Day Three: April 17

So, Gyeonju is sort of cool.  It was the captail of the Silla dynastry (one of the three kingdoms in Korea in the BC years...) from 57 BC to 668 AD, at which point Silla conquered the entire pennisula and it became capital of all Korea (until 918, anyhow).  Accordingly, it has a lot more visible history than most Korean cities.

Yesterday, I joined forces with some travellers at the hostel (two European students studying in Seoul and a Malaysian tourist) and visited a few sites.  Some highlights:

Tumuli Park: a collection of Silla tombs; large grassy hillocks containing remains and treasures.  These are similar to the "civilian" tombs in the hills, but a whole lot bigger.

Wolesong Park: containing a neat seventh century astrological observatory.

Anjapi Pond: Picteruesque artificial (though very old) pond created in 674 ad.

Gyermin Forest:  A forest?  A forest!

Earlier today I set off with Ming, that Malaysian gentleman to visit some sites a little bit outside of the city limits.  We visited Bulguksa temple, which (again) sort of blends into the whole Korean temple junket, but also Seokguram Grotto, which is a very impressive statue of the Buddha surrounded by images and statues of more than three dozen dieties and protectors.  Getting to the site of the grotto required a bit of work, but it was worth the effort.

I'm in Samcheok now, which reminds me that I should include a scorecard for today:

2:30 pm bus, Gyeongju to Samcheok, 3 1/2 hours.

I hunted around for a Yeoinsuk (sleep on the floor, share a bathroom) that the Lonely Plent tells me has beds for twenty bucks a night, but I don't think that it exists anymore.  I was able to find a Lovel Motel, though, with thirty dollar rooms.  It's the cheapest in town, I think, and the private bath will allow me to do some laundry later on.

Samcheok, 8:38 pm