Bulguksa!

Here is the UNESCO recognized Bulguksa in its grandiose bucolic setting. It took alot of riding up and down really big hills to get to this point, so I was hoping for something spectacular. Sure, the temple was beautiful and there was plenty of scenery. However, this touristy historic type of stuff always makes me kind of say: "Anh". I am more a fan of the non-controlled environments such as mountains or very big rocks in Thailand. Since I was here, however, I decided to have a look around.



Here is a scene that typifies the temple. Yes, there are lovely pagodas, statues, shrines, and architecture. Despite the preponderance of artifacts set in an ancient architectual wonderland nestled in the basin of a lovely mountain, there's something askew. When I think of a buddhist temple in the mountains, I picture a solemn scene with monks walking around in quiet contemplation. The monks in Korea talk on their cell phones. The temple was crawling with noisy bustling tourists who were eager to take pictures of anything and everything.

In the midst of the commercialism, there is still some actual Buddhist practice. Even though it's forbidden, I was able to sneak a picture of one of their pagan golden shrines. Some lady saw me and yelled at me, and I replied by saying: "Oooooh. I'm so scared! Is your angry Buddha going to strike me down with lightning? Ooh, Buddha, please spare me!" At least I had the decency to turn off my flash. It was the shutter noise that gave me away. I tried to keep it on the down low, but was busted. I just played dumb (I didn't have to try very hard at this point) and moved on. And as a reward I have this picture for your viewing pleasure.

I find myself getting quickly bored in environments such as these, so I didn't stick around very long. There was another monument nearby that I wanted to see--The Sokorum Grotto. The grotto is one of Korea's great national treasures. It is a massive ancient stone statue of Buddha set in a room carved into the mountain with many other carved treasures in a neatly painted room. Sound neat? Well, I couldn't get any pictures of this one no matter how slick or sacreligious I wanted to be. I wish I would have known this before I took the hour hike up this mountain path.

After coming back down the mountain, it was getting late in the afternoon. I took a long bike ride back to town, which was a beauty since I coasted three quarters of the way. When I got back, I returned my bike and thanked the nice gentlemen who so faithfully rented the bike to me. Being very tired from the weekend activities and having a very sore rear from the long bike rides, I eagerly returned to the Hanjin Hostel after a dinner of Bi Bim Bap (I'm sure I've mentioned this dish before). Later that evening, I donned my teacher's hat and introduced Mr. Kwon to the ancient art of calligraphy. The fact that he invited me to pose with his hat on next to him with the wonderful poem he transcribed for me goes a small way to show the character, hospitality, free-spiritedness, and fun-loving of Mr. Kwon. There are many things I didn't see in my first visit to Gyeongju but, thanks to Mr. Kwon's hospitality, I'll surely return.