Temples, Tea, and the DMZ

At 6:45am I left the comforts of Jay and Imy's home to explore the southern part of Korea. Jay walked me to the subway, wished me luck, and I was on my own.

It only took 20 minutes to wish he was around again. I easily made it to the Seoul Station subway stop, but actually finding the train station was another matter. I finally had to ask a food vendor where to go. She graciously pointed at the building with the big sign, "Seoul Station." I realize I am not a master of the obvious, but it didn't look like a train station. Really. I was able to get on my Gyeongju-bound train with no problem, feeling very grateful that Anete showed me how to maneuver the train stations many years ago in Paris.

The trip south was uneventful, but the landscape was interesting. It seemed like every inch of unused land was devoted to a garden or crops. For example, where a median occurred at the merger of two roads, rows of crops filled the center. All along the train tracks, there were small and medium sized plots of plants. I recognized the corn and squash, but the other crops were unfamiliar. Several times I saw individuals harvesting a plant by hand. I could not recognize the produce, but it had large leaves protruding from an extremely thin shoot coming out of water; it looked as if they used flood irrigation. I didn't find out until later that they were harvesting lotus.

Arriving in Gyeongju, I trusted my Lonely Planet guide for an accommodation recommendation. I got in the taxi and showed the driver my book, which had the motel name written in Korean. It was a quick ride to Hotel Cherbourgh, where I spent 50,000 for a room. A little more than I wanted to spend, but I was not willing to run around to find something cheaper. It is hot and humid, so I was happy just to have a place to set my bag. Unfortunately, it took me 20 minutes to figure out how to turn on the lights. You have to put the big, long key fob into a slit in the wall. Now, tell me you would have thought of that immediately! Once I had the electricity on, I was able to see the toilet. Wow! I was not certain I would be able to operate it. Thankfully, it is a western toilet, but it has a remote control attached to the side with 14 buttons! 14!?! I may have blushed after counting them but was too shocked to try them out. Instead, I headed out to see Gyeongju.

I started with the Tumuli site. During the earlier years of the Silla Kingdom, 57BC-935, royalty and court officials were buried in a wooden casket and covered by a huge mound of rocks and dirt. Many of these sites have been excavated, but the enormous earthen mounds remain. It is bizarre. I was walking down a busy street, when I saw the first one. There, in the middle of urbana, is this gigantic rounded mound of dirt. Tall, too. And they are all over. Some are small and some are large, and a few look like they were globbed together. What’s most striking about these are the way they are woven into the fabric of the city. I find it fascinating how this type of structure is so common among such different cultures. These mounds aren’t a whole lot different than the pyramids of Egypt or Central America. One of the tombs, presumed to be from the 5th or 6th century, has been made accessible to the public. In the heart of the mound, you can see where the caskets were placed, and they had a number of replicated items to view, which were found buried with the body. Originally they found a fantastic gold crown in this tomb, which was also on display. It had dangling thin gold discs and comma-shaped jade decorations. It was interesting that it’s seemingly slender gold structure could survive through the centuries. Some of the gold looked as thin as thread. The subsequent walk through this park was serene, among knotted trees and strange bird calls.

I walked next to the oldest astrological observatory in Asia. It is an interesting study in mathematics, architecture, and astrology. It is a structure erected of stone blocks; however, you don’t realize how amazing it is unless you take the time to read about it. According to the guide book, there are 12 (months) stones at its base, it is 30 (days in a month) layers tall, creating a structure of 366 (days in a year) pieces. The observatory, built in the early 600’s, is also designed in relation to certain astronomical objects and times.

I hiked a ways out of the center of town to the National Museum and found out it was closed on Mondays. So, I walked back in to town to get a bite to eat and return to the hotel. In my efforts to feed myself, I discovered that Seoul was Korea just toying with me. Many of Seoul’s restaurants had menus in English, or had pictures, or had wax replicas of the food. Not so much here. I couldn’t tell if the store front was a restaurant or auto parts dealer. I would still swear the auto place had tables and drink dispenser. Anyway, I finally gave up and went to the convenience store. I picked up ramen (mystery ingredients), bananas, and a couple of brown eggs. I figured I could use some protein. Once I got home I cooked up the ramen and peeled my egg, or what I thought was a chicken egg. I’m still not sure what it was. Imagine my surprise when I peeled the brown shell and found a brown egg. Not kinda brown but brown. Also the texture seemed much tougher than a regular egg. I decided to cut it into bits and put it in the ramen, so I wouldn’t be able to tell I was eating it.

So, maybe you’re wondering about the toilet. Well, I finally decided to tackle the beast before bed. I boldy removed the paper seal of sanitation and propped up the lid. I found what looked like a regular toilet, if not for the endless instructions IN KOREAN on the inside of the lid. The only thing in English read, "Digital Bidet." Mystery solved. If you want more details, you’ll have to ask.Read more