Korea Trip: The Bulguk-sa

After having a great experience in Busan, my friend and I headed to Gyeongju, the old capitol of Korea. It’s a bit of a cultural hub and has lots to see, but sadly we only got one day there before heading to Seoul.

The first thing we did in Gyeongju was head out to the Bulguk-sa, a Buddhist temple that’s about an hour from the train station by bus. Having lived in Japan for about a year and a half, I’m no longer quite so awed by the temples as I used to be (you could even say I’m experiencing ‘temple fatigue’), but the temples in Korea are a lot different than they are in Japan. Japanese temples have a fairly austere aesthetic for the most part, and are constructed mostly of dark brown wood. If the Bulguk-sa is any indication, Korean temples are aesthetically much more similar to structures I’ve seen in Taiwan. The entrance to the Bulguk-sa is marked by a large wooden gate decorated with vibrant (if somewhat faded by time) green, blue, and orange hues. It’s heavily ornamented with wooden layers of colored wood.

What was really amazing to me was seeing what was standing just inside the gate—four enormous, wooden statues that must have been at least fifteen feet tall greet visitors as they pass through. The statues are painted with the same coloring as the gate, and two stand on either side of its interior, facing each other and the visitors. Unfortunately I don’t know much about them or who or what they’re supposed to represent, but they’re breathtaking pieces of artistry. If you closely at their hands, you can see that one of them appears to be clasping a dragon in its right hand, while the statue beside it is holding a slender red pole and a pagoda.

Facing them are a statue holding a stringed instrument and another clasping a sword. As I said, I don’t know for sure, but I imagine the statues are meant to depict spiritual beings that guard the temple.

The Bulguk-sa itself is also pretty impressive. It’s preceded by a series of large stone steps, and the temple grounds are some of the biggest I’ve seen so far. There are multiple buildings connected by long wooden corridors and shaded wooden awnings. If you look carefully at the undersides of the roofs, you can see carvings of dragons and flowers, as well as images of people and plants painted on the smooth paneling. It’s stunning in its complexity.

The grounds surrounding the actual temple are also pretty amazing. There’s a large pond right near the entrance which is surrounded by trees whos slender, delicate-looking branches drape down toward the water. We managed to see the Bulguk-sa just before the cherry blossoms were starting to bloom, so I’m sure it’s even lovelier a little later in the year.

My friend and I spent about an hour or two at the temple and then headed back to the bus stops to make our way to Tumuli Park and the Gyeongju National Museum. Before we could catch our bus, though, we were accosted by a short middle-aged woman who came ambling up to us in the parking lot. She thrust a business card into my hands and immediately began herding us toward the string of restaurants and souvenir shops standing opposite the Bulguk-sa. The entire way she continued to exclaim in a loud, enthusiastic voice that she had an English menu at her restaurant.

I have to say, this lady was pretty awesome. Not only did she successfully shepherd my friend and I in for lunch, but as we were crossing the street she suddenly started directing traffic, waving some cars through and holding her hand up to stop others as we crossed and approached her restaurant. Once we were there she hovered around us and pointed out various items on the menu until we ordered some bulgogi. She then promptly served us not only the bulgogi but about nine side dishes, after which she explained that she needed to go out and wrangle some more customers, and asked us to pay. We did, and she left us to finish our meal. I gotta hand it to her, she was a pretty successful businesswoman (although I guess we could have robbed her blind, what with her leaving us in her empty restaurant and all). Within fifteen minutes she was back, this time with a Japanese couple who looked as bewildered as my friend and I had been.

So, I guess we were suckers for being dragged into that restaurant, but it’s got to be one of the funniest memories I have of Gyeongju. What’s more, the food was actually amazing. That might have been my favorite meal in Korea.

Going in, though, I have to admit that I had no idea what bulgogi is. For those of you who are as clueless as I was, it’s basically a kind of stew of chopped meat, vegetables, and noodles, all cooked in a big pot (in this case, a big pot on a portable gas stove). Each person has a small bowl in front of them, which they can fill at their leisure.

One thing I have to say I love about Korean cuisine is that it’s very vegetable-heavy and you always seem to get amazing side dishes. Compared to other places I ate at, we got a more side dishes at this restaurant, but you still typically get between three and five.

What we got here were dishes of tiny, whole fish, some kind of black beans, kimchi (of course), various mixed vegetables (one such dish was mixed with halved garlic cloves), sweetened lotus root, and pickled Chinese radish. There was also a plate of whole garlic cloves. Now, I love garlic more than the average North American, so I was game to eat a lot of the garlicky food, but my stomach felt like it was being pricked by needles by the time we left the restaurant. Clearly my stomach is not yet sufficiently steely to handle all that Korean cuisine has to offer.

Anyway, all in all, my trip to the Bulguk-sa was an amazing experience and I’d recommend it to anyone who happens to be in the Busan area. And once we were done there we did manage hit up the Gyeongju National Museum and Tumuli Park despite our unexpected little detour. But I’ll save that for another update!