Gyeongju

Wednesday last week I went with a Korean friend from church, her boyfriend, and her friend. We met at the bus terminal in the morning. The bus only cost 3,900W, so it is really cheap. The bus up there was roomy and comfortably unlike the one returning to Daegu. The bus took an hour to get there. I chatted with a Korean who teaches at an elementary school. Her English is pretty good, for the most part. I was asked the usual questions: where are you from, how old are you, and why did you come to Korea? It was rather cold this day, no doubt minus Celsius. Once we arrived at the bus terminal, we walked over to the tourist information booth. We picked up some city maps and got directions for the various temples and the like. We took the bus to Bulguksa temple. We had to pay to get in. There were several Buddhist images in the temples with “no camera” signs at the entrance. Behind one of the temples, people stacked rocks on top of each other. Supposedly it brings good luck or grants a wish. But, what happens if the stack of rocks fall over? Does it bring you bad luck? Also, people stuck coins in the bark of a tree nearby with the same theory in mind. There were coins from different countries, such as Korea, China, and Thailand. Next we went to Seok guram grotto. We had to pay again to enter. There were brightly colored balloon looking things hanging at the edge of the cliff. They also had them inside the temple. My friend said you buy one and your offering goes to Buddha.