Gyeongju-Busan-Seoul Day 3 (Part 3) – Undersea Tomb of King Munmu (Daewang-am) with the Gyeongju City Tour Bus

5 May 2012 

After the visit to the Seokguram Grotto, it was a relatively long bus ride as we headed for the coast. Accordingly to the itinerary, we are to visit the Royal Tomb of King Munmu or the Daewang-am. King Munmu is the king who unified the three kingdoms and became the 30th ruler of the Silla Kingdom. The king gave specific instructions to be buried in the East Sea after his death so that he would become a dragon and protect Silla from Japanese intruders.

But first, a lunch break at a small cafe in a seaside village. Lunch was not included in the tour price and we each have to pay the adjumma 7000 KRW to eat the buffet lunch. Lunch was simple, local Korean dishes which I think only the local Koreans would enjoy. Nevertheless, we tried several dishes that looked palatable, including some kind of fish, egg in soya sauce, tofu in soup, kimchi vegetables and spicy squid.

After lunch, the bus followed the coastal road and stopped at a vehicle park next to a beach. Across the water, in the sea, is the Royal Tomb of King Munmu.

King Munmu’s tomb is at those rocks.

Top view of the tombs/rocks as shown on the signboard. There is a small pond in the middle of those rocks in which a granite chamber lies.

Signboard explaining the significance and history of the tomb.

The King instructed his subjects “to cremate him and buried his ashes in the East Sea so that he could become a dragon to protect Silla”. Did he figured that the greatest threat to the Silla kingdom is across the sea? Japan?

Besides the historical interest of this place, there were other points of interest for a visitor and photographer. There were stalls selling dried sea-weeds, cuttlefish and salted fish. Some of these may end up in the lunch items for the next group of tourists!

Stall keeper getting ready for business.

Rows of stalls and seafood restaurants.

Fish drying in the hot sun. Spot the fly.

It is said that this tomb is closely related to the Gameunsa Temple site, a short distance away. I will share my visit to the Gameunsaji Temple in the next post.

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Gyeongju-Busan-Seoul Day 3 (Part 4) – visit to Gameunsa Temple site and Silk Production Pavilion with the Gyeongju City Tour Bus

5 May 2012

The Gameunsa Temple was built by King Munmu, whose underwater tomb we visited earlier.  He did not complete it. Instead, his son King Sinmun completed this temple. Legend has it that he built a space under the golden hall of the temple for his reincarnated father (in the form of a sea dragon!) to have easy access.

Once again, the tour guide of the City Bus Tour handed us a English Language brochure describing the Gameunsa Temple and we went off to do the exploration on our own.

Twin pagodas in front of the Golden Hall (now flatten).

Whatever that is remains of the Golden Hall.

The Pagoda is 13.4m tall. Three layer structure is typical of the pagoda design in those times.

Details under the 3 layered structure.

We had enough time to explore the site before boarding the bus to visit the Traditional Silk Worm Pavilion.  I have visited similar facilities before so this visit was not something really fascinating for me.  I  shot some photos of the silkworm cocoons from which smooth soft silk is spurned from.

Silk worms are fed mulberry leaves until they turned into pupa and hid themselves in these cocoons. The cocoons are boiled.

Silk Worm pupae are found inside these cocoons. These pupae are high in protein and is a good feed for Koi (Japanese Carp).

Spinning silk from boiled silkworm cocoons.

From here, we went to our last attraction for the day, the Golgulsa Temple.

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Gyeongju-Busan-Seoul Day 3 ( Part 5) – visit to Golgulsa (Stone BuddhaTemple) with the Gyeongju City Tour Bus

5 May 2012  

The Golgulsa (Stone Buddha Temple) would the final place of interest in our Gyeongju City Bus Tour. The bus parked at the foot of a hill where Golgulsa is located. We were the last few passengers that alighted from the bus but the guide was nowhere to be seen.  We reckoned she had led some members of the group up the path to the temple without waiting for all passengers to alight.

The temple was located halfway up a hill and it was an inclined walk up. By now, we were feeling a little tired, even though we did not walk as much as yesterday. We took our time to make our way up to the temple. Along the way, we could see a large Budhha sculptured on the face of the rocky hill, several hundred feet up, to our right.

Steep inclined walk up to the temple.

Our destination, Golgulsa amongst the greenery.

View of the Buddha, sculptured on the rocky face of the hill.

We finally made it to the temple. There was a scheduled performance of Zen martial arts (Sunmudo) by the monks. Golgulsa is a major centre for learning of these martial arts. 

Now I understood why the guide was in such a hurry. She did not want us to miss the performances.

Zen Martial Art performance.

We found a seat to rest and watch the performance from afar.

There were steps leading up the rock cliff to the Buddha. On my own, I may have made the climb up the steep steps to the Buddha above the temple but decided to give it a miss this time.

We made our way slowly down the path, before the end of the performance. The walk down was better.

Pretty flowers with black butterfly in contrast. Shot on the way down from the temple.

The walk down was not without peril. Near the bottom, there were many small caterpillars hanging down by a silk thread from the branches above. Some got on my body.

Sculpture of a Smiling Buddha and a dog with rosary beads round its neck – located at the foot of the hill.

The Smiling Buddha had a small caterpillar on his face.

The visit to the temple marked the end of the Gyeongju City Bus Tour. There were a couple of other Gyeongju City us Tours ending here as well. The guides organised us into a few groups – those heading to the SinGyeongju KTX Station, those going back to the hotels in the Bomun Resort and those heading to the city center. We followed one of the bus that would bring us to the city centre as our plan was to have dinner in town.

Overall, the Gyeongju City Bus Tour was an very cost effective and time effective way of seeing the many cultural and historic sites within Gyeongju in a day. 

Note: Check the latest itineraries, schedule and prices for the Gyeongju City Bus Tours here.

We ended the day with a delicious but expensive Korean Beef BBQ dinner in downtown Gyeongju before taking the public bus back to our hotel (Hyundai Hotel) in the Bomun Resort area.

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Gyeongju-Busan-Seoul Day 4 – Hiking Mount Namsan through the Samneung valley

6 May 2012

From the official Visit Korea website,

“Namsan Mountain is generally referred to as a museum without walls with about 100 temple locations, 80 stone Buddha, and 60 stone pagodas. Because the cultural assets are scattered around, it would easily take a month to see them all. Therefore, it is best to plan a hike that can cover most of what you want to see”.

So, after some research, we decided to take the recommended route for first timers - the hiking route through the Samneungol Valley. This place has the largest collection of Buddhist relics amongst the 40 valleys of Mt. Namsan.

From the Bomun Resort, we took Bus #11 to the city centre, alighting near the Gyeongju train station, crossed the road and catch any of the following bus (#500 to #508, except #502). But first, a quick stop at a convenience store near the bus-stop to buy a bottle of water and 2 Snickers bar. This is to help sustain us for the trip.

We got off at the right stop with the aid of the Korean-language in-bus announcement before each stop. Just need to listen for the keyword “Samneung”. There were other hikers, so it was easy not to miss the stop.

We arrived at 8.45 am and it was a cool and clear morning. Perfect for the hike.

Trail leading into the Samneung valley and the three royal tombs.

The name “Samneung” comes from the three Royal Tombs at the entrance of the Samneungol Valley, which is the start of the trail.  A short distance into the trail, we came to the 3 tombs. The tombs are like those we saw at the Tumuli Park, same shape but smaller in size.

Three Royal Tomb at Samneung Valley.

This signpost is interesting and looked familiar. We saw similar stone tablets outside the Sampo Ssambap restaurant a few days back.

It was easy going at the trail head and we soon came to the first Buddhist relic in the valley, a headless stone statue.

Taking a rocky path, located on the left of this statue, will lead uphill to another relic, a Gwaneumbosal (Goddess of Mercy) carved out the rock cliff. 

We met a Korean woman, sitting solemnly on the foot of the Gwaneumbosal, praying. We did not linger here and quietly left after taking a few photos from a distance.

Gwaneumbosal (Goddess of Mercy) carved out the rock cliff. 

Next up, we came to a clearing in front of a natural rock wall. Six Buddhist images were carved in lines on two large rocks forming the “wall”. The lines were faint and it was not easy to see the entire picture.

Yukjonbul Carved on Rock Surface. On one rock is the central Buddha, franked by two kneeling Bodhisvattvas. On another rock, the main Buddha is seated on a lotus pedastal, franked by two seated Bodhisvattvas. It was difficult to make out the faint lines on the rocks.

This trail is popular with hikers.  We met many groups along the same trail. It was quite well signposted, so a detailed map was not really needed. We just needed to be observant, and spotting the next Buddhist relic along the trail became sort of like a “treasure hunt”. Every relic was a checkpoint on our journey up the trail.

Seated Stone Buddha of Samneung Valley.

Next up, was a stone statue of a Buddha sitting cross-legged on a lotus pedestal with a halo behind. We were now about half-way up to the top of Mount Namsan.

We took a short rest break here and shared a Snickers bar between us.

Taking a rest break at the site of the Seated Stone Buddha of Samneung Valley.

From here, the trail started getting steeper and steeper. We met a Korean couple who were man-packing their child and a knapsack up the trail. Impressed by their fitness!

Over-taken by a man carrying his child on his back and his wife carrying a knapsack. The woman was carrying the child on the earlier part of the trail. Here, the going gets tough.

This part of the trail was steep and strenuous. Fortunately, some parts have man-made steps. The steep slope led us to the Sangseonam hermitage. Many hikers were resting here, after the steep climb to get here.

Sangseonam hermitage – a good resting place before making the final push to the summit.

After the hermitage, we followed a marked trail to the top. We were looking out for the “Ma-ae-seokga-yeorae-jwasang,” a large relief carving of a seated Sakyamuni, looking out over Gyeongju. But we came to the top without seeing the relic. We were thinking that we could have missed a signpost. Never mind, we would try to spot it on the way down.

This is still not the peak but high enough for panoramic views of the Gyeongju landscape.

View of the Geumojeong Pavilion in the distance along the ridgeline.

We continued along the trail, this time along the ridge of the Namsan and we finally saw the large relief carving of a seated Sakyamuni, looking out over Gyeongju. Anyone, not specifically looking out for it will tend to miss seeing this impressive piece of stone carving.

“Ma-ae-seokga-yeorae-jwasang,” a relief carving of a seated Sakyamuni, looking out over Gyeongju.

We saw a trail leading to the site of the Sakyamuni but it was fenced off. Else, we would have gone to the foot of the Buddha. We later learnt that this site was used as a filming location for one scene in the Korean drama Queen Seondeok.

It was an almost level walk of some distance along the ridge of the mountain range before we came to a stone marker informing us that we had made it to the top. It was about 11.40 AM as we took the mandatory “Jeff was here” photo. 468m above sea level, I think the sign said.

Stone marker at the Geumobong Peak.

We found a shady spot and sat on some rocks to take our “lunch” consisting of the remaining Snicker bar and half a bottle of water.

The Koreans were much better prepared logistically. Groups of Korean men and women were having their picnic at the top. Korean food, thermos flash of hot water/tea, even oranges, grapes, and other goodies came out from their knapsack as they sat down in circles to enjoy their lunch.

We decided to go down the same way we came. If we were physically fitter, we would have attempted to go down via another trail, perhaps one that leads to the Chibulam hermitage on the other side of the Mount Namsan. The way down took only slightly shorter time as we have to factor in our poor footwear which makes getting down a bit trickier on the sandy slopes. Also, we were more tired now. Every step requiring more mental effort than before.

By the time we reached the main road, it was 2 PM.  We saw a large banner informing visitors that some scenes from the popular Korean TV drama series “Queen Seondeok” was shot on Mount Namsan.

Banner showing scenes from Queen Seondeok. The location was the “Ma-ae-seokga-yeorae-jwasang,” a relief carving of a seated Sakyamuni, looking out over Gyeongju.

There were kalguksu restaurants near the entrance to the Samneung valley. Kalguksu is handmade, knife-cut wheat flour noodles served in a large bowl with broth.

We found one easily and ordered two different varieties of noodle soup to share.

Kalguksu with clear broth.

Kalguksu with milky broth.

After all the physical exertions, these steaming hot noodles with broth were heavenly!

After our late lunch, we took the public buses back to town and to our hotel for a well-earned evening nap.

Acknowledgements: My trip up Mount Namsan was planned with the help of information from the following blogs:

1. Sherwinv Jones’ Blog - http://www.sherwinvjones.com/gyeongjublog/2010/10/hiking-namsan-samneung-valley/

2. Geongju Love - http://gyeongjulove.blogspot.sg/2011/06/mountain-made-of-divine-being-climbing.html

3. http://english.visitkorea.or.kr/enu/SI/SI_EN_3_1_1_1.jsp?cid=806320

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Gyeongju-Busan-Seoul Day 5 (Part 1) – Morning visit to Bulguksa Temple in Gyeongju

7 May 2012

The best time to visit the Bulguksa Temple is in the early morning and that was what we did on our last day in Gyeongju. We took bus #10 from Hyundai Hotel in the Bomun Resort area and alighted near the temple. There was little signage showing the way to the temple from the bus stop. Buddhist temple were mostly located on high ground, so we walked in the general direction that led us uphill. Soon enough, we came to a path, flanked by cherry trees, leading to the temple.

Upon entry, we were greeted by two pairs of fierce looking giant figures on both sides of the entrance gate. The Chinese characters translate into  “ Heavenly King Gate”.

Fierce looking figures guarding both sides of the entrance.

Figure holding a dragon on right hand and the dragon’s pearl on the left.

We then walked along a footpath leading to the main temple site. The path was well-lined with tall trees with red and green leaves. We crossed over stone bridges laid over ponds and came to the main site. At this time of the morning, the temple was not crowded and the whole place was quite serene and nice.

Overview of the Bulguksa Temple site from brochure.

Cheongungyo - 18 step lower staircase with dividing line in the middle. The upper staircase is called the Baegungyo.  (Number 1 in map above).

Peaceful and serene in the morning – best time to visit the Bulguksa. Center pavilion is called the Beomyoungru (number 9 in map above).

Archway beneath the Cheongungyo.

Beomyoungru (number 9 in map above).

Walking around we saw some columns and a stone tub with carved patterns on the outside and lotus flowers in the inside. History of the stone tub is unknown.

One must admire the beautiful and colourful traditional Korean wooden roof architecture.

Colourfully painted and detailed Lotus.

We passed through a red wooden door and came into the main courtyard. 

Red wooden door and hallway, with the dragon-carp wooden drum at the back.

Door knocker

On the left, there was a Wooden dragon-cum-carp drum. In Chinese mythology, there is myth of a carp transforming into a dragon by crossing the dragon’s gate. This is a cultural symbol for courage, perseverance, and accomplishment.

Wooden dragon-cum-carp drum.

 Wooden drum on a turtle’s back.

The main courtyard featured the two famous white granite pagodas in Bulguksa. They were the Seokgatap Pagoda and Dabotap Pagoda.

Three Storied Stone Pagoda of Bulguksa - Seokgatap Pagoda.

Dabotap Pagoda – featured in the back of the 10 Won coin.

Dae-ung-jon (Great Enlightenment Hall) - interesting roof shape of the traditional Korean buildings.

Sakyamuni Buddha in the Dae-ung-jon (Great Enlightenment Hall).

We took the opportunity to pay respect to the Buddha and made a small donation to the temple.

Behind the Great Enlightenment Hall, we found another hall with an interesting name. It is called the Mu-Seol-jeon or  “No-Word Hall” after translating the Chinese text into English. A sign said “the Moo-sol-jon is a hall for lecturing.

It is called the “Moo-sol” (no-word/non-lecturing) hall because it is impossible to express and reach the essence of the Buddha’s teachings or the depth of Truth though the means of language.”

Mu-Seol-jeon or “No-Word Hall (number 4 in map).

No-word Hall or Museoljeon.

We then went up a steep flight of steps to the Gwaneumjeon.

Up to stairs to the Gwaneumjeon.

Gwaneumjeon – seems to be the highest point within Bulgaksa

Birojeon – number 6 in above map.

Near the Birojeon, we saw the Sarira Pagoda, stone stacks and even a cute little squirrel.

Sarira Pagoda of Bulguksa that looked like a stone lantern. It has intricate carvings of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas sitting on lotus.  The cap is hexagonal (what’s left of it). The pedestal is an octagonal lotus motif.

Stacked stones along a temple wall behind the Birojeon.

Painted “Door Gods” – making sure what is beyond the doors are off limits

On the way out of the temple, we saw this beautiful combination of green and red leaves in the trees above. Nice Old versus New combination.  A perfect end to our visit.

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