Vacation Part 2 - Gyeong-Ju

We left the Bang household around 3pm on Sunday for another 6 hours of travel. We were on our way to Gyeong-Ju, the capital of the Silla Empire. Silla was one of the 3 Kingdoms of the Korean Peninsula that existed before they were united into Korea itself. This was about 1500 years ago. This part of the trip was definitely to satisfy the history dork in me.

We spent all day Monday walking around Gyeong-Ju. The landscape is covered with small, awkward hills. In reality, each of these hills is a tomb. A burial chamber would be built partially underground. The casket would be placed in the chamber. Then, the tomb would be covered with a large pile of rocks, and covered in soil so grass could grow. We spent the first part of our day visiting Tumuli Park, a main center of ancient tombs. There was even a tomb that we could enter.

The park also had a small pond filled with carp. This is where the first feeding of the day took place. No, we didn't eat the carp. Trash fed the fish. Apparently, she always wanted to feed fish at a place like this, but her mom would never spend the money for a bag of food. Throughout the day, we bought 6 bags of fish food, and Trash had a blast. It was fun to watch.

After the park, we did some more site seeing. We visited the oldest star observatory in East Asia, walked past many, many tombs and saw fields full of wild, Asian flowers. It was a great time. Plus, we rented a bicycle-powered carriage to cruise around it. Then we headed to Anapji Pond. This was a gathering place for kings and the wealthiest land lords of the day. It survived for about 700 years and was destroyed by the Japanese in the 16th century. It has been partially reconstructed and is beautiful but is nowhere near it's original glory. Many of the building materials used were actually the original building materials which were salvaged from the lake and restored for construction. They also have many artifacts on display that were found in the lake as well. We spent about two hours walking around taking pictures. Trash fed more fish too. There were SO MANY fish. It was such a good time.

We rounded out the day of Korean History with dinner at McDonald's. This might sound strange, but it was perfect. The food tasted great after a long day, and I've never had more fun at McDonald's (except maybe my 2nd grade birthday party).

We woke up late on Tuesday. Walking around all day Monday was exhausting. We had planned to get up early to go hiking and then head to the National Museum in the late afternoon. When we got up, we decided to do the hiking and go to the museum if we had time at night, which we didn't. The mountain was beautiful. It was very scenic, covered with ancient pagodas and Buddhist carvings. Some of them dated as far back as the 8th century.

At the top of the mountain was a small temple. The monk who lives there was gone for the day, but two caretakers were still there. They were very kind. They told us how to get to some of the nearby landmarks and let us drop our bags at the house. Plus, when we came back for our things, they had fresh, cold water and watermelon waiting for us. The lady sat and talked with Trash for about 20 minutes while we savored the much needed snack.

It was wonderful to be treated so nicely. It was also a good conversation starter for the hike down the mountain. It made me wonder why so many Christians see me, a guy with long hair and tattoos, and become judgmental, but a Buddhist woman sees a foreign guy walk out of the woods, sweaty and nasty, and offers me directions, water and food. Sometimes, the Buddhists I meet here seem to be better models of Christ than the Christians I meet.

The mountain was the end of our adventurous outings in Gyeong-Ju. After the hiking, we went back to our hotel, had a HUGE Korean dinner, watched a movie and relaxed. The next day, we headed out for a short 45 minute bus ride to Busan, the final stop on our journey.