George Melashvili 지방답사 후기

Sculpture of a Buddhist monk in Bulkugsa Temple.

The third week started when we mastered our skills in Korean cuisine. We have learnt the difference between boiled, steamed and steam-boiled rice, learnt how to make traditional Korean rce cookies and enjoyed the view of traditional Korean food. According to Korea Tourism Organization, about 2,000 old Korean kitchen utensils and tteok (rice cake) related items are displayed here and arranged by various themes.

After making rice, we moved to the Bongeun-Sa Temple. The temple is a notable tourist destination, offering "Temple Stay Program" in which visitors can lead the life of a monk for a few hours. It was very nice and interesting to listen to the volunteer guide, who was an English teacher before she resigned. Her devotion towards the temple is to be respected a lot and, at the same time, it is really adorable.

During the trip, the guide explained the basics of buddhism, importance of different icons and statues. We created lovely Paper Lotus flowers and practiced meditation.

The trip of Gyeongju lasted for two days and we visit a number of the most interesting places in Korea.

The village is located in a beautiful place near the river at the slope of a mountain. It consists of traditional houses reminiscent of the late Joseon Dynasty, including various household goods from different regions. Although it rained heavily during the visit, we were able to attend traditional Korean wedding ceremony and a concert of traditional Korean music.

The Anapji area is a wonderful artificial piece of art, where mountains were created inside the palace walls, beautiful flowers were planted, and lights have been arranged.

On the second day of our trip we visited Cheonmachong Tomb, a very impressive memorial to the kings and queens who passed away long ago, taking all symbols of their wealth with them. Thanks to them, today we have a lot of different artifacts of that period, most of which are kept in the Gyeongju National Museum.

Later we moved on to the underwater tomb of King Munmu, a gorgeous rock in the middle of the East See; we were allowed to swim there, so it was really nice to feel the cold water after the long-lasting trip.

But the most impressive part was the visit of Bulguksa and Seokgulam - the most important masterpieces of Korean Buddhism. The first temple turned out to be a lovely, peaceful place; the second - a magnificent grotto with an enormous statue of Buddha.