Day 82 – Gyeongju
Today we went to the Ancient Tombs in Noseo-dong which were a very close walk from the Apple Motel. The tombs are essentially mounds, but they are still respected so no climbing is allowed. For some reason, while walking through the tombs, I kept thinking about the Pyramids of Giza. However, these mounds were made for royalty in the 5th and 6th centuries.
We then went to the Daereungwon Ancient Tomb Complex. This is a large area with several tombs. The highlight is the fact you can go inside the Cheonmachong Ancient Tomb, which has been cut opened to show how all the tombs were constructed. Cheonmachong translates to the Heavenly Horse Tomb.
Cheonmachong Ancient Tomb Inside the tomb
Close by to the exit of the Daereungwon Ancient Tomb Complex, we ate at a place called Daereungwon Bonga. We had to remove socks our socks, which sucked as both my socks had holes. Akws.
From there we walked to the Digital Cheomseongdae, which is a small room with a short video about Gyeongju. The video explains the adjoining Cheomseongdae Observatory, as a building used for telling the time and as a lunar calendar. The nearby Wild Flower Garden was full of light purple flowers that reminded me of fairy floss.
Digital Cheomseongdae 9m tall Cheomseongdae Observatory
We went to Gyerim Forest which contains the Tomb of King Naemul, followed by the Wolseong Fortress and past the Stone Ice Storage. The Fortress is an active excavation site, so it was cool to watch the workers for a while.
Gyerim Forest Tomb of King Naemul Stone Ice Storage Vents
We then walked towards the Gyeongju National Museum, which shows the history of the area. Gyeongju was the ancient capital of the Sillia Kingdom (back when Korea was three separate Kingdoms). The museum was cool, with a bit of overlap with events from the Korean War Memorial and the Korean National Museum (Day 70 and 71).
After this we walked back towards home and then detoured to the Shopping District. I am once again surprised to find so many shops in a relatively small town.
Cheomseongdae Observatory at night time Shopping District
Then we went back to the Apple Motel and the owner went through a tourist map with great detail. Also, we had toilet blockage issues in the morning and had told housekeeping, but it seems the owner had no idea. He came up with us to the room to check the situation but we were glad to see that the issue had been fixed. Back to enjoying our pink rooms =D