste. Sort of like two dark coloured pikelets stuck together with bean paste. Very nice snack.
We saw a range of hillocks in the park – which are old tombs. Daenuengwon Tombs. Some have evidently been raided or opened. The biggest one is two – containing twins I think – which they are yet to open.
Cheonmachong tomb is part of the Daeneungwon Ancient Tomb Complex. It is presumed to date to around the year 500 and belong to a close relative of the king of the Silla kingdom (57 BCE-935 CE).
The name Cheonmachong means”Tomb of the Heavenly Horse,” as a birchbark saddle flap painted with a depiction of a heavenly horse was found inside the tomb when it was excavated in 1973.
A gold crown was also discovered in the tomb, which was the first gold crown discovered since the Japanese colonial period (1910-1945). Over 11,500 precious artifacts were excavated from the tomb, including gold handicrafts and glass bowls. Among these, two more saddle flaps with a depiction of a heavenly horse were identified: one made of bamboo with gilt-bronze ornamentation and one made of wooden lacquer.
The tomb is a wooden chamber tomb with stone mound. A wooden chamber was built above ground, then covered with stones, and then covered again with soil to create an earthen mound. This tomb has been renovated to allow us to enter inside, and replicas of the key burial goods are exhibited in the tomb.
The Gyeonju National Museum housed the actual relics from the tomb’s archaeological dig. Unfortunately for us that section of the museum was closed for four days, while they were doing some sort of photography.
We had a look around at other information relating to the Shilla dynasty and a fair bit of Buddha too.
We found a relic stone roof decoration that Suzie has been trying to find out the significance of since we saw huge gold ones on the bridge at entry to city. We are seeing this different roof tile on lots of the buildings here. Alex didn’t know the significance. However he took us upstairs to see an original one in the gallery. It was massive and made of stone about 175cm tall, in two pieces. Somehow they got these onto to the points of wooden houses. Amazing engineering again.
Then there was more Buddha and a film about the Shilla period and casting the temple bells and more.
By now it was 4:30 and we raced back to Bulguksa temple, another UNESCO site, to see it before it closes.
Construction of Bulguksa Temple is said to have been started by Prime Minister Kim Daeseong under King Gyeongdeok of Silla in 751, and was completed by the government after his death. Most of the buildings were burned down during the Japanese invasions. The current temple was finished after years of excavations and renovations.
There are two pagodas in the grounds – Dabotap and Seokgatap. Some components of the site have been value designated as National Treasures.
Then it was another opportunity for the cherry blossom with the hoards and back to the hotel for a break before dinner.
Alex picked us up at 7:30 and took us to Korean Chinese. He preordered as we were almost too late for service in a smaller town. Alex had rung and been told it was too late. He phoned the owner and gently complained and they let us come. It was a nice meal. A shrimp fried rice with a black bean sauce. Fried pork with a sticky soy sauce. Some noodles in a black bean sauce and some Soju and Balloon flower and Pear tea. A very nice meal for about $11 bucks each.
Home to pack up and phaff around.
Travel adventures with Nicola & co. 