Tripping With Toby: Hiking Gyeongju

October 23, 2019- Hiking Gyeongju

It’s ibuprofen time. One of our group has a Fitbit. It said we walked six miles today and climbed eleven flights of stairs. This trip was rated maximum activity. Now we know why. I’m happy to report that all survived and are tucked in for the night.

We’re at a fancy Hilton. There are several monks staying here. I didn’t know they indulged in luxuries. As we left our room this morning, a woman in a robe was ahead of us in the hallway. I thought she was a monk until she turned around. There was a huge Mickey Mouse covering the front of the robe.

It seems that fire is a great fear in S. Korea. Every hotel room has fire evacuation equipment including an extinguisher, a ladder and fire-retardant masks. Fire extinguishers are prominently displayed in all public buildings. I wonder if it’s a holdover from the days when buildings were wooden. Until I almost got locked in a stall, I didn’t understand the reason for emergency call buttons in each public restroom cubicle. By the way, the majority are western style. Then there is the use of clear plastic trash bags. They want to see if there might be a bomb inside. This is a security conscious place. I guess you have to be when your enemy is so close.

Aside from hippo quest, we were charged with finding peanut butter for the couple who eat it for breakfast. Today the hotel breakfast buffet had a tub near the pancake syrup. David and I emptied a butter container, filled it with peanut butter, and presented it to the couple with a two-handed bow.

We’re an on-time bunch of veteran travelers and were raring to go this morning. Jinny started with an orientation for the day’s adventures. We were going to a tomb and museum. When she was finished, I asked David what leprechauns had to do with it. He said she was talking about replicas. I feel like Roseanne Rossanna Danna from the old Saturday Night Live show. The word of the day every day is “what?”

Persimmon trees are everywhere. They still have bright orange fruit hanging and look as if they’ve been decorated for Halloween. Whether it’s the Hilton or a hovel, there’s a persimmon tree. There are also countless coffee houses. Starbucks is represented but vastly outnumbered by generic cafes. What happened to tea?

Today was devoted to the Silla Kingdom. The tombs resemble our Indian mounds and contained the royal body laid out in a wood coffin. Outfitted in gold and buried with a servant, they were ready for their journey. The tombs were ingenious examples of engineering ingenuity. They were domed and built of carefully balanced rocks using timber for the interiors.

The museum had original gold pieces, steeles, bowls, weapons, etc; no leprechauns. It was clear that the Silla Kingdom traded with other countries by way of the Silk Road, other land routes, and sea. They learned much from China including diplomacy. That led to the unification of the three Korean kingdoms. Jinny cautioned us that there was no freshee allowed. You figure it out. Give up? Flash, as in photograpy.

Our Korean lunch buffet was sumptuous. Jinny has mixed up Harvey and David. She addresses each by the correct names, but, at lunch, she took Harvey around explaining what food was pork and what he could eat, Harvey just went along with it. After circling the tables several times, I found marvelous veggie dumplings, acorn pancakes, and yummy pumpkin whipped like potatoes.

With full stomachs we headed for a steep climb and several flights of steps to a temple for a demonstration of Korean martial arts called sunmudo. I joined in for a mini lesson and was pleased I didn’t fall over. It’s much different than the gentle tai chi I do.

There was a debate as to whether we’d stick to our itinerary and visit a place to try on Korean costumes and make bulgoggi or visit the Golgosa Grotto to see the Seokguram Buddha. Duncan, who is well read on Korea and has visited on business was surprised the grotto wasn’t on our schedule. We convinced Jinny it was worth a call to her company for permission. We all had to sign a document that we agreed to the change so there could be no repercussions when we wrote our reviews. Even though Jinny was explaining it, she veered into Buddhist philosophy and how far we were from the hotel. We still didn’t know where we were going. The bus barreled through the mountain curves and David cracked us up saying, “I don’t know if we’re going to the grotto, the hotel, or hell.” It was the grotto. We didn’t know what we were in for. Fortunately, the weather has ranged in the high 60s so no one got overheated. We walked over a quarter of a mile uphill and climbed several flights to see the granite Buddha. Then there was down.

Not finished yet. Jinny had to fit in a video of the Silla palace complex which did turn out to be informative. That’s how we learned that, when faced with no male successor, the king’s daughter was allowed to take the throne. She ruled well and was instrumental in building the observatory, which we’ll see tomorrow, and an 80-meter-tall pagoda that still baffles today’s architects.

But the day wasn’t over yet. We had to see the park on a manmade lake where several pavilions were illuminated. Paths weren’t lit and footing was sketchy, but Jinny didn’t warn us. Although David left his hiking poles on the bus, he emerged unscathed.

Still not over. We had dinner included. We bussed to our restaurant not realizing we were in for another long walk. This time it was across a replica of the royal bridge. The 300-year-old building housed a Korean style tea house. As with the Japanese style, we sat on the floor. Climbing up to the actual room was awkward at best. Sitting on cushions with nowhere to put our feet was beyond most. They provided low plastic stools which made it manageable, but created a hazard when we tried to stand up in our socks on a slippery floor. Before food arrived, David grumbled that they’d probably serve pork. He was wrong. it was pork and squid pancakes. There was other food and we did feast. In the end, it was delicious.

Tomorrow we have a later start and it will be more lowkey. We’ll lick our wounds, down our Advil, and recharge.

Toby