Museum without walls

The tomb that you can walk into
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Just 50 mins outside Ulsan is Gyeongju, which is the one of the most important historical sites in Asia.  It is an ancient capital of the Silla people (no this doesnt mean much to me either).  Yesturday I went there on a day trip from Ulsan.

The buses in Korea are fantastic - you turn up to the bus terminal, buy your ticket and the buses leave for almost everywhere in South Korea every 15 mins.  Some buses even have seats in them that almost completely recline, it is great.

I was too chicken to break the rules in case it was disrespectful....

Me and Bulgulska
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On the bus on the way to Gyeongju I researched what I was going to see in my Lonely Planet book, so I was all ready to go.  First on the list was a visit to the Tumuli Park, which has 20 tombs of Silla monarchs in it.  The tombs are large mounds of earth, which cover the crypt of the monarch, made from rocks and compacted earth.  You can walk inside one of the tombs, which is very sterilised with a recreation of the crypt on one side and display cases of things found in the tombs on the other.  If you are going here, I would suggest to just look over the fence at the tombs, dont pay the entrance fee!  But it was nice walking around the park, peaceful with classical music played on loudspeakers all around it.

Example of the paint work on Bulgulska
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After my lunch and over priced coffee ($6!) I hopped on a bus to the Bulgulska temple complex, which is about 10mins outside the town into the mountains.  This is a reconstruction of a temple that was on this site built in 528 AD, burned down by the Japanese in the 1500s, then carefully recreated through much research in the 1970s.  While it is always in the back of your mind that it is only really 30 years old, it is still impressive for the scale of it and the amazing paint work which covers all its intricate ceilings.  There are many temples in the complex housing different buddha (which people bow to), and two pagoda which are the real deal.

Hut housing the buddha on the top of the mountain
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I was a very popular photo taker around the temples, and one guy who enjoyed practicing his english on me even asked me to be in a photo with his children!

After I had finished with Bulgulska I caught another bus up a windy road to the top of the mountain to see the Seokguram Grotto, which is one of the most beautiful examples of buddhist art in the world (clearly not my words).  The bus drops you off in the carpark, then you walk 400m along a very developed bush track to the grotto itself, right at the top of the mountain.  They have built a hut infront of the grotto, which you walk into to see the buddha and carvings, which are protected by a glass pane.   The buddha and its grotto are carved out of rock quarried elsewhere in Korea and lugged up the mountain, and faces east out over the hills to the East (Japan) Sea.  It dates from the 700's, but was only rediscovered in 1909.

Picture of my postcards of the grotto due to me being too much of a goody-goody
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It is very cool, one of those "wow" moments when you walk in and see it.  This is one of those times where a picture paints more than a 1000 words, but unfortunately taking photos was prohibited, and I was too chicken to break the rules in case it was disrespectful.  So I bought some postcards instead (clearly most likely the real reason you cant take pictures).

Instead of waiting for the bus to take me down the hill again, I decided to walk down through the mountain forest, a steep 3k down to Bulgulska.  It was a lovely walk, much nicer than waiting 30mins for the bus as it was very cold on the top at this stage.  I am very glad that I have come to Korea at this time of the year tho, as in the summer season it is very crowded, which I can tell from the huge infrastruture in place to deal with all the tourists.  At this time of the year I have never had to wait in line, and you can imagine more easily what these places must have been like back in the day, alone and peaceful in the mountains.