Mt. Nangsan, Gyeongju
If you’re visiting the Gyeongju National Museum and happen to look east over the highway you might notice the outline of a hill on the far side of the train tracks. From the looks of it you wouldn’t guess this low ridge (often describe as looking like a silkworm) was in fact considered one of the most sacred mountains of the Shilla Dynasty. As such, it’s home to numerous ancient relics and features in a number of stories and legends from the Shilla Era. read more
Tongdosa Temple, South of Gyeongju
Not to become a broken record or anything, but most tourists just bounce down to Gyeongju for a long weekend, hit up the big tourist sites, and head home Sunday night. It’s a shame really. You can barely even scratch the surface of what Gyeonju has to offer in 2 days. To finally prove what I’ve been harping on so long, I’ve cooked up a 10 day itinerary for visitors to Gyeongju. That’s right: over a week and a half of things to see and do in the area. If you don’t have 10 days, feel free to pick and choose what suites your liking. But here are some ideas for exploring a deeper side of Gyeongju and Korea as a whole. read more
Bonghwangdae Tomb, Gyeongju
5. Neoseo-ri Tombs (너서리왕릉): Once surrounded by houses, the half dozen or so tombs of Noseo-ri have been cleared of buildings and made into oasis-like park in the midst of downtown Gyeongju. Just across the street from Bonghangdae tomb, this park is a great spot for tomb watching, an afternoon picnic or to just relax in the cool of a Summer’s evening. And, just like Bonghangdae, the Noseo-ri tombs are lit up a night. A stroll through here after dark when the leaves are changing in the Fall is positively spooky. read more
Shilla Tombs of Tumuli Park, Gyeongju
One of the things that make Gyeongju noticeably unique among Korean cities are all of the ancient Shilla hill tombs scattered about. Some of them are pretty darn impressive actually, as they range from one to two millennia old and most of them are at least a couple stories high. Not to mention there are over 150 of them around the area. Seen from above they look like mushrooms sprouting up all over the city after a rain. read more
Cherry Blossoms Spring 2010, Gyeongju
Over the last week or so the cherry blossoms (벚꽃) here in Gyeongju have just exploded. Hopefully,you got out to see them last weekend as we’ve been in for a bit of nasty weather lately. The temperature’s really dropped and we even had some snow mixed in with the rain tonight, which is not going to fair well for the cherry flowers. But if you’ve not seen them already, don’t give up just yet. They’ll probably hang on for a few more days, though I have my doubts how many will still be around for the Soju and Ddeok Festival this weekend. read more
Execution of Ichadon, Heungnyeungsa Temple
If you visit enough Buddhist temples here in Korea, you might come across some pretty gnarly scenes painted on the sides of these hollowed halls, such as the gothic tortures of the Hell Realms or the gruesome image of the 2nd Patriarch of Zen, or Seon (선) Buddhism, chopping off his left arm (but more on that fun stuff later).
Every so often you might see the macabre tableaux of the execution of the Korean Buddhist martyr Ichadon (이차돈). Although he wasn’t the first Buddhist to lose his head during the Shilla Dynasty, it was the legendary miracle of his execution that finally led to Buddhism’s official acceptance by the Shilla Kingdom. read more
Cherry Blossoms, Banwolseong Palace, Gyeongju
Since I’ve been on the topic of festivals lately, I thought I’d post on this one BEFORE it happened for a change. It’s not an official festival really, but with Spring looming on the horizon, we’re just a couple of weeks away from cherry blossom season. Gyeongju, along with Jinhae further south, is one of the best places to go in Korea to frolic amongst the fairyland wonder of the blossoming cherry trees. The problem is, everyone seems to know it. If you’re coming down for a visit to check out the blossoms, I highly suggest taking the train. Folks have been known to get stuck in traffic jams for hours. read more
King Munmu’s tomb (문무대왕릉)
With friends visiting for the New Year, we decided to make use of our new set of wheels and go exploring a bit. On New Year’s day we made the 45 min. trek over the mountains to Bonggil Beach (봉길해수욕장) on the East Sea, though were a bit too late to catch the sunrise, as is the custom for a lot of folks on New Year’s morning in Korea. It was sunny and warm (for January anyhow), so we had a lovely time bumming around on the beach by King Munmu’s tomb (문무대왕릉) . read more
Ancient Tombs of Geumcheokri (금척리 고분군)
One of the most distinctive things about Gyeongju are the ancient Shilla (신라) tombs scattered around town. Yeah, they’re pretty cool, but there are literally hundreds of them around here. After a couple a’ years, if you’ve seen one, you’ve seen ‘em all. At least that’s what I’d been thinking until I finally got out to the Geomcheokri tombs (금척리 고분군) a few weeks ago. I’ve got to say, they were pretty impressive.
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