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Ibike
Korea People-to-People Program
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 Photo essay: Ganggu to
Gyeongju
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(43mi, 70km) Cycle along the highway, using secondary when practical.
Points of Interest: Paleontology museum, Marine Corps Memorial, folk village /
museum near Angang |
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Fishing with rod and bait is a
popular past time. |
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Live crab in an aquarium. South
of the "squid cost" is the "crab cost". Here the "hoe" (fresh fish) tanks
are filled with crab. |
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Korean convenience / package store with drinks and snacks.
Rarely this bright and spacious, this is the most common kind of shop and the
country. In almost every village there is a store selling bags of crisp
something's and bottles of carbonated drinks. |
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Korean coffee bar. Perhaps the second
most common kind of business around the country is the coffee shop.
These seem to be more common that restaurants. This is where friends meet
and pass the time. The are often quite smoky. |
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Korean fast food restaurant; soups,
stews, rice rolls, noodles. Restaurants are usually quite specialized: Juk
(porridge) restaurants, samgyetang (chicken) restaurants, noodle restaurants,
hoe (sliced fish) restaurants, mandu (dumpling) restaurants, grilled meat
restaurants, etc. |
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 United States Marine Corps
and Republic of Korea Marine Corps Monument, commemorating the defense, and
those lost in the defense of the Busan Perimeter in 1950. |
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 Tombs of Naengsu-ri. These
ancient tombs are believed to have been made in the first half of the 6th
century. They are suppose to be the largest tombs south of the Han River
(Seoul). They are 7m in height and 25m in diameter. In this area
there are over 100 tombs. Archeologists excavated 400 relics from these
three tomb in 1990-91, including gold and silver rings, silver belt,
earthenware, made between the early 6th and the early 7th century. |
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Apple orchard |
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Water reservoir |
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 Yangdong Folk Village is extensive,
well preserved and naturally beautiful. It was a village of noblemen.
The whole village is a cultural asset. 150 houses have been preserved.
Because it was inside the Busan Perimeter it was not damaged during the invasion
by North Korea.
 One of unique characteristics of the village is it seem to
be more up in the hills than most contemporary villages. Traditionally tile
roofed house (upper right) were for the wealthier and thatch roofed house (lower
right) were for the lower income. |
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Pre-school students on an outing to
learn about their heritage at Yangdong Folk village. |
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The yard of the stone cutter with
examples of lanterns, animal figures, gracefully shaped rocks -- ready for
purchase and to be placed in your garden. |
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Stone cutter at work. |
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An island of high rise residential
apartment blocks in the distance announces that we are nearing Gyeongju. |
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Three parallel non-motorized facilities have been
built in the flood plain at Gyeongju. The one near the river is designated
for walkers, the path to the right of it is for inline skaters and the third is
a bicycle path. There are also bike/ped facilities at street level. |
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A lineman works on the telephone
lines from trapeze
suspended above the road. |
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Gyeongju City Library |
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 McDonald's; note the roof line has
some character of Korean architecture (left). KFC and "PC Bank" (Internet Cafe)
(right) |
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Pizza Hut and New Balance Store |
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Students practicing basketball |
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Day 14: Gyeongju.
Explore this ancient capital of the Shilla Empire.
Points of Interest: A bounty of national treasures: Tombs, temples, folk
village, national museum |
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 On the left workers prepare
to place live flowers on the "center piece" in front of the railroad station.
The structure is constructed with a drip irrigation system that goes to each
boxes so that the plants can be easily watered. The finished product is on the
right. |
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Because of protective
tariffs most bikes in Korea are domestically manufactures. Import cycling
equipment is relatively expensive. The domestic bicycle industry produces
a little over a half million units a year. (By comparison, the domestic
automobile industry produces over three million units a year.) |
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A woman vendor carrying her inventory
of snack bread on the racks of her bicycle. |
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Students flashing a friendly small
and the ubiquitous peace sign that seems to be required in all pictures for this
age group. It is worth noting the dress code: Besides uniforms for students,
hair is cut to shoulder length or shorter, and skirts are below the knees. |
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This bus shelter, with its extensive
route and system information is indicative of a transportation infrastructure
that make is fairly easy to get by without a car throughout Korea: The big
city like Seoul and Busan, have subway systems. There are commuter,
intercity, express and high speed trains to all regions of the country.
There is even more coverage by the bus system which has city buses, district
buses, regional buses and cross-country buses. On the coast there is an
extensive system of ferries serving hundreds of islands. We a combination
of these you can get to almost every village in the country. |
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Daereungwon Tomb Park: There are 23
large tombs here from the Kim Clan, reflecting the power and wealth of the royal
family of the Silla Dynasty. |
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Cheomseongdae Observatory,
established by Queen Seondeok, is believe to be the oldest in the East. Among the fascination features are: the windows in the tower are
oriented perfectly north-south-east-west and the total number of blocks used to
construct the shell of the tower is the same as the number of days in a year on
the calendar of the time. The length of the top stone is half that of the
stylobate stone. |
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Seokbinggo Ice house built during the reign of
Yeongjo, the 21st king of the Joseon Dynasty. Ice has been stored in Korea since
the time of the Three Kingdoms Period. |
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This is the head residence of the
Gyeongju Choe clan. Built around 1700, this residence comprises a gate
house, a "sarangchae" (men's living quarters), an "anchae" (women's living
quarters), a family shine and a storage house. It was around the middle of the
Joseon period that the Choe family moved to this region and enjoyed immense
prosperity. The Choe's maintained their prosperity for 12 generations. It
is said that they were able to maintain their status because of six family
rules: 1. New bride must wear cotton for three years (to learn frugality).
2. Treat guest well. 3. Pass state exam but don't take government job. 4. Give
discount on rent during good harvest years. 5. Don't buy land in bad harvest
year. 6. Allow no starvation for 25km. The property has now been donated
to a university. |
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The "anchae" is arranged in a square
with a courtyard at the center. In the foreground are the large
earthenware crocks which are use to store various types of kimchi (preserved
vegetables), ganjang (soy sauce), doenjang (soybean paste), gochujang (red
pepper paste) and salt, the basic seasonings of Korean cuisine. |
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 Our
timing was fortunate enough to be invited to a traditional wedding ceremony:
The bride is carried in a chamber to the wedding (upper left), while the groom
waits for the bride (lower left). As part of exchanging their vows,
 they
bow deeply to each
other (upper right). The table is covered with fresh Korean fruit.
After completing the ceremony they stand as husband and wife (lower right) |
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Samaso was a house where "saengwon"
and "jinsa" (gentry) taught Confucianism and discussed politics. It is not
certain when it was first built, but during the Japanese invasion (1592-98) it
was burnt down. |
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Inyongsa Temple Site: This site is
under active excavation. It is said that the people built the temple to
honor Kim In-mun, a warrior and diplomat in the middle of the seventh century.
It is the only Shilla temple on record that was not established by Buddhist
monks or royalty, but by commoners. |
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Inyongsa Temple Site: The structure
of the temple is long gone but the stone relics on the site indicate that it was
a typical Unified Shilla temple with twin pagodas. |
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Sacred Bell of King Seongdeok-wang,
the largest bronze bell of its kind in Asia. The bell is commonly known as the
Emille Bell, a name derived from an ancient Shilla term, pronounced "Em-ee-leh",
which means "mommy". According to legend, the bell would not ring when it
was first cast. It was melted down and a little child thrown into the
molten metal as the head priest of the temple, where the bell was being made,
was told to do in a vision. When the bell was recast and struck, it sounds
like the baby's cries of "Em-ee-leh" when the child was sacrificed. Gyeongju
National Museum |
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 The
hollow tube, which is believed to control the tone, the kneeling apsaras or
heavenly maidens, the four panels, each containing nine nipple-like protrusions,
and the lotus and grass designs are all typical of bells of the Unified Shilla
period. Gyeongju National Museum |
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 This
pagoda, on the grounds of the Gyeongju National Museum was built in 634, out of
andesite cut like brick. It was probably seven or nine stories at the time.
It was destroyed by the Japanese and rebuilt as a three story pagoda. A visit to
the museum is enhanced by multilingual descriptions of objects and diagrams of
the elements of objects, like the Names of Stone Stupa at the right. |
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This Buddha is part of a beautiful
collection of Buddha's, and 3000 other cultural object (gold, bronze,
earthenware, manuscripts, etc.) reflecting the Shilla culture at the Gyeongju
National Museum. It is a lot to take in at one time and deserves several
hours, but there is a snack bar on grounds so you can take a recess in the
middle. |
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This is the explanation
of a 14-sided dice game. It seems to be a drinking game. Depending
upon how the dice lands, you need to follow the instructions. According to
the sign the various sides say: "drink three cups of liquor ", "never abandon
you unpleasant partner", "dance silently", "disregard an assault and remain calm
and passive", " sing Wogyeong (a song)", "sing and drink", "sing Goeraeman (a
song)", "let them strike your nose", "recite a poem", "drink it up with arms
bent", "remain immobile while somebody tickles your face", "if you are
stuck with two cups of liquor, pour them out and return them", "drink it and
laugh loudly", and "ask anybody to sing." |
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 Imhaejeon Palace Site: The
palace was built in the reign of King Munmu who unified the Three Kingdoms.
Anapji Pond (right) is a man-made pond. Since the edges of the pool are
curved, the whole pond can't be seen from any one place. It is said that
the pond was created so as to make a small pond look like a wide sea. |
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Bunhwangsa Temple: The temple was
built in 634 and it is known as one of the seven best temples of the Shilla
Dynasty. The stone well (lower left corner of upper photo) is octagonal on the
outside, symbolizing the eight rightous teaching of Buddha, and cylindrical
inside, representing the truth of One Buddha. It is still used.
There is a legend that emissaries from Tang China visited Shilla in 795.
They changed three dragons who had been protecting the country into small fish
and took them to China. The next day, two women came to the king and
identified themselves as the wives of two dragons. They asked the king to
retrieve a dragon in the Bunhwangsa well and their husbands whom the emissaries
took. The king immediately sent his men to bring back the dragons and let
them live in the well, from where they protect the country. |
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Hwangnyongsa Temple Site:
Hwangnyongsa is said to have been a new palace, but while it was under
construction a yellow dragon appeared. Thus the new palace was changed to
a new temple (AD 553). It took 93 years to be completed. Later
during the Mongolian invasion (AD 1238) it was completely destroyed.
Excavation of the site from 1976-84, unearthed 40,000 relics. |
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A common weekend activity
is to rent bike with a group of friends and tour the city, or go for a more
rural bike tour. Here a group of young
women are taking a bike tour of the cultural sites in Gyeongju. |
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 A traditional meal in
Gyeongju is Ssambap; a table full of vegetable and fish side dishes, a basket or
plate of leaves (lettuce, steamed cabbage, sesame, and others) and a bowl of
rice. The assortment is eaten by taking a leaf in your hand, putting a
dollop of rice in it, adding something from the side dishes on top of that,
folding the leaf over to close it and popping the morsel into your mouth.
It is very healthy and tasty. |
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 Nighttime is for sweets: This
bakery had a staff of ten on the evening shift and they were selling hwangnam
bread (cookies) hot out of the oven about as fast as they could make them. Hwangnam bread (cookies) are pastry
dough filled with sweet red bean paste. They are a specialty of Gyeongju. |
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United States Marine Corps
and Republic of Korea Marine Corps Monument, commemorating the defense, and
those lost in the defense of the Busan Perimeter in 1950.
Tombs of Naengsu-ri. These
ancient tombs are believed to have been made in the first half of the 6th
century. They are suppose to be the largest tombs south of the Han River
(Seoul). They are 7m in height and 25m in diameter. In this area
there are over 100 tombs. Archeologists excavated 400 relics from these
three tomb in 1990-91, including gold and silver rings, silver belt,
earthenware, made between the early 6th and the early 7th century.
Yangdong Folk Village is extensive,
well preserved and naturally beautiful. It was a village of noblemen.
The whole village is a cultural asset. 150 houses have been preserved.
Because it was inside the Busan Perimeter it was not damaged during the invasion
by North Korea.
One of unique characteristics of the village is it seem to
be more up in the hills than most contemporary villages. Traditionally tile
roofed house (upper right) were for the wealthier and thatch roofed house (lower
right) were for the lower income.
McDonald's; note the roof line has
some character of Korean architecture (left). KFC and "PC Bank" (Internet Cafe)
(right)
On the left workers prepare
to place live flowers on the "center piece" in front of the railroad station.
The structure is constructed with a drip irrigation system that goes to each
boxes so that the plants can be easily watered. The finished product is on the
right.
Our
timing was fortunate enough to be invited to a traditional wedding ceremony:
The bride is carried in a chamber to the wedding (upper left), while the groom
waits for the bride (lower left). As part of exchanging their vows,
they
bow deeply to each 
The
hollow tube, which is believed to control the tone, the kneeling apsaras or
heavenly maidens, the four panels, each containing nine nipple-like protrusions,
and the lotus and grass designs are all typical of bells of the Unified Shilla
period. Gyeongju National Museum
This
pagoda, on the grounds of the Gyeongju National Museum was built in 634, out of
andesite cut like brick. It was probably seven or nine stories at the time.
It was destroyed by the Japanese and rebuilt as a three story pagoda. A visit to
the museum is enhanced by multilingual descriptions of objects and diagrams of
the elements of objects, like the Names of Stone Stupa at the right.
Imhaejeon Palace Site: The
palace was built in the reign of King Munmu who unified the Three Kingdoms.
Anapji Pond (right) is a man-made pond. Since the edges of the pool are
curved, the whole pond can't be seen from any one place. It is said that
the pond was created so as to make a small pond look like a wide sea.
A traditional meal in
Gyeongju is Ssambap; a table full of vegetable and fish side dishes, a basket or
plate of leaves (lettuce, steamed cabbage, sesame, and others) and a bowl of
rice. The assortment is eaten by taking a leaf in your hand, putting a
dollop of rice in it, adding something from the side dishes on top of that,
folding the leaf over to close it and popping the morsel into your mouth.
It is very healthy and tasty.
Nighttime is for sweets: This
bakery had a staff of ten on the evening shift and they were selling hwangnam
bread (cookies) hot out of the oven about as fast as they could make them. Hwangnam bread (cookies) are pastry
dough filled with sweet red bean paste. They are a specialty of Gyeongju.