Say Yes to Trev: Trev's (really short) testimony about Gyeongju.

Trev's ("really short") testimony about Gyeongju.

Gyeongju - It is 370 km (230 mi) southeast of Seoul. Gyeongju was the capital of the ancient kingdom of Silla (57 BC – 935 AD) which ruled about two-thirds of the Korean Peninsula between the 7th and 9th centuries. It is rich in history and was one of the many places I found fascinating during my visit. This city is the one that stands out for me as the one that makes someone from Canada realize how little history we have compared to other parts of the world. It has 1000 year old structures and burial sites of royalty from the Silla period. A few highlights for me were:

Food (that will be a highlight for everywhere I went) - 1) special handmade noodle dish "Kal-guk-soo" and 2) red bean pastry called "Gyeongju Bread" or "Hwangnam bread". I also know there is a good hangover soup there!!
The varied sized "mounds" covered only with grass that appear around the area. These mounds are actually tombs where various members of royalty are buried. The larger mounds mean more important royalty, smaller ones are often those that died young.
Yang-dong village - the village area where it is people of one family/clan with buildings that are like a 1000 years old.
There are temples here (and throughout all of Korea) that are simply breathtaking as is Anap Pond.

Some pictures of younger HY and TMac

Front of Chum-Sung-Dae.

people believe this little pagoda(or tower) was for astronomical observatory, more than a thousand years ago.. But,,,who knows.. I also learned this one as astronomical observatory in high school, no matter the real function of this tower, the cool thing about this is that this one kept pretty well over 1000 years.

At Anap Pond.

We have been there during the day, but you should definitely try its night scenery!

If you buy a ticket to enter, you can use multiple times per day! So take advantage of it!!!

At Yang-dong village

Yang-dong village

Random mounds in Gyeng-ju

There are too many mounds, so actully goverments cannot investigate all of them yet. Those mounds reflect long prosperity of Shilla. You can have these distinctive views in the city.