Great vacation

That was just about the perfect way to end this little adventure. Facing a further two weeks in Korea sans responsibilities work-wise I took off for the southern city of Gyeongju, ancient capital of Korea and home to plenty of historical sites and so on.

I actually started my vacation with a last trip out to Seoul, however. I've been meaning to pick up a Korean cookbook for a while and the only place I'd seen one in English was at a bookstore there. So, 5 hour bus ride from here to there. I succeeded in finding my cookbook. Then off to the train station to get a ticket down to Daegu, whence I would catch a bus to Gyeongju. The trains were all full until the next morning, but that was okay, since I'd built in time for that possibility into my schedule. Instead I checked into my favorite little hotel in the university quarter and caught a showing of Fantastic 4. It was diverting and had some nice eye candy, but overall I found it to be a bit disappointing. No Spider-Man or X-Men this. Went to bed early after that since my train was scheduled for 7:45 AM.

The train was very nice. Since I had some money to burn and it was my last chance I decided to go for it and book first class on the KTX bullet train. The perks of first class: a larger, single seat, so no worries about what sort of person I'd draw as a neighbor for the ride, plus complimentary cup of juice, packet of cookies, and newspaper. Not too shabby for a 100 minute ride. I really wish train travel were easier in the US. Every experience I've had with it has been great. Also, the idea that you're moving over land at 300 km/h is pretty cool.

The entertainment consisted of news, sport news, and an episode of Knight Rider. Only in the 80s could a Firebird have been considered the coolest car on TV. Possibly related to that, only in the 80s could David Hasselhof been one of the coolest guys on TV. After Don Johnson, of course. I did love the show as a kid. On Saturday I could only really enjoy it for it's nostalgia value. It was kinda cheesy, in retrospect.

In any case, my trip on to Gyeongju went smoothly and in one of life's subtle absurd juxtapositions, I reached my first stop, Golgulsa, a Buddhist temple where I intended to stay the night living the life of a monk. Riding first class to go live the life of a humble monastic. Silly you might say. Shush, I would say. It was my vacation.

The temple itself was rather impressive. It mostly climbed up the side of the mountain, a series of small caves or niches in the rock bearing images of Buddha, with the largest being carved out of the rock face itself near the top. The main shrine was set off to the side and overhung a small cliff. There were about a half-dozen other foreigners there for the night, mostly from the UK. Our first day's schedule had us checking in after lunch, then some free time to explore the temple, then dinner, chanting and meditation at sundown, and martial arts training. This type of martial arts was different than anything else I've done. It's called Seonmudo, and it's actually a form of meditation. Kicking butt and achieving enlightenment at the same time, what's not to like? Lights out followed shortly after.

Our wake-up call came at 4 AM. We climbed up to the shrine in the dark and meditated while looking out from the cliff to watch the sun rise. Maybe it's not everyone's idea of vacation, but I can say having done it once, I wish I had planned to stay longer. Watching the sunrise that way every morning, and really watching it the way meditation asks you to, is probably something incredible. A little while later we were down to breakfast, then we got to have tea and chat with the head monk, who is also the Grand Master of Seonmudo. The tea was excellent, and the monk is a really friendly guy. Being a grand master of martial arts, though, it struck me that this friendly old guy could easily take someone apart in alphabetical order. Good thing Buddhists are into tranquility and such.

The balance of Sunday I spent visiting various other temples in the area. Sort of a temple-themed weekend. My intention was to hike around, but it seems the universe had other plans. I literally had to wave off offers of rides, since I really wanted to walk, but after the third family stopped, I decided I was going to hitchhike after all. I really didn't do anything to encourage people to stop, other than be a foreigner walking down the side of the road. Maybe that was enough. In retrospect it probably was a good idea, since it was something like 35 C on Sunday. Being around temples that flourished 1500 years ago when my ancestors still huddled in grimy little stone churches (if that) just amazes me. Sunday also marked part 1 of the Incredible Sunburn (TM).

Monday I chose a different tack. Having put most of the temples behind me over the weekend, I decided to soak up some other aspects of Shilla (ancient Korean) culture. Gyeongju is called "a museum without walls", which as near as I can tell refers to the large number of tombs scattered around the city. Korean tombs aren't a whole lot to look at, really, since they're just large grassy hills, varying only in circumference and height. I haven't been able to figure out if there was some method to how large a particular tomb would be, if it had to do with the wealth and power of the king, or just a posthumous "Mine's bigger." Also the oldest stone observatory in East Asia, several sites of former palaces, and an archaeological museum. The problem, as such, with Korea is that all of their buildings were made of wood, even the palaces. When the capital was moved from Gyeongju to Seoul many of the palaces just disappeared due to neglect, rotted away. The best archaeological finds were actually made in 1975, when a man-made pond that adjoined a former palace was drained to make repairs. All sorts of things were found at the bottom of the lake, the best cache of artifacts outside of the tombs themselves. In any case, these sites were a little far-flung for walking, and bike rentals were readily available, so I saw the city on wheels. I covered 23 km and a millenium and a half of history in one day. And made it back to my hotel room just ahead of a thunderstorm. I rule. :) Incredible Sunburn (TM) reached it's final form, though.

Today I didn't do a whole lot, just made my way slowly back to Yeongyang. Stopped in Daegu for another movie, The Island, which was just plain forgettable. I only stopped in because it's been in the cinema here for almost a month, a pretty good run for a foreign movie in Korea. But just another dystopia film in the end. Yawn. Oh well.

Due to the Incredible Sunburn (TM), I will be staying indoors in daylight hours for the next couple days. Skin isn't supposed to be a purple tone, is it?

Just one week left in Korea, and plenty to do. I'm getting excited to be heading back now, and really looking forward to it. See you all soon.