It has been over half a year since I posted my previous blog on South Korea. However, there are still a few left, so I hope to finish them soon. Since the trip is now almost one year ago and my memory is not perfect I will keep it brief from now on. And besides, pictures say more than words. Lets continue with my stay in Gyeongju!
Arrival in Gyeongju
The bus from Andong brought me to the Gyeongju Bus Terminal (both Intercity and Express), just next to the river and the city centre. Since I arrived late and didn’t feel like looking for a hostel I made my way to the Silla Guest House, which lies just a short walk from the bus terminal. The guesthouse is relatively new (or at least renovated), very clean, but also somewhat uncosy. I spent the rest of my evening strolling around the city centre.
Silla Guest House
The Silla Guest House is located near the bus terminal. The guest house is brand new and clean, but somewhat uncosy. Dormitory rooms and private rooms are available.
Price: 25.000 KRW (dormitory)
Bulguksa Temple
My first destination for the next day was the Bulguksa Temple. Bus 10 or 11 takes you from the city centre to the temple. The first thing I noticed was the enormous amount of school kids. Apparently Wednesday is ‘excursion day’, since I had also experienced this in Seoul. The noise of all the kids kind of took away the serenety of the temple complex, so I wasn’t really able to appreciate its beauty.
Bulguksa Temple
The Bulguksa Temple was built in 528 during the reign of King Beop-heung, under whose leadership Buddhism was adopted as the Silla state religion. It was largely destroyed by the Japanese Invasions, but was reconstructed during the 1970s and has now been added to the UNESCO World Heritage List.
Ticket: 4.000 KRW (adult)
Opening hours: 07:00 – 18:00
Seokguram Grotto
Next up was the Seokguram Grotto. A 3km trail leads up the mountain to the entrance of the Grotto. Nowadays it is also possible to take bus 12 up. The mountain trail was a bit more challenging than I had expected and I was not wearing my hiking shoes. A good 50 min hike later I was at the parking lot at the entrance. Here stands a beautiful pavilion with a huge copper bell. For a few Won you are allowed to ring the bell. Its sound carries far over the surrounding valleys. From the parking lot it is a short 10 min hike to the Grotto itself. Unfortunately the distant view on the complex was spoiled by the construction work going on. To protect the complex they are building a glass and steel construction around it.
Seokguram Grotto
The Seokguram Grotto is a artifical stone temple made of granite. Inside the temple stands the 3,5m high Buddha statue, surrounded by reliefs.
Ticket: 4.000 KRW (adult)
Opening hours: 07:00 – 18:00
Silla Tombs
After taking the bus back to Bulguksa and having a nice lunch at one of the many restaurants around the parking lot I took the bus back to the city centre to visit the Silla tombs. Gyeongju was once the capital of the Silla empire, which reigned over South Korea from 57 BC to 935 AD and is now the place to view the treasures from this dinasty. My route led me through the Tumuli Park to the Wolseong Park, where the enormous burrial mounds lie. One of the burrial mounds in the Tumuli Park, the Cheonmachong, is the only tomb in Korea that you can actually enter. Inside the Wolseong Park are numerous of attractions. One of them is the Cheomseongdae tower, an astronomical observation tower dating from the seventh century. There were so many school kids running around this tower that I didn’t even bother to come closer. Instead I took a nice walk through the park while the sun was almost setting.
Tumuli Park
The Tumuli Park contains over two dozen tombs, tumuli. The Cheonmachong tomb is the only tomb in Korea that you can actually enter.
Ticket:
2.000 KRW (adult)
Opening hours:
08:30 – 21:00
Next up is Busan, where I visited one of my friends.
2 Comments
Hi,Kay!
I’m Flora from the Philippines. I loved reading your autumn 2013 trip to korea. I am actually planning to visit korea for the second time this coming autumn but this time I will go there alone and want to visit provinces particularly andong, busan and suncheon, with andong hahoe village being the number 1 in my list of to-go places. However, due to the inconvenience of going from seoul to andong, I would like to ask you if the travel time is worth the trip to andong hahoe village or should I just skip it and stick to seoul, suncheon and busan? Thanks in advance! 🙂
Hello Flora! Andong Hahoe Village is really nice. You really get the feeling of Korean countryside life. I highly recommend staying the night there and see the village in the evening without all the tourists. However, the trip from Seoul to Andong is quite far. Moreover, if you’re planning on staying overnight at the Hahoe Village, prepare to pay the price (I payed 60.000 for a night for a room, excluding dinner and breakfast). I wouldn’t consider Andong itself really worth a visit, but there are some more nice places in the area if you have the time. Considering you also would like to visit Suncheon and Busan, perhaps Jeonju is a nice stop on the way. This was my stop between Busan and Seoul (unfortunately I never finished my blog series on Koera, check my Korean Autumn Trip Introduction). Making a trip to Jirisan National Park might also be worthwhile when you’re visiting Suncheon. Good luck and enjoy the trip!