Found Missing Korea Pics

Early in 2007 I traveled to South Korea for a two-week work gig. Over the middle weekend I jumped on the train and headed south the Gyeongju, which was the ancient Silla capital for over a 1000 years (equivalent to Japan’s Kyoto). I took a lot of pictures over the weekend, but thought that I’d accidentally deleted them since. A few weeks ago my daughter’s screen saver was showing pics that were definitely from that trip; I’d uploaded the pics to my daughters account not mine. They weren’t lost! So here’s the story and some of the pics. All of the photo’s can be found here.

Day 1 – Around Bulguksa

I had a very early train that took many hours to travel down the Korean peninsula. I can’t recall when I arrived in Gyeongju, but I headed by bus down south to the hotel I was staying at near Bulguksa. I’d timed it nicely, it was cherry blossom time which was as pretty (and celebrated) as it is in Japan. As the bus approached the hotel, I could see the blossoms at their peak lining the road.

After check-in and a repack of my gear, I headed out on foot to the Bulguksa temple. Outside the temple complex was a grove of cherry trees in a park with heaps of people picnicking and playing. I took a few shots and then headed into the temple complex itself. The temple is typical of the Korean Buddhist temples, with lots of green, orange and red colours on the beams and roofs. The stonework is also very impressive. Unfortunately they were setting up for some sort of concert that evening so you had avoid roadies and huge lighting rigs. It made taking photo’s a bit of a challenge.

I wandered around for quite some time exploring and taking photo’s. The site is nestled at the foot of one of the local mountains and on this sunny warm day the mountain was a great backdrop. The site is quite large with many buildings spread over different levels. Being a weekend in the middle of the blossom season, it was very popular with tourists. A few times I thought I’d got an interesting shot just to see a head appearing through a doorway or just in the shot. Oh well, digital means not wasting frames.

From here I headed out of the complex and up the road/path leading to Seokguram Grotto on Mt Tohamsan. The path climbs up the mountain for a few klms before opening up on the ridge line with what looks to be the most impressive gazebo I’ve ever seen; all the style of a Korean temple, with benches overlooking the valley. This is the parking lot for those that didn’t walk up the hill. From here you meander around the ridge before reaching the grotto buildings. The grotto features a seated Buddha carved from stone behind glass. It’s pretty impressive but impossible to photograph. Outside the building housing the grotto were many paper lanterns suspended over the courtyard that made for some colourful photos. I returned back down the path, past the Bulguksa complex and back to my hotel for a few beers and dinner. All up I’d walked about 8klms for the day.

Day 2 – The long walk back into Gyeongju

Most people would jump on a bus and head back into town. Those that know me and how I travel wouldn’t be surprised of my plan to scale NamSan (the “South Mountain”) and then walk into town. So, early on the Sunday morning I got a cab to take me a few k’s to the east side of the base of the mountain to the Tongiljeong Unification Hall and nearby Seochulji Pond.

From there it was into the bush and up the, very steep, side of Mt NamSan. I didn’t feel so bad until I passed a group of local women, who would have been twice my age, looking like they were out for a Sunday stroll. At the top of the ridge there’s a viewing platform on the main north-south trail and a huge rocky outcrop to take in the scenery. Not far from here was an amazing stone monolith/statue on another rocky outcrop looking out towards Gyeongju to the north.

From here I could see a small copse of cherry trees nestled in a re-entrant. On heading down there I found an amazing little Buddhist temple hidden amongst the trees. There was a small house and the temple itself was the size of a carport. There was a monk constantly sweeping the falling blossom from the ground. I took a bit of a detour looking for some ruins marked on a map and then returned past the temple and down the west side of the mountain. There were many small burial mounds nestled in the trees.

Then it was out onto the main road and north into Gyeongju itself. The fields below the remnants of the Banwalseong Fortress were a sea of yellow, contrasting nicely with the pink/white of the cherry blossoms. Many locals were enjoying the park, with families in the fields, kids on bikes and horse and carriage rides, and even a couple on an old US Police Harley (perhaps and ex-Military Police bike).

This area contains many of the old burial tombs. To see inside them you need to go into Tumuli Park which has an excavated one that’s very interesting. From there is was a slow walk back to the station and off back to Seoul. I’d walked about 12 klms that day, up and over a mountain. I was worn out, but I didn’t want to leave the cherry blossoms, many of them like snow falling in the wind. It was a memorable trip.

More info

So here’s the key features and where I went on the weekend. The south-eastern section (lower right) was Saturday (Day1) and the other section was Sunday (Day2).

View Gyeongju Korea in a larger map

Further reading:

• Bulguksa Temple and Seokguram Grotto – Visit Korea website
• Bulguksa Temple and Seokguram Grotto – UNESCO website
• Bulguksa Temple and Seokguram Grotto – World Heritage website