Our first stop was 괘릉 Gwaereung tomb. We're not sure who's buried here but they have an idea. They believe it to be a king because it's a huge tomb. Also, there's Sogdian guard statues outside the tomb. This tomb was cool because it's from the 신라 Silla dynasty and has the zodiac surrounding the tomb. The guards are important because they're not Asain; because they're not Asian it indicates that travel went on in Korea with other countries.
Study Abroad - 괘릉 Gwaereung Tomb - Sogdian Guards
괘릉 Gwaereung Tomb
My zodiac sign: 양 Lamb!
After 괘릉 Gwaereung Tomb, we got some 순두부 Soft tofu soup (soon-doo-boo) for lunch. It was so good but unfortunately, while I was dropping an egg into my soup, it splased and got onto my purse! :-( No good because hot pepper is hard to get out. Especially out of white. :-( However, I got the stain out and it's white again but for a long time it was pink. I loved 순두부 except that fact that it got on my bag. So it's a delicious meal that I'm bitter at haha lol.
순두부 - Although you were delicious, I'm bitter because you stained my purse for a while.
After lunch, we went to two important sites regarding Buddhism: 석굴암 Seokguram and 불국사 Bulguksa. 석굴암 Seokguram is a UNESCO world treasure and overlooks the Sea of Japan. It has one of the best Buddha sculptures. We waited in line FOREVER! It was also on a hill which made it inconvenient. We came at the wrong time because when we came out, most of the people were gone. I couldn't take actual pictures of the Buddha but there's plenty of pictures if you want to see what it looks like. The sculpture was huge! It was beautiful looking out from 석굴암 Seokguram!
석굴암 Seokguram Grotto
Going up to 석굴암 Seokguram Grotto
Beautiful view from 석굴암 Seokguram Grotto
After 석굴암 Seokguram Grotto, we went to 불국사 Bulguka Temple which was below the grotto. It was really cool! The temple was neat and they had lots of shrines. It has a couple Buddha statues and contains the Dharani Sutra inside. I thought the temple's architecture was cool because at the bottom of the temple, there's unorganized, rough stones and as you go to the top, the rocks become smooth and organized. The symbolism behind it is that one starts out rough and when one has accepted Buddhism, he becomes smooth and refined. I thought that was really neat!
불국사 Bulguksa Temple
2 of the 4 Kings of Heaven
Other 2 of the 4 Kings of Heaven
Today was a historical day. 경주 Kyeong-Ju was beautiful but because I didn't know a ton about Korean history, it was a little hard to pay attention. The south is beautiful and I feel it has preserved centuries old Korea which is breathtaking. I wouldn't live there because not much is going on but it's beautiful to visit. I definitely need some more excitement in my life but it was good to take a step back and view nature. I'm not moved by nature at most times but this was beautiful! Haha, beautiful beautiful beautiful haha lol. Even the country side of Korea is wonderful! Korea is so great; at this point I don't miss America and loving every part of Korea! Please come to Korea! It's the bomb dot com! :-)
