This tour needs more Mounds!!

Spidey's ready to tell you of the Gyeongju adventure!

So this weekend I went on my first Adventure Korea trip to Gyeongju (Kyeongju if your feeling frisky) Adventure Korea brings foreigners (mostly teachers) to different places around Korea which are hard to get to without a car. Although they weren't as informative as I would have liked, they got the job done, and I met some really cool people.
So the tour started early in the a.m. with a 4-5 hour bus drive to Gyeongju. We finally got to the site of old tombs where various kings from the Silla dynasty were buried. Silla was one of the three dynasties of Korea, if interested, wikipedia. It was a pretty park with lots of mounds, that was good for a walk, but boring.
The tombs!

We then went to Cheomseongdae, which is the oldest observation tower in East Asia that survives, making it one of the oldest science labratory on the planet. WOAH. This was also kind of boring, but neat to see, and pretty cool that it still stands 14 centuries later. Good for the Koreans! This is one of the National Treasures (Koreas got heaps, and we saw a lot on this trip!).
Me with the Cheomseongdae!
We walked to to the manmade pond of Anapji, a site of a great palace of the Silla dynasty. Unfortunatly, that palace no longer exists, but over 33,000 artifacts and some foundations. There is another lovely park to saunter around, and a few reconstructions of what they think it looked like, as well as a few neat artifacts.
At least it was pretty

After that we strolled to the Gyeongju National Museum with heaps of artifacts, and a Silla dynasty crown (which I got one blurry stolen picture of), and the 'greatest bell ever made'. It was really cool to see the oldest things in Korea. These things were OLLLLD. There were some pagodas (Reconstructions) and all sorts of things. I wish there was a little more information on the 3 Kingdoms, but theres only so much English you can hope for.
Cave drawings!!

After that we were done site-seeing for the day, so we went back to the hotel where I crashed with some realllly awesome girls. After an adventure with the mediochre-at-best restuarant nad the hunting aujamas (Read:old woman with a power greater than unicorns), we ended up at the norebang (Norebangs are different story for a different day), and drinking in some people's hotel rooms. It was really nice to hang out and meet people.

The next day we woke up early to go to the Seokguram Grotto, with one of the prettiest Buddah's I've ever seen. No pictures were allowed, sorry! But the Buddah was dated to about 750 AD, and was one of the coolest things I've ever seen.

We went to Bulguska Temple, Scenic site number 1 in Korea. It was very large, and very interesting to explore. There were services going on, so not a lot of pictures of the Buddahs. There was also a random warthog, that I didn't understand. There were some neat pagodas (one under renevation, sadday) and may have been my second favorite thing of hte trip. There was a stairway called the blue and white bridge, with 33 steps to represent the 33 steps to enlightenment. This was much more interesting then Bungeusa next to Coex, and gave a better insight into the ancient Buddhist ways.
Me in front of the blue and white bridge and the main gate of the temple.

Finally was Mt. Namsan. This was claimed to be a leisurly stroll, but thats a lie. It was a hike, 500 meters up, but I was one of few that made it and was proud. This mountain had one of the best treasures in Korea, but unfotunatly was under construction, and therefore we couldn't see it, bummer! There were a few Buddah statues that were visible, and from the Silla dynsty, so really cool. Climbing a mountain always makes me feel accomplished.
Summit!

After that it was hometime, so my long weekend, and this book, is over!
Patience and Faith,
ErinJ

Me on top of a Mountain