“Why do you describe Gyeongju as historically significant, Dominique? I’ve never heard of this small city in South Korea.” I can hear you thinking this while reading the title of this post. Allow me to explain: Gyeongju was the capital of the Silla dynasty for over a thousand years. The Silla conquered the neighbouring kingdoms and that’s how Gyeongju became the capital of South Korea for a few years until Silla fell apart. Nowadays, Gyeongju is known as the museum without walls.

One Day Itinerary of Gyeongju

If you want to explore Gyeongju properly, you definitely need more than one day. Some of the sights are scattered in the Namsan Mountain area, which can be visited during hikes or bicycle trips. My post will be about the more commonly known sights, which I think are worth checking out if you are short on time.

Bulguksa

The first stop of the day is Bulguksa. A temple which lies around 16km southeast of Gyeongju. You can reach the temple by taking the buses 10 or 11 from the city centre.

Bulguksa along with neighbouring Seokguram are both UNESCO heritage listed due to the excellent Silla carpentry and their religious significance. The walk to the temple is actually equally beautiful as the temple itself in both cases.

Bulguksa is so fun to explore. The statues, the sculptures, the temple grounds, everything is gorgeous. I spent around 45 minutes walking around the area and taking photographs.

I don’t know if this is a temporary thing, but my favourite part of the temple ground were the lights that were hung up.They were so incredibly colourful!

UNESCO’s favourites are the two bridges, because they have 33 steps which represent the 33 stages to enlightenment.

And also the two stone pagodas, because they both survived the Japanese vandalism. One of them is of typical Silla artistry and the other one is more typical of the Baekje kingdom. I only took a picture of the Silla one.

All in all, this temple is perfect to explore for an hour or so. I chose to do the templestay in Haeinsa temple, but I could’ve easily done it here as well.

Seokguram

Seokguram grotto is a short bus ride away from Bulguksa. The number 12 bus which only runs between these two places doesn’t run very frequently, so I had to wait around 30 minutes for my bus to leave.

Seokguram is also a UNESCO heritage listed site. Don’t get fooled by the grotto part of the name. It’s an artificial granite grotto, around which a building has been constructed. In the guidebooks it’s been written that the Buddha oversees the land. That’s what I was expecting, but how will he be able to see through the walls of building?

At first, I thought I had to walk further up the hill. I had only been walking for 15 minutes and I was actually surprised by how short the hike was. The Buddha is actually inside the building on the left. No pictures allowed, so all I can show you is the view he would be able to enjoy if he would’ve been outside.

The building which houses the Buddha is nice, but what I actually enjoyed most was the walk through the forest to reach the building. It was nice to see the squirrels running around, and I’m very partial to the copper coloured street lamps.

I had spent enough time outside the city centre, it was now time to visit the famous tumuli inside the city.

Noseo-Dong Tombs

I walked from the Noseo-Dong tombs to Anapji Pond. Noseo-Dong is actually a free area to explore, and I loved it! The biggest tumuli is located here, it’s 22m high. 22 metres! That’s huge!

Tumuli are ancient burial mounds. In function they are similar to the pyramids in Egypt. You can find these burial mounds all over the world according to Wikipedia, but this was my first experience with them so my excitement reached fever pitch. I like how they are just part of the cityscape in Gyeongju.

Tumuli-gongwon

The next stop on my way to Anapji Pond was a walled park which houses 23 tombs of Silla monarchs and family members.

Cheonmachong tomb is open to visitors, but in my opinion it’s not as incredible on the inside as it is on the outside.

Cheomseongdae

Cheomseongdae is an astrological observatory. Science is not my favourite subject, but the design is apparently very sophisticated. You won’t learn more about it from my blog post, but if you’re interested in the science-y stuff you can check out the visitor centre. The observatory is the oldest one in the Far East.

When I visited Gyeongju there was actually a bit of an earthquake – the first real earthquake I ever felt – and it damaged the observatory a little bit. That’s why the tarp is there.

Anapji Pond

My final destination for the day was Anapji Pond. The best time to visit this place is from June to August, because of the blooming lotus flowers. I missed out on them. Also at night the pond is a famous place for photography, which I also missed out on because I was tired after a day of walking.

Even during the day without lotus flowers, the pond is a beautiful area to walk around in.

Conclusion

I hope this post conveyed my feelings for Gyeongju properly. It’s my favourite city in South Korea. Most people visit this city on a day trip from Seoul, which is easily doable, but it’s also a pity. There’s much more to see than what you can cover in a day. The reason I visited all major sights in a day, is because I wanted to take the next day to visit Yandong Village. I will describe my experiences of this traditional village in next week’s post.