Gyeongju

Steve and I took a tour of Gyeongju that showed us many places you can only really get to by car or bus.

The very first place we went to was Gwoereung Tomb. What you see above is three statues (which are echoed on the other side) of two lions (one not shown) a learned man and a warrior statue.
This is one of the many Chinese Zodiac signs that were carved into the encasement of the tomb.

Steve standing next to a learned man.

This is the tomb from a distance. This is actually a kings tomb. King Weonseong, the 38th king of the Silla (which is the three kingdoms united). It seems the bigger the tombs are the more important they were.

The guide book went on a bit about this statue. We are in the North East part of Asia and yet the statue is said to bare resemblance to that of a Middle Eastern man. There are two of these statues and they both echo this ideal.
This was actually taken outside the Seokguram Grotto. This was actually the coolest thing I've seen since I've been in Korea. BUT they don't allow you to take photo's (although Steve was bad and took a video), so I bought a photo because I was that taken with it.

The Grotto is a world heritage site because of several things. First off it's a fake grotto (a grotto is a caveish type of place) the temple was built to look like a grotto. As in built then covered in dirt. Secondly it has the most exquisite temple art I have seen. The Buddha itself is considered a master piece. After standing in front of it in awe I quite agree.
Buddha's birthday is in two weeks at this time.

This is the Gameunsaji temple site. It famously has two of these pagoda's..........but I'm showing this one because the other was under repair and in a large tent with pictures of it on the sides.
The temple was designed to have space under it so that King Munmu's spirit could pass underneath it. King Munmu was (quite famously) buried in an under water tomb..........but it just looks like a bunch of rocks from the shore. Is it bad I expected more? He wanted to be buried there so that he could protect Korea as a dragon. I think he was sleeping when the Japanese invaded......again.
This is a Buddhist dog........you can tell by the beaded collar.

This was taken on the way up to Golgulsa Temple. We only got to spend a short amount of time here (much more was needed!!!). This temple had various mountain carvings surrounding the temple. So much so that they have created a system of railings and passages to get to the carvings.
And this is what it looks like from about half way up to get to them.

This is the statue that is protected by a glass dome over head. It's the largest and the most detailed carving that we saw.
This is me rubbing Buddha's belly. I said I'd do it, now here's the proof!!!

These are the gate keepers to Bulguksa Temple. There were two others but Steve like this one because of the wee dragon.

These people are stacking stones in a similar fashion to that of a pagoda. My co teacher told me it was for luck. If the stones you stack do not fall you will gain it.

Hey I figured I could use the luck.
As you know it is the year of the golden pig. This was a statue at one of the entrances. Close up it looked like an odd combo of a golden rat and pig. Saves money I guess to slightly alter Statues that only get used in say.......600 years.
This is a series of pictures showing Steve indulging in a rare treat.......silk worm larva. I've tried them before this and although edible it's not gonna make an entry into Western snacks any time soon.

I still can't believe he had to go back for more. He did this because he thought initially there was no taste...........he was wrong.