My trip to Gyeong-ju

I only just managed to make it to Gyeong-ju. I stopped by the bank in order to get some more cash for my trip, and I got to the end of the line at the train station at 18:39. My train was scheduled to depart at 18:41 and the Korean train system is ridiculously prompt. Some kind souls pushed me to the front of the line and I lucked out that my train was 5 minutes late, but that didn't stop me from having a heart attack when I sprinted down the escalator only to see a train pulling away from my track.

As I stared out the windows, I thought a lot about all that I am going to miss in Korea. This trip to Gyeong-ju is by far the most adventurous thing that I have done while I was in Korea, and well, moving to Korea was the most brave thing that I have ever done in my life, so I was just all kinds of adventurous this weekend.

I never got to do all the things that I wanted to do here. I ran the marathon and I have to admit that it is my crowning achievement, but the long training hours and the required routes kept me from going anywhere except to Seoul for short weekend day trips.

As the mountains outside my windows grew bigger, and as the sun set, I wished that I had more of a chance to get to know them. I spent so long being miserable here. I was all alone - without my family, without my friends, without David - and now, now that it is almost over, I wish I could stay.

Gyeong-ju was amazing. I wish I had more time to explore everything. I guess the best place to start is to tell you about the mood of Gyeong-ju.... Well, its very.... peaceful. Relaxed. Even the throngs of people can't ruffle her feathers.

I kept thinking about how different Geyong-ju was from Seoul. I wondered why. I came to think of Gyeong-ju as a halmonee (a Korean grandmother). As the ancient capitol of Silla ( the ancestors of Koreans), Gyeong-ju has been around since the 7th century. She has seen it all. She is dignified, stately, and even elegant in her age - but not unapproachable - quite the opposite - the cherry blossoms everywhere are cheerful decorations.

If Gyeong-ju is the grandmother, then Seoul is the teenager. Seoul is brash, sexy, and always living fast-paced and on the edge. This is not to say that Seoul does not have extreme cultural significance to Korea, but Gyeong-ju hit its peak about 600 years before Seoul became the capitol of Korea. I laugh because I can almost hear Gyeong-ju telling Seoul that she needs to grow up and stop acting and dressing so slutty.

I arrived on Friday night and my return train was scheduled for 12:51 pm on Sunday afternoon. Only a day and a half to explore. I chose three major areas - giving myself a half day for each. First on my list was Bulguksa temple. I went to the bus stop the owner of my hostel told me to and took the bus that he told me to. All was going well until I got a little trigger happy and got off at the "Bulguksa station" stop. The temple was actually 4 kilometers down the road. I did eventually get there, and it was magnificent. Each beautiful detail was significant to the Buddhist ideals of balance and harmony. Along one path were hundreds of rock piles. Literally thousands of small rocks were carefully stacked one on top of the other representing the Buddhist belief that while stacking you must clear your mind and meditate on harmony and your oneness with nature. Only then will you be able to find balance. You could enter the shrines in each of the buildings on the compound and pay your respects to this spiritual leader of so many millions of people around the world. You were not allowed to take any pictures of the Buddha statues themselves, but they were magnificent; shining brightly with chubby golden smiles.

Once I had finished meandering through the compound, I took the bus back in to the main part of town. I had decided that the second half of my day would be spent in the many many cultural remains of the of the Silla dynasty. I decided to take a taxi to the farthest point and work my way in. First up: the Gyeong-ju National Museum. It was interesting, but I was a little bored with the Natural History wing. I have little patience for case after case of tools, although I do appreciate the importance of their uses. The pottery, paintings, and jewelery wings were more to my taste. You should have seen some of the things excavated from some of these tombs.

Next was Anapji pond. Gorgeous and completely designed by man. It was landscaped for a palace that has long since been distroyed. The pond had to be drained some years back to make some repairs to the conduit system and the city workers found piles and piles of artifacts such as gold and bronze foodware that must have been dropped in the lake by the servants as they were transporting the picnics to the little islands for the royal family.

Third on my list, was the Cheomseongdae Observatory. The observatory is the oldest in Asia and was built by Queen Seondeok during the 7th century.I think I loved it so much because the park around it was so amazing. There were HUGE fields of bright green and yellow flowers, and large crowds of Korean families were flying hundreds of kites. I eventually went back to this park and flew a kite myself!

I had planned on going to the Daereungwon Tomb park, but to be quite honest, there are so many tombs scattered around the Gyeong-ju area that I got a little confused...I ended up in the Gyerim forest where Kim Alji, the founder of the Gyeong-ju Kim clan was said to have been born out of an egg.The trees in this forest are supposed to be over 2000 years old, and yet, they are still flowering.

I finally found the Tomb park, and got to go inside the Cheonmachong tomb (the flying horse tomb). Many of the artifacts from the National Museum came from this king's tomb, but the fact that I liked learning about the most, was that many of the tombs in Gyeong-ju are un-excavated! Can you even imagine the treasures that could be inside? I sort of like the idea that there are some places that we will never know about.

I walked back to my hostel and Mr. Kwon recommended the traditional sauna about 50 meters away. He said that after an hour of scrubbing, steaming, and soaking I would be ready for tomorrow's adventure. I had never been to one of the traditional bathhouses before, but I had always wanted to, so I walked over. $4.50 and I was in....and totally lost. I had no idea what to do. There were tons of lockers, but they all contained shower caddies full of supplies...should I use one? should I have brought my own stuff? After standing around awkwardly in the entrance hall for no less than five minutes, one of the ladies who worked there took pity on me and led me inside. She gave me a locker, and motioned for me to strip. I gulped. I knew this would happen and that it was totally normal for Koreans so I shouldn't feel self conscious, but taking off those last two, very important, articles of clothing and those first few minutes as the worker led me into the sauna room where no less than 20 women were nakedly lounging or washing was excruciating. I have to admit...within ten minutes I was no longer worrying about it. A few people were interested in the Caucasion, and I was fascinated by the process, but other than that, I was over it. Odd.

This morning I decided to hike Mt. Namsan.

Now, this - this was the most amazing experience of my whole trip. Try to imagine. It looks simple and straighforward enough. There is a clearly worn trail up the mountain that you can follow to the peak, but if you have the inclination, there are tiny little paths going off into the forest.I had heard that there were amazing Buddhist carvings hidden on Namsan, and I curiously scaled these paths where I found the most amazing sight: Buddha. There were at least six or seven that I saw on my all too short trip. Ancient Buddhist statues - some staring solemnly, some smiling benignly, but all keeping watch over the mountain. Purple flowers were clustered everywhere; they were the only splashes of color against the sheer rock faces and pine forests. At about 2/3rds of the way up the mountain, You came to a tiny little Buddhist hermitage precariously balanced on the rocks. The two little old women tending to the gardens and the alter had set a dipper next to the well for any thirsty hiker. There was a cherry tree, the only one I had seen on the whole mountain and it was stationed in between the two buildings at the crest of one rise. It dropped its petals on the hikers as they huffed their way up. I watched as a few hikers stopped to bow in front of the alter before continuing on, and I did the same. Farther up the mountain, almost at the top, the next Buddha statue that I came across was the most impressive of them all. 7 feet tall, and had you not been looking, you might have missed him. His face and head was prominent, but his arms and lower body seemed to sink into the stone and eventually become one with it. This Buddha had the most incredible view. He sat on sheer rock face with a natural stone ledge where worshipers could gather or rest. Candles were burning at his feet, and you could smell the faint scent of incense, probably put there by one of the monks from the hermitage. I did eventually get to the top, which was such an overwhelming experience.

You know, I can't help but be so glad that this was the last image that I had of Gyeong-ju. I may never return to South Korea, but I am better for being here.