-We spent the 4 day weekend of September 20-23rd in South Korea, exploring the cities and sights of Busan and Gyeongju. The first photo is from the plane as we landed in Busan, only an hour flight from Kansai Airport.
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-From the airport we took an hour long bus ride to Gyeongju for about $9. The bus was super comfy, and the seats were huge!
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-After walking around the bus station for about 30 minutes trying to find our hotel and asking many people for assistance we checked in and dropped off our luggage. We went out to dinner at Terrace, which was a very modern restaurant with a view of one of the tumuli that Gyeongju is known for.
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-The streets of Gyeongju.
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Gyeongju was the capital of the Silla kingdom for almost 1,000 years from about 57 B.C.E. to 935 C.E. The tumuli were burial mounds for the kings of Silla.
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-The view from our hotel window on Sunday morning, you can see one of the tumuli in the center background.
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-More tumuli on Sunday morning as we walked through town in search of coffee and breakfast.
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-The first sight of the day on Sunday was Bulguksa Temple.
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-Originally built in the 500s, the temple took its present name during rennovations 200 years later. Most of the structures were destroyed in the 1500s by a Japanese invasion, and the present day temple was renovated during the 1970s.
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-The temple is supposed to represent the Buddha Land, so it is filled with symbolism.
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The central staircase has 33 steps, representing 33 heavens and the stones are original to the temple, so they are about 1,200 years old.
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-In front of the main staircase.
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-The temple is painted in magnificent bright colors and with lots of detail.
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The central courtyard of Bulguksa.
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There are two Silla stone pagodas in the central courtyard, Dabotap and Seokgatap. I'm in front of Dabotap, which is much more ornate.
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-The main hall of Bulguksa.
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Door handles at the temple.
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-Temple scenery.
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-The main hall again.
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-Temple roofs.
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Joe at the top of a steep staircase.
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One of the many other halls on the temple grounds.
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Near the end of our walk through the temple grounds we came across an area where people had piled stones in the shape of tiny pagodas.
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-Joe making his contribution.
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Temple gate.
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-Our next stop was Seokguram Grotto, which sits high upon a mountaintop overlooking the sea. Behind Joe in the far distance the sea is visible.
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-The belltower at the entrance.
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-We walked down a forested path for about 20 minutes to get to the site.
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-Seokguram is a cave built in the late 700s with a huge granite Buddha inside. Sadly photos are not allowed, so check out the link for more visuals.
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Behind me you can see the grassy top of the cave and the wooden structure that acts as the entrance.
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-After viewing the spectacular grotto we read some of the many tiles that were donated by visitors from all over the world and will be used to repair the roofs of the temple.
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-After so much walking we stopped for a quick drink from the vending machine. We tried pine bud drink, which was so delicious! It tasted like Christmas. Mmmm....
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-To save time we took a cab down to the Gyeongju National Museum. Taking a cab in Korea is kinda like being on Mr. Toad's Wild Ride; a bit scary, a bit invigorating, a bit loopy. The cab drivers either had GPS or TV going, which made for an interesting soundtrack, and they all drove really, really fast.
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At the museum.
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-More of the museum.
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-That evening we took the bus back to Busan, where we were to stay for the next two evenings. This photo is the view of the sea from our hotel room on Haeundae Beach.
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-The weather was beautiful and the sea breeze was quite refreshing. We spent the evening strolling on the beach after a dinner of Indian food.
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-We spent Monday taking it easy on the beach reading and going for a swim.
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-Haeundae Beach.
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-After a day of relaxation.
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On Tuesday we went to theContemporary Art Exhibition of the Busan Biennale.
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-Art! Yong-baek Lee's Pieta and the very disturbing sculpture of Wenling Chen (the pigs in the background).
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-Installation by Pinaree Sanpitak. The staff member had you walk through the shapes, which would jiggle as a result of the sound you made.
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-Claisen Flask by Jio Shimizu. The pattern seen on the wall was made by projecting a laser through a glass flask (like those used in science classes). The flask rotated, making the projection constantly change. Visitors stood on a wooden platform above a highly reflective surface, which gave the illusion that the space was much larger than it really was.
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Crash! Sayla Mass by Yasuyuki Nishio. This was the sculpture that greeted us when entering the museum.-
-Outside of the museum after a morning of art viewing.
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We took the bus back out to the airport where we had some Korean food for a late lunch before heading back to Japan in the early evening.
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-Tea. Mmmm....
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Korean currency, not much left at the end of the trip!
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