My Summer Vacation: Gyeongju

After leaving Busan, I had a few hours to kill in Gyeongju before I had to check in at the Temple. I decided to do some touristy things and go to the museum. Again, it was really hot so I didn't feel like walking around outside too much, so I just ran from site to site looking for some AC. 

This is the Gyeongju Cheomseongdae, which is (Korea claims) the oldest astronomical observatory in East Asia. You can read more about it below.  

This thing is all over the advertisements in Gyeongju. It looks a lot bigger when you are far away, but when you get up close it looks pretty squat. Those big heavy bricks are pretty amazing though. 

Some big tombs that I thought I would take a picture of, but didn't care enough to go and find out who was buried there. 

The park had some beautiful lotus ponds, and the lotus were in full bloom. 

They were fun to take pictures of! 

This is the Gyeongju Imhaejeon site, also called Anapji hall. This is an artificial pond that was located on the grounds of the Shilla Dynasty Donggung Palace. The excavations show that it was once a a royal house during the Shilla Dynasty. 

Me at the Gyeongju National Museum. 

This is a Stone Age fishing net. 

I really liked these little clay figures. They are called Tou Figurines and they are representations of daily life during the Shilla Period. They date back to the Shilla Period (5th-6th cent.) 

This is a pitcher shaped as a "sacred beast" I guess. It is like a dragon turtle.  It was found in a 6th cent Royal tomb. 

Here are some more Tou figures. These animals are stuck around the neck of this vase, and are symbolic of abundance, longevity, and rebirth. 

A golden Shilla crown. The little jade pendants would be attached to the crown by golden chains. 

Some Koreans looking at a display. 

Lots of earthenware. 

This is a clay coffin. The body would be placed inside the jar and then buried in the small tomb. It is thought that these small tombs and coffins were used for child burials, or for second burials when only the skeleton remained. 

This house shaped urn is is similar to the style and appearance of a tiled rood during the Shilla Period. Perhaps it was created with the idea of giving the soul a place to lived in the afterlife. 

Her is Erik's zodiac symbol, the pig, No dragon though =(

Outside there are replicas of the famous stone pagodas around Korea. Here is a replica of  a pagoda at Bulguksa. I saw the real one though! 

I just had to take a picture of this dad yelling at his daughter. She just looks so sorry for whatever it was that she did wrong. 

This is the bell of King Seongdeok. 

The bell is famous for the images of the flying deities holding an intense burner.