After Seoul, I visited a more relaxed historic town called Gyeongju, known as a “museum without walls” due to the abundance of historical and archeological sites.
While in Seoul we can see the heritage of the Joseon dynasty in all its glory, Gyeongju was the capital of the ancient Silla kingdom, dating back to the 7th to 9th century when it was at its highest moment, although it ruled for about 1000 years.
From this perspective, it is also historical but the temples, the history and their dynasties were diferent from those in the current capital. These were the roots of the unified Korea as we know it today and holds many of their national treasures.
There is a whole culture and even “branding” around this you could see everywhere using the old kings characters for many signs. At least I found that funny, cute and very clever! In Korea they make an effort to make many things super cute and it does not mean only new things, but they use it also to refer to the past!. If the Silla kingdom is the hot topic here, let´s use it everywhere! Why not?
What brought me to this city was the “traditional” word. This seemed to be the place to go for older version of Korea and see many old korean houses. While this remains true, the city´s true position is the cultural capital of the past, so it works for both purposes 😉 And yes it can be touristy and you can tell, but I was greatly surprised of how well they preserve and use technology to recreate their past.
Woljeonggyo Bridge
One of my favorite places was Woljeonggyo Bridge, it is equally beautiful at day and night when the reflection on the river becomes truly magical, just as much as crossing the bridge like the royalty did 1000 years ago! It was also important for the silk road back in the days.
It was built during the unified Silla kingdom period (AD 676-935) but.. surprise! after being burned down by the Joseon dynasty (the ones I will share in Seoul) it was rebuilt in 2018 to become the biggest wooden bridge in South Korea. The research alone took 2 years during the 80´s, and the actual recontruction happened in 2 periods : 2008 to 2013 and finally 2016 to 2018 for the last touches.
Being “renewed” this recently pays off as you can admire it in all its glory but it remains true to its original location and architecture according to the studies! I wished we could afford to rebuild all important landmarks from the past in the world but obviously this is not always feasible for all sorts of reasons.
Korea does a lot of this and BRAVO for that! I just didnt imagine how much they keep working till present days to not just preserve but bring back such landmakrs!
Gyeongju Gyochon Traditional Village
This is a small hanok village built around the Gyeongju Choi Clan, a family known to have maintained their wealth for over 12 generations by keeping the traditional korean lifestyle. It´s also where the house of Silla Princess Yoseok is.
For me, it was rather just a nice walk and enjoying once again such beautiful architecture. You can tell some of those are well maintained for tourism, some do look older but they all preserve the original location and architecture. I had good photo opportunities and did not focus too much on the family history ;D (shame on me!)
Bulguksa temple
Bulguksa Buddhist temple was added to the UNESCO World Heritage list in 1995 and it represents Korean Buddhism of the Jogye order, finished in 774 by the Silla royal court.
Not surprisingly again, due to wars in the past the wooden buildings were destroyed and have been rebuilt in the last centuries; however the stone structures are still preserved from original construction.
In this type of places it´s hard to imagine how much it has been destroyed and reconstructed, or why a certain pagoda for example is so important. It becomes more evident when you see a temple that is fully painted and looking relatively new compared to the old but still standing stone structures.
I always admit I am not the biggest fan of archeology topics, but even so I am always impressed when I know the place I am visiting was destroyed at some point and yet I am there to see it.
Many times history is just wiped out in a second and it cannot be reverted, so it´s always “nice” to see places where it was possible to be rebuilt to preserve its meaning, tradition and architecture.
As any other active temple you can witness buddhist people visiting and paying their respect to the different Buddhas. This religion played a major role in the kindgom unification at the time, therefore it´s possible to find many Buddhist temples in this part of Korea mostly in the foot of the mountains, this is no exception to it.
I am always drawn to color (and I insist, who does not?) and that is something I liked in the Korean temples, interior designs are so pretty not just in palaces but also in temples, especially in the renovated or new ones you can see the full colors and contrasts, everything from the walls and even more impressively the ceilings when fully repainted. This was a common element in all the temples I visited in Korea.
Gyeongju National Museum
Many of the original items from excavations, palaces and temples are in the museum. If I could choose now, maybe it´s better to see the sites and then see the originals in the museum but it also works the other way around. The museum is a great way to understand in a glimpse the history of the place and see original pieces of the places you will visit or have visited.
One of the most important items are the golden Silla crowns found in the royal tombs, as well as multiple Buddhas recovered from the temples in the mountains. I always find this fascinating! If not taking a tour, then museum is an absolute must to get a better idea of the region.
Cheomseongdae observatory
Cheomseongdae is the oldest surviving astronomical observatory in Asia, and possibly even the world according to Wikipedia wisdom 😉 Like everything else here, historic is the key word as well as the Silla kingdom. This was considered very advanced by those times.
On a more modern touch, they were preparing a huge garden of tulips and other flowers. Not fully ready by my visit but pretty decent progress to admire already by the observatory.
Royal tombs
Here I must admit, again.. prior to the trip I was not understanding this, they just looked like hills in photos but again due to beauty of travelling I was proven wrong 😉
The whole key topic I keep repeating is how old this is, I have seen different types of royal tombs or ways to honor kings / important people in many places and yet this was new or first time for me.
I´d say it´s something like the egyptian pyramid concept except it´s covered with earth layers until it looks just like a small hill on purpose. Inside they have a proper wooden chamber with the belongings of the relevant royalty. So once again this is the most important archeological site in South Korea, finding such tombs, crowns and artifacts in the burial chamber is Korea´s equivalent to the more famous egyptian pyramids meaning.
They have discovered in total 23 tombs but only 3 are open to the public and I visited one. They create unexpectedly amazing views and beautiful gardens to just walk around. This surprised me for good. You read about the tombs and bla bla but really the parks are gorgeous and like everything else in this city, beatifully lit.
Donggung Palace and Wolji Pond
Very close to the National Museum is the Donggung Palace & Wolji Pond. To be completely honest, having visited the Seoul palaces already this was by initial impression less impressive BUT then you have remember a basic principle: this is old!! and in reality its value is more archeological.
It was the second palace of the crown prince of the Silla Kindgom (royal problems, you know?). The pond includes three small islands and 12 small hills.
You can still appreciate and see standing buildings and the ponds but only in the museum you get to understand the real proportion of the original site.
Staying in a Hanok
Something you can do in South Korea is saying in a traditional Hanok pension., which I did in this city. Similar to the Ryokans in Japan, these can be either truly original houses that have been preserved over time, or new constructions using traditional Korean design oriented to tourism, but preserving such designs for more centuries to come!
Ondol heating system
The floor heating system used traditionally in Korea is called ondol and has existed for thousands of years. It is believed to have initiated in the Bronze era based on archeological findings. It´s a smart re-use of the heat from fireplaces (for example from the kitchen) where the smoke is connected to a serious of channels that travel underneath the floor; designed in such a way that it´s small enough to absorb the hot smoke and distribute it without letting the cold air in when the fire is over. An important part in keeping the heat are the stones and bricks inbuilt in system.
Not only is this genious for the main purpose of keeping people warm… let us remember Korea can get really cold in winter!.. but it is also beneficial to keep unwanted animals like rats, insects, and even keeping bugs away from the garden when the small amount of smoke escaping the channels would act as pest control! It´s all win-win!
Nowadays the system in korean houses may not be exactly the same and it´s not relying on the hot smoke anymore, but hot water pipes are installed underneath the floors instead of a fireplace and channels for the smoke. However the principle is the same and it´s believed to have benefits for our circulation too!
My hanok was announced as “traditional ondol heated floor” so I believe it 😉 At least I can verify the floor was super warm and the feeling was great. This was early spring in Korea, which means the nights and morning were still pretty chilly.
The owners or people responsible for the place do not speak English, which is fun! (depending what type of traveller you are).. for me there is no better reminder that you are thousands of miles away from your comfort zone that not understanding the language to communicate the basics. It feels less touristy, more authentic and going back to the roots of using your hands or anything that comes to mind to express something. Nowadays translators and Wifi are a big plus but still at some point some “acting” is more efficient!
Advice: Book early enough!
By the time I booked it, the hanok accomodations were limited and I stayed relatively away from the action. (that also contributed to my crazy walking) Closer to the city center I saw some jaw dropping hanoks but everything was unavailable. Due to its nature of not being a regular hotel with many rooms, they are sold quickly. I´m still happy with my choice which was isolated but something closer to the city center would have been appreciated for the logistics 🙂
In general for Hanoks in Korea and Ryokans in Japan, it is important to consider such special accomodations way in advance to secure your right combination of location / budget. Even the fanciest ones would be booked so you have to be fast! If anybody interested this was called Gyeongju Wadamjung Hanok Pension
BONUS track: Gyeongju city choir!
I was lucky to be in the right place at the right time, as I was heading to the bus station to buy my ticket to Busan. I heard a noise and saw a crowd, so obviously went to check it out!
It turned out to be the city choir giving a concert for free! I cannot explain why but I always get so emotional when I run into such performances in foreign countries! The passion for music is simply universal!! I loved the voices and the small and fun coreographies.
.. Just walking around..
I feel there are many things to say about Gyeongju and I will never finish, some last pictures!
How to get to Gyeongju?
I travelled by fast speed train (KTX) from Seoul station to Singyeongju station, from there it´s half an hour bus to the city center, or 15 minute by taxi.
When I took a bus, I either made a mistake or just panicked as the map seemed to be going further and further away from city center so I got off where I saw some hotels to ask for a taxi oops.. so using this option DO check in advance what city bus number takes you downtown, or just take taxi! Aparaently it was not expesive at all and could have saved me some time ;D
The fast train arrives close to the city but not exactly in city center.. or you take the normal train going to Gyeongju station but you have to change trains at some point. Bus would be an option but it takes longer time so I would still recommed the fast train that gets you there in less than 3 hours.
Things I would do differently
Because nobody asked… my self-liked section of lessons learned or things to do differently in my humble experience 🙂
Day tour is adviced!
If you are very organized with your time and self-planning everything, it is doable to plan the sites using local buses 10 or 11 that go to most of the sites, however you do need to think about the timelines, waiting times, etc.. which can eat a lot of your time. I only took the bus when it was not an option at all to walk (Bulguksa temple), but otherwise all possible attractions and historical sites are wide spread.
Walkable city center? mmm YES, but even then you have to plan the right sequence which I did not do well and ended up walking for an insane amount of time just to go from place A to B. I don´t mind walking all day as long as it makes sense ;D but knowing you are in the middle of nowhere did not help.
Planning right sequence in advance
For example, I visited the National Museum which is a short walk from Donggung Palace and Wolji Pond. I was already there…. nice… but then I remembered the recommendation to also visit the site during the night because the light is beautiful. Something to notice is tickets are not per day but individual entrances; if you are interetsed in the night version a good way to do it is at sunset to get both versions. On day 1 I was already so tired I did not want to come back again some hours later, so I went the day after. Something simple like this would have been more efficient if I plan the museum just before sunset and go straight to the Wolji pond.
So what? Even for someone who claims to love walking and having free time, I do recommend taking a day tour at least to take advantage of logistics and transportaton to the places that are far away. This way you get to see more on the coast for example, and other places I missed. Then you can just walk in the evening to the sites close to the city center and concentrate on the beautifully illuminated sites on your own. Even for that there are “night tours” if you really don´t want to walk at all, so also a consideration.
Rent a bike!
I regret not doing it when I arrived, I saw some places but the thing is I did not start exactly in city center and it was not very clear for me what was the actual center so I kept walking to fund my way on day 1. Long story short, there were many opportunities to rent bikes for a full day, this way I guarantee seeing all the places in the city center would have been much easier. Also the paths by the river are beautiful!
….
If you got to this point, thanks for reading me! CHEERS! Nat
Nice 🙂