경주

It's raining and I'm not singing in the rain, so I stopped in Gyeongju, the capital of the ancient kingdom Silla. Not for the city itself, don't care much really, but the surroundings are sort of amazing - in the cultural meaning, not exactly for sightseeing. I stopped at the Hanjin hostel, a very very nice place to be, it reminds me of the Kaynarca in Turkey - only pleasant memories. I was told it's an expensive place (Gyeongju, not Hanjin), but I'm still laughing at the prices. Probably I'll cry in Japan. Today I ate lunch in a restaurant on a top touristic spot: 6000won (less than 4€) for a bibimbap with loads of banchan and triple serving of kimchi. No beer or soju. At the hostel I can use the kitchen so I bought tofu, kimchi, kim and hot peppers at the market. Don't ask the prices, half kilo of tofu 600won... Besides my little pumpkin He In I miss Nandida's kimchi, hopefully one day she'll teach me her secret way of making it.
Cleaning the park

Burial tumuli



I was a good tourist and I spent almost all day at the Bulguksa temple, a huge complex that I strolled slowly, almost in meditation, and it came to me naturally to bow in front of each Shakyamuni statue (loads of them). The hell, if I think of myself just a few months ago: Dag doesn't bow in front of anyone! In a way I still don't, I just follow Seung Sahn sunim's advice: Little I bows in front of big I.











Meditation or not, respect or not - I had to prove myself and take pictures where is forbidden. Not an easy task, security guards everywhere and all shrines are covered with cc security cameras. Once I was almost thrown out when caught in the act, but I have one picture of Shakyamuni!

Well, but the sign "off limits" stopped me - I really wouldn't argue with those two guys, they really look like mean ass-kicking bastards.

Hm, how else would a gas station near the temple look like...

Tomorrow again to the temple for a walk to the Seokguram grotto
And I just love konglish: