A map of our travel route
We travelled to Gyeongju by bus, which took exactly 4 hrs. I brought enough snacks to feed a small army, so Rupali, Mike, Nick and I spent almost the entire ride eating. Poor Collin, Hannah and Pip were at the front of the bus; too far away to partake in the snacking.We arrived late Friday night, so we found a cheap motel ($25/night each, 2/room), had some food and went to bed. Early Saturday morning we went to Bulgulksa, a Buddhist Temple that was a 20 minute bus ride from our hotel.
The entrance to the main hall, which has 33 stairs, representing the 33 stages of enlightenment.
A turtle with a large Drum on his back
View from the mountains above Bulguksa (at the entrance to the Seokguram Grotto) In the distance you can see the Sea of Japan!
The Seokguram Grotto. Sakyamuni Buddha sits in a rotunda in the mountain behind the building, surrounded by over three dozen guardians and lesser dieties. Both the room he is in and himself are carved out of solid granite. Unfortunately he was behind a pane of glass, and we weren't allowed to take pictures
A roof tile that we bought to commemorate our visit. When the caretakers replace the tiles on the roofs it will go up!
During the Shilla Dynasty (4th Century), important people were cremated, and their urns were placed in burial mounds (such as these shown below), along with miniature versions of the objects the used in life (like the pyramids). This picture was taken from on top of one of the mounds (yes I know, I'm defacing Korean history... but there weren't any signs saying not to go up!)
The group (minus Collin) in front of one of the mounds 
On our second day we decided to hike up Samneung, which is part of Central Namsan Mountain. All along the mountain there were Buddhas carved out of the rock face, and little altars set up in front of them. As well, all of the plants and trees were labeled so that you knew what everything was.
Pine trees at the beginning of the hike up Samneung
A Buddhist monk's chant, emanating from these speakers, was a great inspiration to keep going at the half-way mark. Too bad it wasn't a real monk!
When we got to the temple where the speakers were, almost everyone decided to stop, but Nick, Mike and I pressed on and went all the way to the top. Halfway up there was a huge Buddha carved from granite on the side of a cliff. The ground below was polished granite, and a woman sat praying there on the edge of the cliff.Buddha carved out of granite, near the top of Samneung
A Korean woman praying to the granite Buddha
To get to the very top of the mountain we had to pull ourselves up with ropes, but it was well worth the extra effort. The view was incredible!!
Can you see me? That's Mike, Nick and I on top of the boulder! This was taken by Rupali down below at the temple where the speakers were!
Nick perched on a boulder at the very top
View from the very top
After our hike we hurried back to our hotel, picked up our bags, and headed to the bus terminal. We caught the 4:20pm bus to Seoul, and got back to the apartment at 10:30pm. It was a wonderful trip.
Sunset on the bus ride back to Suwon
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