Blogs from Gyeongju, Gyeongsangbuk-do, South Korea, Asia - page 2

I needed a trip out of Busan to relieve the cabin fever that had set in during December, so Deborah came with me one cold Saturday on a day trip to the small city of Gyeongju. We had the incredibly comfy bus again with the seats that almost recline into a bed. It looked like a very pretty town indeed, most buildings had traditional Korean roofs, even petrol stations! One thing we weren't prepared for though was the bitter cold - the wind cut right through us! Should remember that's it's always warmer in Busan! We hopped on a bus that would take us to Bulguksa (temple) - one of the main attractions of the area and one that was mentioned in my 5th graders English book - "Gyeongju has Bulguksa. Bulguksa has two towers. What ... read more

Leaving Seoul's Express terminal bus on a gloomy day, soon as I found where my bus is, found my seat, it was very comfortable so I passed out quickly and for the most of the 4 1/2 hour ride I was dead to the world. Jet lag and non stop nite out caught up with me, I remember the bus stopping for lunch but I could barely peel my eyes open so I skipped a feed, I felt like a train wreck, arriving at the bus terminal in Gyeongju I was the last out, I struggled to wake myself up, groggy and disoriented I paged through my rough guide, apparently there is a tourist info at the bus station, after minutes of searching for it, I gave up and asked the waiter in the cafe it's ... read more

Day 35 (Wed 10thOct) I moved on from Busan in the morning, after taking in Breakfast. Got the Subway to the nearest express bus terminal, bought my ticket which is very good value at just over £2 and got on the limousine bus. These buses are very comfortable with huge lazy-z-boy like chairs, nicer than some of the beds I’ve slept in. Takes 1 hour give or take to get to Gyeong-ju from Busan. Arrived and got checked into my hostel, possibly the first hostel I’ve found without getting lost, which was a bonus, although this place is a lot smaller than anywhere I’ve been so far. Took a walk out to see a royal tomb which is literally a huge grassy mound up a lane. It turns out there’s tombs everywhere here, just random grass ... read more

Fairly quiet day today (and no photos I'm afraid). I headed off (in the drizzle) for the Gyeongju National Museum, where all the treasures unearthed in the Silla tombs have been carted off to and displayed. For the most part, the excavation of the tombs didn't start until the 1970s (the first royal tomb was discovered when the "hill" was levelled in preparation for building works. Starting so late means that the excavation was highly organised and carefully documented at each stage. The National Museum is split into three buildings: the archeological building, which contains a collection of the most breath-taking artefacts from the various Silla royal tombs, the Buddhist art building and the Anapji building, which contains a selection of the artefacts recovered from the Anapji pond, which was the site of a Silla palace. ... read more

Before the oh-so-talked-of Joseon dynasty, there was the Silla ("Shilla") dynasty. A small collection of clans and peoples on Korea's South West coast that banded together and expanded between around 70 BC and 1000 AD. And their capital was Gyeongju. The (small) city was earmarked early on as culturally important in Korean history and has been carefully (one might almost say obsessively) kept very traditional. Former President, Park Chung-Hee (fun fact - assassinated father of the current Presidential candidate Park) used quite draconian measures - prescribing that there were to be no buildings above a certain height, imposing strict planning permission conditions and requiring all roof to be the traditional Korean tiled roof. This has meant that, while the city has remained highly traditional - and you can actually look around you to the mountains surrouding ... read more