Gyeongju

We arrived yesterday in an area called Gyeongju, which is a historic district on the SE end of the Korean peninsula. It was the seat of the Silla kingdom, which ruled Korea between about 57 BC and 900 AD. There are some incredible archaeological finds from the tombs of royalty and their families here, as well as the remains of a building complex where the king entertained visitors to the region. It's pretty incredible how well some of the artefacts have been preserved --for example, there was a wooden boat discovered in the lake adjacent to the building complex. Although they didn't allow us to take pictures in the museum section with the crowns discovered in the tombs of the kings and their relatives, there are some images on the wikipedia page ---they were amazing! The gold was extremely thin, and had been restored (I think) to shine beautifully. Also amazing to me was that very clear glass objects were made and have survived, including drinking vessels and beads.

We walked around the re-created complex for the Silla kings' visitors, which had gorgeous painting on the inside of the buildings under the rooves. The grassy areas, our guide told us, are places where the buildings were originally, but because they were torn down or burned, the place was covered with thick grass to designate that it was an important location and should be rebuilt upon by future generations.

The grounds had a pond, called Wolji/Anapji (new/old names) Pond. There were several types of flowering lily pads, and I didn't manage to get a picture of the lotus flowers, but they're beautiful as well. The pond was part of the kings' entertainment complex.

There's a frog on the left, although I'm not sure it's in the picture --it looked like a tree frog, but larger.

One of the tombs was excavated so that you can walk into it. The king was buried with a treasure pile (on the right), and many jewels. Some of the kings were even buried with their servants and animals, which is not so nice. This image isn't actually the king, but it's a replica. The real king is behind the wood wall in the background.

The tombs are mounds of rocks, covered with dirt and grass, which dot the region and can be seen along the road. Some of the kings can be identified, but several tombs haven't been connected with certainty to the important people buried within them.

This bell is acclaimed to be the most beautiful sounding bell in the world. It was built in the 6th century --it's huge! About ten feet tall. They can no longer ring it because during the reign of Japan here in Korea, steel was taken from the top of the bell for building weapons. They replaced the metal, but it cannot be rung (not really clear on why). They have a recording that's played, and although it supposedly sounds like a baby, I wasn't sure I quite heard that...

That's all for now!