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Gyeongju

The Lost Wanderer Itinerary Series

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June 2012

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ITINERARY TABLE

Annyeong Haseyo! ....................................................................... 5

Depart! .......................................................................................... 6

First Impression ............................................................................ 8

Gyeongju vs Kyoto ....................................................................... 9

Daereungwon / Tumuli Park ....................................................... 10

Temple Stay at Golgulsa ............................................................. 13

World Culture Expo Park ........................................................... 30

Silla Millennium Park .................................................................. 35

Accommodation ......................................................................... 38

Bulguksa ...................................................................................... 41

Seokguram ................................................................................. 44

Yangdong Folk Village ............................................................... 47

National Museum ....................................................................... 50

Banwolseong .............................................................................. 53

Cheomseongdae Observatory .................................................. 54

Local Foods................................................................................. 55

Donggung Palace and Anapji Pond ........................................... 57

Namsan Mountain ...................................................................... 58

Poseokjeong ................................................................................ 61

Najeong Well .............................................................................. 62

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Bunhwangsa ............................................................................... 64

Hwangnyongsa .......................................................................... 66

Back to Seoul .............................................................................. 69

Recommendation ...................................................................... 70

Day Time Activity

Day 1 Morning Go to Gyeongju from Seoul

Noon Arrive in Gyeongju

Daereungwon / Tumuli Park

Afternoon Temple Stay 1 Night at Golgulsa

Day 2 Afternoon Checkout from Golgulsa

World Culture Expo Park

Silla Millennium Park

Evening Check into Nahbi Guesthouse

Day 3 Morning Bulguksa

Seokguram

Afternoon Yangdong Folk Village

National Museum

Banwolseong

Cheomseongdae Observatory

Evening Donggung Palace and Wolji Pond

Day 4 Morning Namsan Mountain

Afternoon Poseokjeong

Najeong Well

Bunhwangsa

Hwangnyongsa

Back to Seoul

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Annyeong Haseyo!

With a little preparation, today I was off to Gyeongju by myself for 4

days carrying 1 backpack only. At that time I was staying in Seoul,

South Korea. Many people asked me, “Where is Gyeongju? What to

see there?” Maybe it is not as popular as Busan or Jeju, but if you

love cultural places like me then you should really visit this city.

Gyeongju in the old days was named Seorabeol, a capital city of Silla

Kingdom. Silla was one of the Three Kingdoms which ruled Korea

Peninsula (both North and South) in 57 BC – 935 AD, together with

Goguryeo and Baekje. Later Silla conquered the other 2 kingdoms to

become Unified Silla.

Now we can see ruins, tombs, temples of Silla Kingdom around

modern Gyeongju city. This trip is a cultural heritage visit to Silla

Kingdom!

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Depart!

There were 3 ways to go to Gyeongju from Seoul by public

transportation.

1. Bus from Express Bus Terminal (Exit 1 of Subway Line 3 Express

Bus Terminal Station) or Dongseoul Bus Terminal (Exit 2 of

Subway Line 2 Gangbyeon Station) to Gyeongju Bus Terminal.

Duration: around 4 hours. Frequency: every 30-40 minutes. Price:

₩19500 – 29000. Bus ticket fare depends on the bus condition.

From Seoul to Gyeongju I got a luxury bus with 3 seats/row, new

condition and more space, which cost me ₩29,000. On my way

back from Gyeongju to Seoul, I got a ₩19,500 bus with 4 seats

per row.

2. Train Express (KTX) from Seoul Station (Exit 1 of Subway Line 1

and 4 Seoul Station) to Sin-gyeongju Station. Duration: around 2

hours. Price: ₩47000. Sin-gyeongju Station is not the same with

Gyeongju Station! They are quite far from each other.

3. Commuter/normal train from Seoul Station to Gyeongju Station.

Duration: around 5 hours. Price: around ₩20000.

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I chose the first option, because it was cheaper than the second

option, but faster than the third one. I departed from Express Bus

Terminal, because it’s closer to my place. See below Seoul Subway

map: 21 minutes 6 stations vs 31 minutes 14 stations.

D = Departure

T = Transit

A = Arrival

This was the bus I took, quite fancy, right? I departed Seoul at 8:10 in

the morning (on time!) and arrived in Gyeongju around 12 at noon.

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First Impression

Soon when the bus arrived in Gyeongju toll gate, we were welcomed

by a nice old Korean style gate. Apparently every corner of the city

was designed with old stuff. Bus stops were shaped like Hanok

(Korean Traditional House). Temples, tombs, stupas/pagodas,

Buddha statues were seen everywhere. Every corner of the city had a

story. I was about to die of excitement. Gyeongju city did really have

one unique character and I fell in love with this city directly.

A Billboard in the city: Gyeongju, the ancient millennial capital of Silla

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Gyeongju vs Kyoto

Arrived in Gyeongju Express Bus Terminal, first thing to do was

entering Tourist Information Center (TIC), since it’s located just

beside bus terminal. I don't know why, it's already a habit to visit TIC

before starting the journey even though I already noted and knew

where and how to go to places. There's always something to ask and

something new to discover in Tourist Information Center.

Like this time, when I entered TIC, which was located just beside bus

terminal, a friendly old guy inside looked at me and directly talked to

me, even before the staff greeted me. "Indonesian?" Whoa, how does

he know? I hadn’t spoken anything yet.

He was a Japanese traveler who lived in Indonesia sometimes ago for

few years, so perhaps he was familiar with faces like mine. He said he

wrote for Lonely Planet before, and had traveled to many places

around the world. From the way he talked, I could tell that he was

not bluffing.

Then we talked about how different Japan and Korea in terms of

tourism sites. By chance, I had just been to Japan 2 weeks before my

trip to Gyeongju, so I knew exactly what he was trying to say. This

Gyeongju city of Korea is like Kyoto in Japan, full of historical and

cultural things. Kyoto has many beautiful temples and gardens, but it

is really commercial. There is no place without entrance fee. While in

Gyeongju, we could find some free good places to visit, for example

(the ones that the man recommended to me): National Museum and

Yangdong Folk Village. I directly noted them in my “To Visit List”.

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Daereungwon / Tumuli Park

My first stop in the city was Daereungwon, because it is the closest

tourist spot to Gyeongju Express Bus Terminal, just 10 minutes

walking distance.

Daereungwon, or also called Tumuli Park, is a beautiful park full of

hills. They are not normal hills; they are tombs of Kings, Queens and

other members of royal family. With ₩1500 ticket, I got inside this

complex with 23 magnificent tombs!

The most famous tomb inside Daereungwon is Cheonmachong,

means Heavenly Horse Tomb. The name comes from the horse

painting discovered during the tomb’s excavation. We could go

inside this tomb and see the coffin, materials and treasures buried in

this tomb, such as gold crown and gold girdle, both with jade

comma-shaped beads (Gogok) which was the style of Silla Kingdom.

Gold crown found means the tomb was belonged to a King.

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The other famous tomb in this complex was Hwangnam Daechong,

which contained of 2 tombs: a King buried in the South Mound and

his Queen buried under the North Mound.

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Other than seeing the tombs, you can just walk around enjoying this

beautiful park. It was all green during summer. I wonder how it

would be like in other seasons.

I ate my packed lunch Tuna Kimbab here which I brought from Seoul,

before heading to the next place. Kimbab is a Korean dish made of

steamed white rice wrapped by seaweed and filled up with various

ingredients like cucumber, carrot, radish, egg, tuna, beef and fish

cake. It is often eaten during picnic, traveling and outdoor events,

because it is really practical, easy, fast, convenient and quite stuffed.

Most bus terminals in Korea have a food stall selling Kimbab.

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Temple Stay at Golgulsa

When I searched about Gyeongju in internet before I went there, I

found many articles suggesting Temple Stay in Golgulsa Temple in

Gyeongju. Temple Stay is a program of staying at least 1 night in a

Buddhist temple. The purpose of Temple Stay is not only to learn and

practice Buddhism, but also to have cultural experience and to find

inner peace. I had been interested to try Temple Stay in Korea for

that last reason. So, Temple Stay in Golgulsa, why not?

I called Golgulsa Temple the day before asking for reservation. Ideally

we should reserve the place at least 2 days before, but it was a

sudden decision, and luckily there were many free spots, so no

problem at all.

The appointment was to arrive there before 3pm. After sightseeing

for a while in Daereungwon, I walked back to around Gyeongju

Express Bus Terminal. Based on the information in the internet, and

the direction from TIC staff, I took bus number 100 from the bus stop

across the street from Express Bus Terminal. I paid ₩2000 in cash,

because that was what they said in the internet, and the bus driver

seemed not complaining about it, so I took my seat.

After about 40 minutes ride, with beautiful scenery of mountains and

rivers (no wonder Silla chose this place as their capital city!), I sensed

that my stop would reach soon, so I got up and told the driver about

my destination: Golgulsa.

The nearest bus stop to Golgulsa was named Andong Samgeori

(Andong Intersection). So either you listen carefully the

announcement in the bus, or just tell the driver about your

destination easily like what I did. It was the nearest stop, but not

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really near the temple. I had to walk, under the hot summer sun, for

about 1 km. There were signs of Golgulsa along the path walks, so I

just needed to follow them. Along the street, there were many

industrial factories that were not really nice to see. I was praying that

the temple was not located near any of these factories. If it was, then

my imagination about a peaceful Temple Stay was ruined.

What, another 3km?! No, another temple called Girimsa was another

3km, but Golgulsa was here onto the left. Apparently there was free

performance of Sunmudo twice daily in Golgulsa at 11 AM and 3 PM.

Just about the time! Wait, perhaps they asked me to come before 3

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PM to watch this performance also. Golgulsa was indeed famous for

its Martial Arts called Sunmudo. Many people came to this temple to

learn it.

After filling the form, paying ₩50,000,

and completing the administrative

stuff, I was then given a room key,

temple uniform, nametag and a

guidebook. The normal room was for

2 people. When the temple was

packed, we should share it with other

participant. But this time I got the

room for myself. Not sure I should be

excited or scared sleeping alone here.

I read the guidebook and my agenda

during this 1 Night Temple Stay would

be like this:

First Day

15:00: Sunmudo Demonstration

17:50: Dinner

18:40: Orientation on Buddhist chanting and meditation

19:00: Evening Chanting

19:30: Sunmudo Training (60 mins)

22:00: Lights out

Second Day

04:00: Wake up

04:30: Morning Chanting

05:00: Sitting and Walking Meditation (30 minutes each)

06:30: Breakfast

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08:30: Sunmudo Training (90 mins)

10:10: Teatime

11:00: Sunmudo Demonstration

11:50: lunch

After changing my clothes to temple uniform, which was one of the

guidelines there, I then went to the main hall where they had

Sunmudo performance. Sunmudo/Seonmudo (선선도) is a Korean

Buddhist martial art which practices Zen as a way of dynamic

meditation. The goal of this practice is harmonization of mind and

body united with breathing. It originates from ancient Silla Kingdom

when Monks were protecting and retreating troops and soldiers. This

martial art was neglected in 19th century. But today Sunmudo has

been popularized again, with Golgulsa as the center place to practice

Sunmudo in Korea. Therefore, this makes the Temple Stay in Golgulsa

unique from other temples.

Apparently not so many people watching the performance at that

time, only 3 people: me and 2 other Temple Stay participants. The

performers were… foreigner couple, wow! They were Theo and Sara

from France. They had been practiced Sunmudo and lived in Golgulsa

for a year. Not really inside Golgulsa complex, but they were given an

accommodation in the neighborhood across the river, just walking

distance from Golgulsa. They were actually paid for this: learning,

teaching and performing Sunmudo to public. They really enjoyed it.

They said morning performance was usually more crowded with

tourists.

Sunmudo movements are full with jumping, flying and high kicks, and

some acrobatic shows, which in the old days was used for fighting.

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Sara was performing Sunmudo

Look at the view of mountains and trees from up here! Golgulsa was

located on natural Hamwol Mountain, therefore walking from one

building to another building could take a long hike (and breath

sometimes). The guesthouse building was located behind

administration building, the first building seen from the front gate.

While the main hall where Sunmudo performance held in was located

up the hill; the furthest building in this complex. Several other

buildings in this temple complex were: dining hall, dormitory, school

and training hall. Dormitory building was used for participants who

take long temple stay like 1 month, while the guesthouse building

where I was staying was for participants who take shorter term like 1-

2 days.

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Dormitory

There were about 1 hour left from dinner time, I then walked and just

sat around the main building. Because this area was located on the

most top of the complex, we could see a lot of things from here;

such a perfect place for meditation.

The main hall

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The main hall again from other view

"The road to a mountain always leads to the temple;

The road to the temple eventually merges with the road to nature.

Leave all worldly sufferings behind,

Let nature breathe into you.

Reflect on yourself;

It is time for meditation and moderation.

It is a healing process invoked by seeing yourself, bared in the midst of

nature and made aware to every passing moment."

(Quote from Korea Temple Stay Program)

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Golgulsa means rock cave

temple. In this temple,

there are 12 caves carved

into the mountain with

narrow and steep cliffs.

On top of it all, about 4

meters high, a Giant

Buddha was seated and

carved into the rock. The

lower part of the seated

Buddha had weathered

away, perhaps due to

being exposed to the

wind and rain for

thousands years, but the

upper part was still in

good condition. A glass

rooftop was created above the rock face to prevent any more

damages.

According to the legend, around 9th century during Silla Kingdom, a

Buddhist monk from India came to this area and settled here. He

found this area was suitable to build a cave temple like in his

hometown. This is the only cave temple in Korea, while other

countries, like China and India, have many.

Another cultural asset in this temple is Oryuntap. It is a common five

rings Buddhist pagoda which represents five elements in the world.

The cube shape in the bottom represents the Earth. The sphere

shape above it is the Water. The third shape was pyramid represents

the Fire. The fourth one was in half moon shape represents the Air,

and the top was a gem/jewel shape represents the Space or Void.

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Avalokitesvara Cave, one of 12 caves carved into the rock cliff

Oryuntap (Five Rings Pagoda, Buddha’s Relic Stupa)

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At 05.30pm, a gong buzzed as the sign of dinner time, yay! I went to

the dining hall and started to queue for the foods. Since it’s a

Buddhist temple, all foods were vegetation. We could take the foods

as much as we want, but there was one temple rule stated we need

to finish them all or else we had to clean all the dishes. Maybe

cleaning the dishes is nothing, but not the humiliation. So I carefully

took my foods and finished them all. There were about 20 people

having dinner, 5 of them were foreigners. These were all people

staying in the temple, either 1 year, 1 month, 2 nights or only 1 night

like me.

After having dinner, I followed the crowd to the training hall where

they held evening Buddhist chanting and Sunmudo training.

Suddenly more people joined, mostly teenagers. These teenagers

were from the neighborhood, not staying inside the temple, but

visited the temple for Sunmudo training regularly.

First 30 minutes was Buddhist chant. Each of us was given a book

filled with chanting scripts which some of them had the

Romanization part for Foreigners like me. After that, Sunmudo

training was started. I think this evening training was basic and no

different than any other work-out session. We didn’t learn any

Sunmudo kicks or flies. There was warming up session in the

beginning (still inside the hall), then running to uphill where the main

hall was located. As you could see from the pictures of main hall

above, it was surrounded by a lot of stairs. We were told to climb the

stairs by crawling on hands and tiptoes. Even worse, the master then

told us to crawl and climb backward. I soon got dizzy and gave up.

After this evening sport around 9pm, we called it a night and were

back to our room. I took a shower and soon fell asleep even before

the nights off at 10pm. I already set my alarm for 3.45AM. There was

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another temple rule saying that we should wake up at 4AM and go to

main hall for Morning Chanting. If someone missed this or came late,

he/she should bow to Buddha for 3000 times and would not be

allowed to have breakfast. Whoa, better not be late!

The next day, I successfully woke up before 4AM and got ready. Tock,

tock, tock… a sound of mallet hit a wooden ball heard from afar as a

sign of wake up time. I wonder if I could wake up to that soft sound

only without my mobile phone alarm. I went out from my room and

rushed uphill to the main hall in a complete darkness with big scary

trees surrounding me alone. I did not hear any people walking in

front of me, but soon I heard some people walking and chatting far

behind me. I then slowed my walks so I could be walking near them.

Climbing up this path in the darkness of 4AM is scary

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During the walks, I was thinking how I was easy to get up in this early

morning to do morning chanting. Was it because the excitement of

this new experience? Was it because I was the outsider who felt

guilty and not respect them if I came late? Was it because I was

scared with the punishment? In my own religion, I also had an early

morning pray (Sholat Subuh), but I often woke up late and missed it.

This really made me reflect my habit to respect my own belief like I

respect other religions. I hoped from that day I could wake up early

more often and did my morning pray (instead of chanting) excitedly.

In the main hall, some monks already started the preparation for this

morning chanting. Like yesterday chanting, I was also given the script

book in English. We sat on the cushioned floor and started chanting

with a beautiful rhythm accompanying by the tock tock wooden

sound. After chanting, we had sitting meditation. I thought this was

almost the same with praying in my religion. During praying we

should be focused and not thinking elsewhere.

I felt peaceful in the beginning, but after few minutes my feet started

to cramp. I moved my hips to sit on one foot to another, not being

used to sit in that position for long time. My stomach was also

started to sing, made me not focus on my meditation. At that time, I

wished it was finished soon because of the embarrassment caused

by my loud hungry stomach haha.

After that, we had walking meditation. I like this one. Outside the

main hall, when the sun was rising, we lined up about 2 meters from

each other. We then started walking down slowly. The morning air

and breeze were really refreshing.

The gong sounded as a sign of breakfast time. This time I was so

hungry and ended up taking a lot of foods without consciousness. I

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thought I could finish them all, but no. Many people already finished

and went out of dining hall, but I was still struggling with my foods.

Fortunately there was a Korean girl besides me who was aware of my

problem. She offered to eat some foods on my plate. Even though

she could not eat much, but it was really helping. I hope I would

never take too much and waste foods anymore.

From dining hall, we gathered in Training Hall for Sunmudo training.

This time it got less people because the neighborhood teenagers did

not join. The masters suddenly decided to have the training outside,

yay! We all could fit in one 8-seated car. They drove us to a nearby

beach called Bonggil beach which turned out to be the home of King

Munmu’s Underwater Tomb (문문문문릉).

King Munmu is the 30th ruler of Silla Kingdom who unified the three

kingdoms (Silla, Goguryeo and Baekje). He ordered to be buried in

the East Sea after his death so that he would become a dragon and

protect Silla from Japanese intruders. The tomb is formed as a rocky

island, not far from the land. It’s said that the remains of King

Munmu’s cremated body are buried under this rock.

King Munmu’s Underwater Tomb

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Our Instructor Theo

With this amazing view, we practiced Sunmudo that morning:

jogging barefoot on the pebbled beach (aw!) and learning some

Sunmudo movements and kicks (finally!). In the end, most of us

neglected the training and just walked around enjoying the beach. It

was summer but trust me, the sea water was very cold!

Me and other participants of Temple Stay

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Then we went

back to the

temple, and had

tea time with

the temple

master. In this

session, we

gathered circle

in one small

room facing the

master. He

made hot green

tea in a big bowl,

pour the tea to

several tea cups,

and pass them

to all of us.

While enjoying

the tea, he

talked about

the temple,

Buddha, Sunmudo, and many other things, mostly in Korean but

sometimes in good English. I remember he said that one night is not

enough to experience the temple culture. He said that in general to

all of us but I knew he specifically talked to me, because I was the

only one in that audience who joined the temple stay for one night

only haha.

It was almost 11AM, some people started preparation for Sunmudo

performance, and the rest were scattered around. It was a free time

anyway. I saw few buses and tourists were around the temple at that

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time, perhaps to watch the performance. Yesterday afternoon

performance that I watched was too simple, maybe because of lack

of audience. This time it should be better and nicer.

I and a Korean teenage girl walked up together to main hall slowly,

planning to watch the performance also. But on the way up, we met

an old lady, perhaps from the neighborhood, selling some kind of

berry fruits. It looked delicious and not so expensive, so we bought 2

packs of them. We then decided to skip the performance, and sat on

a garden between dining hall and dormitory while talking and eating

these fruits. The dormitory was used by people who are staying

inside the temple for quite long time, such as this Korean student I

befriended who was staying here during her school summer break.

While for guests like me who was staying only few days stayed in the

guesthouse in the front part of this temple complex, near

administrative office and main gate.

Yummy Berries

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The girl went to her room for a moment to take her diary and

showed it to me. What, showing me her secret diary?! Apparently she

had been practicing English, and written down her daily experience in

this temple using English. She asked me to review her written English

in that diary. Of course I did it with pleasure. I read it and found the

stories inside was not that secret. Even with few mistakes, I could

understand the list of activities she did in this temple and the result

she hoped to get by doing this Temple Stay.

Her family sometimes visited her on the weekend. She was allowed

to go outside the temple one day a week during weekend, and she

used it for eating meats haha. It was ok as long the meats were not

brought inside temple.

At 12PM, the gong signed of lunch time sounded. We went inside

dining hall to have lunch. This time I made sure I did not take too

much food like in the morning. This was also my last temple meal,

because after lunch I would check-out.

I walked down to my room to take shower and packed my things. I

returned the uniforms and key in the administration office, and

walked out of the temple complex back to Gyeongju city. Goodbye,

Golgulsa! Thank you for this first Temple Stay experience. I looked

forward for another Temple Stay in other temples in other seasons in

Korea. Next time I want to meditate and think about life peacefully in

a temple during cold winter with white snowy scenery mountains of

Korea, or during romantic fall season with colorful trees view. That

would be nice.

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World Culture Expo Park

From Golgulsa back to Gyeongju city, I took the same bus like

yesterday: number 100. Yesterday on the way to Golgulsa, I saw this

bus passed by some tourist places like Gyeongju World Culture Expo

Park, Silla Millenium Park and Gyeongju World Resort’s Amusement

Park located near each other. I was a little bit interested in the

Amusement Park, just because my favorite actor Lee Seung Gi once

filmed there for his newest drama at that time (The King 2 Hearts)

haha, but it would be too boring to take the rides alone by myself,

right? So I skipped this, and decided to visit World Culture Expo Park

and Silla Millenium. The bus fare differs based on the distance.

Because it was shorter than yesterday journey, I paid ₩1500 for bus

100.

Some tourist attractions near Bomun Lake

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Gyeongju World Culture Expo Park is an exhibition area that features

cultural heritage of Silla Dynasty, historic relics of the world's ancient,

folktales from around the world and many more cultural and

educational programs. The entrance ticket costs ₩7000, but some

attractions inside the park may need additional tickets.

Entering through the main gate, we could see country flags lined up

from around the world, their friendly way of welcoming foreign

tourists to this park. That leads us to the main walk toward an

enormous building shaped like the Nine-story Wooden Pagoda of

Hwangnyongsa Temple (page 66). Wait, it’s not the building that

shaped like Hwangnyongsa, but the center void part. Stunning, right?

This 82-meter building is called Gyeongju Tower, the symbol of

Gyeongju World Culture Expo. The glass surface of the tower depicts

the image of Roman Glass found within the Silla Royal Tombs, and

implies the internationally-acclaimed value of the Silla culture

exchanged with Rome at the time.

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This stunning building is an interactive museum about Silla culture

and dynasty, where we could see the traditional clothes and

accessories of Silla especially those worn by royal family, the mockup

of Seorabeol city map, the explanation of each famous relic sites in

Gyeongju such as Hwangnyongsa, Seokguram (page 44) and

Bulguksa (page 41). I personally like the women dress and hairstyle in

Silla time more than current Korean Hanbok (traditional Korean

dress), it looks more complicated but so elegant and beautiful.

The tower is basically the center part of this park. From the tower, I

went to the front part which I skipped this in the beginning maybe

because too mesmerized by the tower. In the front part, there are

some dioramas about the love story between Princess Seonhwa of

and a Hwarang hero named Giparang. The Hwarang (Flower Boys) is

an elite group of male youth in Silla where members gathered for all

aspects of study, originally for arts, martials, and culture. There was

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also a children section with cartoon statues like the famous Korean

animation: Pororo.

Beautiful mountainous Gyeongju seen from Gyeongju Tower

Love Story between Princess Seonhwa and Giparang

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Then I walked to the back part of this park, passing by the Tower

again. On the right side there is a big theater usually showing the

famous cultural show, like Miso: a traditional musical dance

drama/love story chronicling the four seasons of Korea. I’d really love

to watch that show, so I checked the upcoming schedule for that day.

The next show would start at 6pm; I did not think I could make it

since I still had to visit Silla Millenium Park after this. Miso show is

showing also in Seoul, so I might be able to watch it later in Seoul

(but apparently not). On to the back side of the tower, first I saw a

Dinosaur park, where many kinds of Dinosaurs statues were showing;

not interested.

Then, there is TV Drama “Athena” Location Set. I came inside the

building to find out about the drama, and to chill out a little bit in a

cold room. This action thriller drama was aired in SBS in 2010, and

telling a story about a counter-terrorism agency called National anti-

Terror Service (NTS) to protect nuclear energy technology. Sounds

complicated. So this building is apparently the NTS office setting for

the drama. The last part of this Expo that I saw was a Chinese Zodiac

Park. There are 12 animal statues wearing Chinese cloth standing in

circle representing the 12 Chinese Zodiacs.

Twelve Chinese Zodiacs

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Silla Millennium Park

My next destination was the film shooting location of Queen

Seondeok, a famous Sageuk (historical Korean drama) about the first

female ruler of Shilla Kingdom. This place has been reconstructed

and opened to public as amusement park to introduce Shilla culture.

This park offers performances and workshops related to Shilla, such

as Hwarang Show, craft and puppet workshop, and costume lending

where we have a chance to wear those beautiful layered traditional

clothes of Shilla people.

Unfortunately most of the performances and workshops already

closed when I entered the park in that afternoon around 4.30pm; it’s

only left 2 hours to explore the park before closing time. The

entrance fee after 4pm was only ₩9000, while the ticket fee for the

whole day was ₩18,000.

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Set of Queen Seondeok Drama

The set for Queen Seondoek drama at Silla Millennium Park included

Silla Royal Palace, Hwarang Mountain Stronghold and Drilling Hall

(where Hwarang have practice), and a thousand-year-old ancient city

and noble village. But the drama shooting was being done not only

on the designated set but also on every corner of the Park. This

amusement park is set so cultural and in traditional way and

beautifully blend with nature. That is what I really love about Korea,

they praise the nature very high in their life. There were (again) 12

animal Chinese Zodiacs, cute waterfalls, and traditional cafeteria.

Even the rest room is very unique.

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One of the rest rooms in Silla Millennium Park

Then I found a small heaven called Foot Spa! I sat down there for

about 15minutes enjoying the view before finally set off.

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Accommodation

It is time to check in to the hostel I've booked: Nahbi Guesthouse

(closed since July 2014). In choosing a hostel, I usually check its rating

and availability in booking service websites such as hostelworld and

hostelbookers, and also the rating in tripadvisor. When I find a hostel

name, I search their website first to check if the rate written in their

website is cheaper than booking service websites. Mostly there is no

difference in the rate, but booking service websites like hostelworld

required us to pay deposit and their service fee. Like this guesthouse

in Gyeongju, I ended booking it directly through their website

because they did not ask for deposit. My agenda in Gyeongju was

quite flexible so I did not want to lose any money if I canceled it later

hehe.

As expected, I did change my plan from 3 nights to 2 nights only

when I was already in Gyeongju, after more reading, browsing and

consideration that 2 nights 3 days is enough to explore Gyeongju city.

I booked Nahbi Guesthouse for 3 nights but when I actually checked

in I said I changed to 2 nights only. At that time, staying 2 nights in a 4

beds female dorm room of this guesthouse cost ₩34,000.

I followed the map and guide that I received from their email. The

location was quite strategic in downtown, as you can see from the

map below: 10 minutes walking distance to Express Bus Terminal (for

buses traveling in Express Way to/from other cities), to Intercity Bus

Terminal (for regular buses), to Tombs Park I visited the day before,

and 20 minutes walking distance to train station. It was easy, from

Silla Millenium Park, I just needed to find a bus back to bus terminal,

which was the same bus I took from bus terminal to the temple the

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day before, and from the temple to World Park / Silla Millenium Park

this afternoon.

The nearest bus stop was the one located just in front of the building,

but I alighted few stops before, on the bus stop in front of Gyeongju

Train Station, and walked to the hostel while exploring the area.

There were market and some shops on the left side, while mostly

banks on the right side.

It was around 8pm when I finished checking-in the hotel and taking

shower. I went to the hostel main area to discuss with the

receptionist about some places to visit in Gyeongju, and to sit around.

As usual guesthouse, they provided TV, books and some boardgames

in the lobby.

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Based on my experience, Koreans are always nice, easy to make

friends and adapt with strangers. This time I met another guest, a

Korean girl from Seoul, who’s traveling solo too. We went outside

together to buy some snacks and drinks in the nearby supermarket,

and then went back to the hostel playing some board games and

talking. When we went to the supermarket, we passed by a cute

coffee shop with appealing name: Sleepless in Seattle!

Like the usual hostel, this one offered free self-service breakfast.

They provided bread, jams, butter and eggs, plus kitchen utensils like

toaster for breads and pan to cook the eggs. After eating, we should

clean up the dishes by ourselves too. The kitchen and dining area was

full of empty liquor bottles as decoration. Maybe the owner really

liked drinking. Typical Korean.

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Bulguksa

I started the next day by visiting Bulguksa, the most famous temple

in Gyeongju. It is a home to two most valued pagodas in Korea:

Dabotap and Seokgatap, and other National Treasures.

I read in the internet that I could take Bus No 10 and 11 to go to

Bulguksa. Fortunately Bus No 10 came not long after I arrived on the

bus stop across my hostel. The journey took about 1 hour which cost

₩1500, passing by most of the other major sights.

The first thing to do when I arrived in Bulguksa was checking the bus

schedule to my next destination, Seokguram. This is important so I

could use my time efficiently for sightseeing more than for waiting

bus. One of the convenient things of traveling in Korea is you can

check bus schedule in almost every bus stop, and the buses come on

time.

Since it is a famous tourist place, there is a Tourist Information

Center (TIC) outside the temple. If you can’t understand the schedule

written on the bus stop, you can just easily ask the staff in TIC. The

bus from Bulguksa to Seokguram is No 12, and it runs every 30

minutes.

The entrance to Bulguksa Temple is called Seokgyemun. It has 33

steps staircase which resembles 33 steps to enlightenment. It is

divided into two sections; the lower section named Cheong-un-gyo

(the Blue Cloud Bridge), and the upper section named Baek-un-gyo

(White Cloud Bridge).

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Usually a temple only has one pagoda, but Bulguksa is different. It

has 2 pagodas: Seokgatap and Dabotap. Seokgatap is a three-story

traditional Korean style pagoda with simple lines and minimal details

which stands about 8.2meters high. In contrast to Seokgatap,

Dabotap is an octagonal pagoda standing on a square stone

staircases and railing.

The contrast between the simplicity of the Seokgatap and the

complexity of the Dabotap is designed to represent the dual nature

of the Buddha's contemplation. The sophisticated Dabotap

symbolizes the complexity of the world; while the simple Seokgatap

represents the brevity of spiritual ascent (from Fascinating Tales of

Blooming Silla by Alexander Chang and Andrew Chang, 2006). Both

Pagodas stand before the main hall Daeungjeon, the Hall of Great

Enlightenment, where the Buddha enshrines.

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In one part of the garden, I saw many stacks of stones. It was actually

a kind of worship visitors put to ask for good fortunes from Buddha.

Each stone within the stack represents a particular wish or family

member. This is a common practice in South Korean temple.

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Seokguram

From Bulguksa, the bus was going up to Tohamsan Mountain where

Seokguram Grotto laid. It was part of Bulguksa temple complex,

located 4 km east of the temple. Arriving in the parking lot, we had to

walk up again around 500 m to reach the site. But no worries, the

way up there was so green, refreshing and convenient; very safe for

older people and children. There I met a little cute squirrel.

Seokguram Grotto on top of the mountain, 750 m above sea level

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Seokguram Grotto is an artificial stone cave temple made of Granite.

Inside its round shape hall that covered by a hill like a royal tomb, a

Giant Buddha statue seated on a stone with lotus flower design and

carved walls, facing the East Sea (Sea of Japan). The sea can be seen

on a clear day from the grotto. It is said that the Buddha was made to

protect Silla kingdom from Japanese attacks. It is also a favorite

place to view beautiful sunrise over the sea.

The view from the grotto

Beautiful colorful lanterns in the grotto area

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Both Bulguksa and Seokguram were built by Kim Daeseong, a prime

minister of Silla. The legend said that he was reincarnated from the

previous life because of his good acts. Bulguksa was dedicated for his

parents in current life, while Seokguram was dedicated for his

parents in previous life.

Buddha inside Seokguram Grotto (taken from Wikipedia because I as

tourist could not take picture inside the grotto)

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Yangdong Folk Village

At this point, I just realized that we could pay the bus fare using

Seoul t-money, and it was cheaper ₩50 rather than paying cash. I

took bus 12 back to Bulguksa, then changed bus 10 back to

downtown. Each bus cost me ₩1450 using t-money. I stopped at

Intercity Bus Terminal, because my next destination Yangdong

Village could be reached by taking bus from there.

Before going to that village, I took lunch at a traditional restaurant

around the terminal bus area. I had rice with beef soup and a lot of

side dishes. It was good, and it cost ₩7000.

There are few buses going to Yangdong Village, and the journey

takes about 40 minutes which cost ₩1450. After stopping at

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Yangdong Village Bus Stop, we need to walk further by foot for

about 1.2km to the village. Phewww… what a workout in the middle

of hot day!

At that time, there was no entrance fee to this opened and peaceful

village. It is a Korea’s traditional village from Joseon Dynasty. It has

around 160 old houses and buildings with tiled and thatched roofed,

which some of them are still used by local people. This village was

founded by Wolseong Son (of Gyeongju) whose daughter was

married to son of Yeogang Yi (of Yeongju) in the 15th century. Since

then, it has been home for these two high class clans.

The village follows the valleys typography and characteristic of

Joseon Dynasty society. Homes of Wolseong Son and Yeogang Yu

clans are located on the higher ground, while the lower class homes

are built on the lower ground. Some of important materials to see

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are Soebaekdang (primary home of Wolseong Son clan) and

Mucheomdang (primary home of Yeogang Yu clan).

Mucheomdang

There was no specific map and guide, so I just walked around the

quiet village for about an hour. Be careful to tolerate, respect and

not disturb local people living there when exploring the village.

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National Museum

From Yangdong Village, I took the same bus to get back to the

Intercity Bus Terminal. It's time to visit interesting places inside the

town. My first stop was National Museum, because it's gonna be

closed at 6pm while some other places were opened until night.

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I reached the museum around 4pm, 2 hours before closing. This is

another good attraction in Gyeongju that required no entrance fee,

yay! The museum exhibits materials related to Silla Kingdom indoor

and outdoor.

In the indoor, we can see Silla crowns, belts, earrings, accessories

and other artifacts excavated from royal tombs and Wolji Pond (page

57). In Outdoor Exhibit Area, we can see many sculptures excavated

from royal palaces and temples, such as Divine Bell of King

Seongdeok, the largest bell in Korea and it’s made of bronze.

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This bell was made by instructions of King Gyeongdeok to

commemorate his father King Seongdeok, the 33rd ruler of Silla.

However he died before the bell was finished, and then his sone King

Hyegong continued this bell project. It was originally located at

Bongdeoksa, the guardian temple of King Seongdeok. After the

temple was ruined, it was moved to Yeongmyosa, Gyeongju County

Fortress, the old Gyeongju National Museum, and finally to its

present location in 1975. It is also called Emille Bell, because of a

legend saying that a child was sacrificed to cast the bell whose

echoes of ‘em-ee-leh’ resembles the Silla word for "mommy." �

Other than the great bell, there are also some artifacts excavated

from Hwangnyongsa Temple (page 66), and some Buddha stone

stupas.

The good thing about Gyeongju is the main attractions located to

each other. National Museum, Banwolseong, Cheomseongdae,

Anapji Pond and some other interesting places are within walking

and bicycle distance. It’s really recommended to rent a bike for the

whole day to explore the ancient places around the city.

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Banwolseong

Banwolseong (Half Moon Fortress) or Wolseong Palace was the

location of royal palace during Silla Dynasty. It is shaped like crescent

moon and located on top of the hill. Now the ruins of the palace are

just an empty lot with lush forest. There was a sign standing on this

site indicated it was one of the shooting locations of Sageuk Queen

Seondeok.

The only remaining structure in Wolseong site, other than small moat,

is Seokbingo, the ancient stone freezer. It was not from Silla period,

but it was built during Joseon Dynasty. It is a warehouse made of

stones and round dome roof to store ice in the winter and use it in

the summer. There are three ventilators on top of the ice storage to

maintain the internal temperature. I do not really understand how

this works, but wow, whoever made this was very genius.

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Cheomseongdae Observatory

Cheomseongdae is a star-gazing tower built during Queen Seondeok

rule, to observe the stars for predicting the weather. Remember

Queen Seondeok I mentioned earlier? She was the first female ruler

of Shilla Kingdom that ruled from 632 to 647. Therefore,

Cheomseongdae is considered as the oldest surviving observatory in

East Asia.

It was built in a cylinder shape piled up with 362 stones to make 27

levels, with a square entrance in the middle. Twelve of the layers are

below the window level and 12 are above. It’s said that 362

represents the 362 days in lunar year, 27 represents Queen Seondeok

as the 27th ruler of Shilla Kingdom, and 12 represents the month of

the year. Wow, very well-thought ya! The entrance fee is ₩1000, and

it’s opened until 9 or 10pm in the evening. At night the tower looks

more beautiful with lights surrounding it.

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Local Foods

It was getting dark, but not too dark yet to see Anapji Pond in lights.

So I went around to get myself some foods for dinner. Across the

street of Cheomseongdae, on the way to Anapji Pond, there were

many restaurants and shops. I went to a souvenir shop to buy the

famous Gyeongju Bbang, breads filled with red bean.

I then entered the first restaurant that looks nice, and sat in one of

the empty tables. At that time there were about 10 other customers.

Suddenly one woman, perhaps the owner of the shop, approached

me and asking me in body language which somehow I understood as,

“how many people?” And when she knew I said “one, only me”, she

shook her head while talking in Korean as if saying, “you cannot eat

here”. I could not understand why, and I did not want to argue much.

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That was the disadvantage in not being able to speak Korean. I

patiently went out to find another restaurant.

On the corner of the street, I saw a quiet restaurant and entered it,

hoping that perhaps this quiet restaurant was more subtle and

accepting me. There was no other customer at that time. When a

woman greeted me on the front door, I asked her with English and

body language if it was okay for me to eat there alone. She

welcomed me nicely ☺

Somehow I managed to order the food which was their main dish in

the menu: Hanu Tteokgalbi Jeongsik (한우떡갈비). It’s grilled

mince beef ribs steak. At first I thought it is the traditional food

originated from Gyeongju, but later I know this is actually from

Gwangju. Anyway, the steak was so good and soft. They also served

me a lot of side dishes (Banchan). This all cost ₩10,000.

Hanu Tteokgalbi Jeongsik, with a lot of Banchan

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Donggung Palace and Anapji Pond

Anapji or also called Wolji Pond is an artificial pond located inside

Donggung (East Palace) area which is part of Silla palace complex,

northeast side of Banwolseong Palace. It was built during King

Munmu reign after unification of the Korean Peninsula. (Remember

the king whose tomb was buried underwater near Bonggil beach?)

The pond has 3 small islands with beautiful trees and flowers. A

number of pavilions, including Imhaejeon, were constructed around

the lake and used for state festivals and banquets and as a prince's

palace.

The entrance fee was only ₩1000 at that time. The pond and the

pavilions were really beautiful, especially in the night. For the first

time during this trip I was kinda sentimental and missing my beloved

one so much and wish he was there with me.

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Namsan Mountain

The next morning, I checked out from hostel and went to Namsan

Mountain with all my belongings. Can you imagine? I am amazed now

how strong and practical I was back then: carrying only one backpack

for 3 days traveling and carrying it while hiking a mountain.

I took bus no.500 from the bus stop across the hostel to go to the

entrance of Namsan (san in Korean means mountain, so it is kinda

duplicated to call it Namsan Mountain). It cost ₩1450 using t-money

card. The mountain is located not far from the city, in the South of

Gyeongju. Across the entrance, there was a small shop selling some

snacks, towels and other hiking necessities. I bought some snacks

and a towel with Gyeongju map on it as a souvenir (and as a sweat

towel).

Another good thing in Gyeongju: no

entrance fee to hike Namsan. Just

like other mountains in Korea, the

hiking path/way was properly

maintained and designed well to

accommodate the hikers. The special

and unique thing about Namsan

compared to other mountains in

Korea is there are a lot of Buddhist

and Silla temples, shrines and

artifacts throughout the mountain.

They call it an open-air Silla Museum.

Seated Stoned Buddha Statue without Head

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I knew this mountain from my favorite Korean reality show 1 Night 2

Days (1N2D) when they went there in 2 episodes. Other than cultural

heritage, we can enjoy the beautiful scenic landscape in this

mountain.

At first I tried to read the map to check where I should be going. But

then just after I started my trip up, I made friends with a group of old

people (Ahjumma and Ahjossi) after they asked me to take their

picture. It was very common to see elderly hiking the mountains,

even more than younger people. Maybe that is one of their recipes to

stay strong. In their old age, they were still active and energetic, and

could climb up and down stairs easily.

Me with the Ahjummas

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Anyway, knowing I traveled alone, they invited me to join their group

to go up. Well that would be very nice, so I would not walk inside the

forest alone (even though I knew it was safe). They were also very

excited to talk with foreigners. I followed them and no need to worry

about the map anymore, so I could enjoy the scenery more. We went

up until the nearest peak, around 1 hour hiking. The view there was

very nice!

The Ahjummas then opened up their picnic foods and drinks that

includes, of course, Makgeolli. Makgeolli is a light sweet alcohol

made from rice or wheat mixed, elderly’s favorite drink. I couldn’t

reject it when they offered me some, because yeah I admit I like it

too.

I told them I wanted to visit all relics showing in 1N2D show, but they

said some of them were located very high and not easy to reach.

They did not recommend me to hike there alone. Well yeah then, I

followed them to climb down back (*easily gave up*). I was already

satisfied going up until that peak and seeing some of the relics. It’s

time to visit another places.

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Poseokjeong

On the foot of Namsan, there is a historic site called Poseokjong.

Poseokjong was a separate royal palace where the king held

banquets for nobles. The palace itself was gone but the abalone-

shaped water canal made of granite remains. It was the canal where

the kings and nobles floated drinking cups and composed poetry.

Honestly I could not imagine the king and nobles sitting surrounding

this small water canal and citing poetry

That’s the only thing to see in this site. It’s amazing how Korean

government really takes care of their historic sites even the tiny ones.

The entrance fee to go in this site was ₩500. It had a very big parking

lot where Namsan hikers usually parked their car.

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Najeong Well

About 2 bus stops from Poseokjeong, there is another historic site

called Najeong Well. The weather was good, the roads were green

and comfortable, and I still had the power left after hiking Namsan,

so I walked there by feet from Poseokjeong while enjoying the view.

Layers of rice fields and hills on the way to Najeong Well

According to the legend, the founding father and the first King of

Silla was born here. One day, Sobeol (chief of the village) saw a white

horse on its knees by a well. When he went to the well for a closer

look, the horse suddenly disappeared. But he found a large egg on

the spot where the horse had been. A baby boy came out of the egg.

When he reached the age of 13, 6 village chiefs in the area elected

him to be the first king. They called their country Seorabeol, the

ancient name of Silla.

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Like Poseokjeong, there was nothing much to see here either. It was

a big empty field with grasses that looked neglected. There were 2

boards displaying some pictures of the well near the main gate, and

then deep inside the field there was memorial stone erected near the

well among the pine trees.

From Najeong Well, I took bus no.500 again to downtown before

going to next places. It was easier to start from downtown, either

the Station or Bus Terminal, because almost every bus passed them. I

also could read and pinpoint them on the routes board of the bus

stop (Station = 역, Terminal = 버스터미널).

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Bunhwangsa

From the Station, I took bus no.11 to Bunhwangsa. At that point I

knew bus no.10 and 11 were two famous buses which could take us to

many tourist attraction places. After more than 45 minutes journey, I

started to feel I took a wrong bus because I did not think it was that

far. I then realized the bus passed Bulguksa bus stop!

Apparently the bus no.10 goes through the attraction places in

downtown first before goes to Bulguksa in the outskirt of Gyeongju

city. While the bus no.11 is the opposite, it goes directly to faraway

Bulguksa first before goes to attraction places in downtown. My bus

trip to Bunhwangsa that day took 1 hour. It should be 15 or 20

minutes only, Zzzzz! But the bus fare was the same, ₩1450 using t-

money.

Mojeon Seoktap

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Bunhwangsa (Fragrant Emperor Temple) is a temple built during

Queen Seondeok reign of the Silla Dynasty. Among the temple

buildings in this complex, the most attractive one is the Mojeon

Seoktap (Mojeon Pagoda). This stone tower is believed to have been

built in 9 stories, but currently it remains only 3 stories after being

destroyed during invasion of Mongolian and Japanese. It has a style

of Tang Dynasty of China, but instead of using bricks, it was built

using black andesite rocks (dark grayish volcanic rocks) that

resemble bricks. There are doors on each side of the tower which are

guarded by two figures called Mighty Diamond Men. When I went

there at that time the tower

was surrounded by colorful

lanterns. Inside this oldest

Buddhist pagoda of Silla,

many precious artifacts like

gold and jewelries were found

and have been excavated.

Other notable relics in this

temple complex are

Samnyongbyeoneojeong (a

well where three dragons that

protected Silla were believed

to reside) and Danggan Pillars.

Danggan Pillars are flagpoles

stone that were used to hang

flags during any Buddhist

festivals so that even people

far away would be aware of

them. The pillars are supported by unique stone turtles. The entrance

fee to Bunhwangsa was ₩1300.

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Hwangnyongsa

Just next to

Bunhwangsa,

there is a

remaining site of

Hwangnyongsa.

Hwangnyongsa

(Imperial Dragon

Temple) was once

one of the most

magnificent

monasteries in East Asia until it was razed by the Mongol invaders of

the 13th Century.

In this site we can only see an open field with some stones remains.

But in the old days, it looked something like this (taken from

http://san-shin.net/).

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Amazing right? The pagoda was an enourmous 9 story building built

entirely with interlocking woods without any iron nails. The nine

stories represented the nine nations in East Asia and Silla’s destiny to

conquer.

Nine stories represent nine other nations in East Asia

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The first story in the bottom represents Japan. The second one

represents China. The third one was Wuyue, an old Chinese kingdom.

The forth story was Jeju Island. The fifth one represents Baekje,

which is one of the three kingdoms in Korean Peninsula. The sixth

story was Mohe, an ancient Manchuria Kingdom in Northeast China.

The seventh one represents Khitan, Mongolia and Manchuria people.

The eighth story was Jucen, also Manchuria people. The ninth story

on the top represents Goguryeo Kingdom.

During Silla Kingdom, it was the nation’s largest temple and the

pagoda was the tallest structure in East Asia. The construction was

started during King Jinheung reign. In the beginning, it was intended

to build a new palace. But after a dragon was seen on the site, the

construction was changed into a temple instead, where monks

prayed for the nations and to impress foreigners.

It was designed by Architect Abiji from neighbor kingdom Baekje

which was conquered by Silla Kingdom. About 23 years after

completion of the pagoda, Queen Seondeok unified the Three

Kingdoms (Silla, Baekje and Gogurye); later, numerous scholars

pointed to the pagoda as a contributing factor in the unification.

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Back to Seoul

It was almost 4pm and I was hungry. I skipped lunch today because I

ate many snacks during hiking in Namsan and I was just too lazy to

eat. I went back to bus terminal to buy ticket back to Seoul, and

perhaps would grab some foods in the terminal while waiting for the

bus departure. But when I arrived in the ticket counter, apparently

the next bus was about to depart in 5 minutes and there was still seat

available. I decided to jump in this bus directly, and eat later in Seoul.

As I said in the first chapter, the bus fare was different. Now I got 4-

seats in a row bus (but fortunately I got 2 seats for my own) and paid

₩19,500. Nonetheless, for me it was as comfortable as the 3-seats in

a row bus I took from Seoul.

Thanks Gyeongju for the last 4 days! I really like all the cultural places

in this city. There are some places I have not gone yet, so I hope I

could visit Gyeongju again next time.

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Recommendation

So, based on my experience, what are the places in Gyeongju I

recommend to visit? It is very easy to answer: all of the places above!

I really like every place I have visited in Gyeongju, so I recommend all

of them. Hmmm maybe except Poseokjeong and Najeong Well,

because nothing much to see there. Climbing Namsan Mountain is

also not really necessary if you do not like hiking and do not like

following 1 Night 2 Days team’s trail like me.

I also recommend renting a bicycle one whole day to explore

interesting sites in the downtown. They are located quite near each

other. If I rented a bike, I would be able to explore a lot more

attractions. See this map below, I missed site no.1, 2 and 3. Hope I

could visit them in my next visit to Gyeongju.

Anyeong!