Gyeongju

On our full day in Gyeongju, we visited a number of temples, beginning with Bulguksa. As a note to potential travellers: It is well worth it to wake up early in the morning and see some sights while other tourists are still clambering out of bed. When we visited, Bulguk Temple was practically bereft of visitors.

Though Bulguksa is another site destroyed by the Japanese (this particular conflict was the Japanese invasion of 1593), some objects of reverence escaped near-certain doom. Among them are two pagodas, one of which contained the world’s oldest woodblock print books, an almost seven-hundred-year-old sutra.

One of the Heavenly Kings, here training a dragon

The imposing bridge entrance of Bulguksa

The upper courtyard of Bulguksa

Lanterns with visitors' wishes

A lucky golden hog

A painting on the temple's exterior

The sutra-containing pagoda

An inner courtyard at Bulguksa

A centuries old Buddha who miraculously survived many disasters and invasions

A sea of lanterns

The entrance to Bulguksa's upper courtyard

The walls of Bulguksa

Bamboo of many colours

Black bamboo

Stacked stones at Bulguksa

An ornate gate at Bulguksa

The next temple we visited was Seokguram, an artificial grotto built into a hillside. Admittedly, the visit itself was a little underwhelming, as the giant stone buddha sits behind glass and can only be approached by worshippers. However, the construction of Seokguram (in the eighth century at that) is a marvel. As an artificial grotto, Seokguram relies on a structure of neatly fitting stone slabs locking together not just to form the walls, but also a perfect dome. The spaces between the rocks also make the structure very resistant to earthquakes.

The mountains around Seokguram

Siberian chipmunk

Seokguram from outside (pictures are not permitted inside)

From Seokguram, we headed to a nearby beach with a very peculiar sight: an underwater tomb. The Underwater Tomb of King Munmu is a rocky mound poking out of the sea at Yangbuk Village. King Munmu was the thirtieth king of the Silla Kingdom, but the first and only one who left orders to be buried at sea so that he could transform into a dragon and protect Korea after his death. Though many subsequent Japanese invasions reveal some deficiencies in his logic, the gesture, at any rate, is a most patriotic one.

The Underwater Tomb of King Munmu

On our way out, we stopped by the ruins of a temple adjoined by two stone pagodas. Afterwards, we ate lunch, which consisted of bibimbap. It was quite delicious and completely vegetarian. I learned that day that it was possible to survive in Korea as a vegetarian – and I have eaten many bibimbaps since.

Rice fields

A pagoda and a flowering tree

Another view of the pagoda

Yet another view of the pagoda

In the afternoon we saw Girimsa, another Buddhist temple, though quite different from Bulguksa and Seokguram. Girimsa is special in its very honest demeanour. Its warm wooden exterior strikes a weary visitor as refreshingly simple and inornate, barring some beautiful geometrically carved doors. Just a short hike away one can also set down a comfortable trail ending at a charming waterfall.

Returning to Gyeongju, we made a stop at Donggung Palace. The palace, which was built by the same King Munmu who let himself be buried underwater, was mostly used for leisurely purposes. True to his tastes, it came with a very nice pond.

The entrance to Girimsa

The wooden walls of Girimsa

A stone pagoda at Girimsa

The main temple at Girimsa

Buddhist statues

Observe the beautifully carved doors at Girimsa

Guanyin of a thousand eyes and a thousand arms

Another temple interior

A frog on the hiking trail

The waterfall

Lanterns above a bench

The entrance to Girimsa

A dog house

Donggung Palace

Beautiful wooden beams at Donggung Palace

Donggung Palace on the water

Donggung Palace reflected on the pond

Our last destination of the day was the grassy exterior of Gyeongju. We visited Cheomseongdae, an ancient observatory tower in the middle of Gyeongju’s famous hillock-like graves. Made of stone, it resisted the Mongol invasions and the conflagration to which many other buildings in the area succumbed. We also paid a visit to the ruins of a very important pagoda, of which only the stone foundations remain. The 64 pillar bases are a good indication of just how giant this pagoda was.