Tombs, Temples and a Big Buddha!

On Tuesday Dong Il and his wife took us Gyeongju. We visited the Seokgulalm Grotto (one of the most famous buddha statues in the world). We went to the Bulguska Buddhist Temple and to Tombs of some of the kings from the Shilla Dynasty. It was a full day but an interesting one.

This is the Seokgulam Grotto. One of the most famous Buddhist Statues in the world.

We stopped by a pottery shop and Dong Il asked if we could see him make something. He made 3 of these little bowls in 2 minutes.

JD and I in front of the Bulguska temple

No this is not me! Yes, JD is hugging a Korean woman. She wanted a picture with the tree and really wanted JD in it.

JD and I by the wishing rock stacks

Us by the wedding gift from a Shilla king to his son

Dong Il, Me, Dong Il's wife and JD in front of a tomb. They have only opened one tomb and found millions of dollars of gold and jewels in it. They will not open any more.

More tombs

Lillie pond in Gyeongju

Dong Il and his wife at Bulguska temple

A monk walking around the temple grounds

JD and the wishing rocks. They believe if you stack rocks with out making them fall your wish will come true.

One of the worshipping room

This set of stairs use to be used for royalty only. We walked up just for fun.

Statue at the feet of the guardians of the gate to the temple

The Guardians of the gate of the temple

These were school kids getting in trouble. I thought it was funny they have to hold their ears and walk low to the ground.

The place we ate

Kimchi pots, this is what they make kimchi in. They usually let it ferment for at least 6 months

The room we ate in

This was awesome food

Yes a squatty potty

These hills are tombs of royalty from the Shilla Dynasty. They are all over this city. They are hollow inside, they are suppose to be kind of like the pyramids.

The detail in their buildings was amazing I would hate when it was time to repaint

These school kids were everywhere. Their semester had just ended and they were all on field trips. There were many classes that we would pass and they would say "hello". We would say "hi, how are you?" They would say "fine, and you?" All of them were the same. They all just had that little phrase in english memorized. They loved to hear us talk and loved saying every word they knew in english. We felt like celebrities everybody stared as we walked by and people even took pictures of us.

This is the Divine Bell of King Seongdok. A baby was placed in side this bell and killed as a sacrifice to the King by the artist.