South Korea Day 7: Bulguksa Temple, Gyeongju

Assalamualaikum. 안녕!

As promised in the latest entry of my Winter Trip, journey to Bulguksa Temple. 

Lost of idea on what to scribble for intro. Lets jump to isi straight away.

The bus stopped opposite the road of this I-kiosk.

At first I thought this is the ticket counter. Turned out it's only a room that houses information about Bulguksa.

We had no idea where to go but later decided to follow few people yang baru turun dari kereta. Mesti diorang ni mau pigi the same destination; so I thought. Turned out I was right. But! Rupanya kena menapak. See the hilly terrain on the right side of the picture above. Bermulalah aktiviti perah tenaga & strengthen muscles kaki. Nangis!

Let's walk. And walk. And walk. Or was it more to climb, climb, climb.

It is also said that because this temple keep many important cultural relics from the past, it has become a target for robberies as well. 

After few minutes of good exercise for the body *cough*, we finally reached the ticket booth. Jimat 1,000₩ as the cousin falls under Youth category. 

 Kena menapak lagi ok! Another frozen lake we encountered on our way to the temple after the entrance gate. Through our experiences in Gyeongbuk & Chuncheon, I learned that whenever there is frozen lake nearby or snowfall coming; the temperature will dropped suddenly. Hence, akan rasa sejuk dari biasa. No wonder rasa sejuk lain macam before approaching the lake. 

The tile reception booth. Siapa mau buat offering or donation to the temple, they can do so here. Purchase the tiles & write ur wishes/prayers on it. I'm not sure whether the tiles are to be left to displayed at the temple or one can bring them back. 

From the tile reception, we walked towards the left side of the temple which lead us to another steep path. Nasiblah badan. Memang exercise sungguh datang temple ni. Masa memanjat 

Guardian angels at each side of the entrance? They look rather scary for me. Datang malam, harus aku ndak pusing kiri kanan tengok diorang ni.

It was built in 528 during the Silla Kingdom therefore explained the fading colours. Nampak lusuh tapi masih utuh & teguh berdiri. Construction orang dulu kala sangat jujur unlike zaman sekarang. Banyak campur bahan tipu dari yang original. Enough said.

The artistic touch of the stone relics of this temple are known throughout the world. 

The Dabotap (Many Treasure Pagoda) with 10.4 metres tall is one of the two most valued pagodas in Korea. It stand on the west of the yard separating Daengjeon & Jahamun.  

Seokgatap (Sakyamuni Pagoda) with 8.2 metres tall stands on the east side just opposite the Dabotap. It was supposed a 3-stories pagoda that has two stones foundation level crafted in traditional Korean style.

Unfortunaely, the three-stories pagoda is undergoing some major restoration when we were there. A crack was found in 2010 & immediately the Restoration Committee of Bulguksa Temple initiate the restoration project. 

What displayed is the disassemble pieces of each level of the pagoda. It is expected to be assembled back to its original structure Dec this year. 

Daengjeon is a hall housing the Sakyamuni Buddha. 

I remembered an old Ahjumma shooing people who got near the temple intended to take picture. Kami adalah antara yang dihalau. However, orang degil macam aku memang ndak makan saman. I got to take picture of the buddha but decided to keep it just for myself. Mesti ada sebab Ahjumma tu halang sebab hall lain yang ada patung buddha, Ahjumma(s) the Keeper ndak marah pun.

Kami jalan lebih kurang jak dalam temple ni. Ndak lah beria lawat semua hall or tempat pemujaan diorang. Masjid pun ndak lawat berabisan kan, ni lagi mau study habis pasal temple. Malu ok. Teringat ayat si Lily regarding this. Sungguh.

Stone-carved Buddha. 

I'd say almost every temple/palaces in Korea have this similar constructions, designs & colours.

Wishing stones. Loads of them! And one unique tree trunk. Sebab sudah beratus tahun usia kali pokok dalam tu menumpang. Ambik kau. Memang menumpang sungguh, habis perumah tu dia kerjakan.

Ring the bell with that red thing three times to 'awake' the Kingdom of Heaven. Say ur prayer(s) & God's willing ur prayer(s) will be fulfilled. That's the the Buddhist beliefs. So janganlah tanya adakah aku pigi try ketuk bell tu. Oh by the way, kena donate 1,000₩ untuk masuk & ketuk bell ni ya. 

Last view of the most-known stairs of Bulguksa Temple before we made our way out.

Putar² the temple area lebih kurang 2 hours with photo sessions in between, not to forget duduk rehat lepaskan lelah. Nasiblah datang during winter, else memang berpeluh gaban. 

A friend of mine; Ms F loves this kinda view. Pokok togel as we called it. She enjoyed this pokok togel view immensely during her trip to Paris autumn last year. 

We followed a different path to exit the temple area. Arrived quite distant from where we entered the temple earlier. Menapak sikit untuk sampai area kedai near the bus stop. 

Masa turun dari bas tadi, hati sungguh lega when we saw there are quite a numbers of shops/restaurant across the street. Terus pasang niat untuk singgah bila keluar dari Bulguksa. Sekadar untuk melepas kering di tekak jadilah. Dari kebuluran kan. Spaghetti goreng kami makan di Singyeongju Station pagi tu macam sudah habis digested & transformed to energy. That's why kaki pun macam lembik jak mau berjalan. 

Rupa autumn pun ada juga kan. Since I never experienced autumn before, I considered this as one lah. Weather pun ndak berapa sejuk, I survived strolling without gloves. Scarf pun takat lilit di leher, ndak sampai jadi ninja tutup mulut hidung tinggal mata jak. 

Sikit ragu untuk makan di restoran so we opted to entered the bakery instead. Ndak lepak, just beli bun & hot coffee. Sejuk² adalah best untuk pekena hot drink. While on the go pula tu, oh sungguh poyo rasanya.

Mari jamu perut with the famous Gyeongju Red Bean Bread (Gyeongju Ppang) while waiting for the bus.

The cousin dislike red bean hence explained her reaction in the pic above. Bersungguh beli sekotak (minimum purchase is 10 pieces if I'm not mistaken) untuk cover lapar. Forgot the price though. It would have been great if it was served hot. Yang ni sudahlah sejuk, keras some more. Tapi telan juga 3 biji sebab lapar.

Kami skipped plan untuk ke Seokguram Grotto due to time constraint. Also, the idea to climb the Tohamsan Mountain (approximately an hour walking) where the temple is located was quite harsh for both of us. Sejuk, lapar (walau ada roti as bekalan kan?!?). Combo yang sangat bagus untuk tempah si Gastrik datang. 

To those who wish to go, u can reach Seokguram Grotto by taking the bus #12 from Bulguksa Temple. Bus frequency is every 30 minutes. Entrance is 4,000₩ for adult. 

Anyway, we rode the bus #10 from Bulguksa to Anapji Pond. One can also take the bus #11. A mere 10 minutes ride. Yang tu nanti aku sambung next entry. 

On another note, let us together pray for the success of the R&S for MH370. It's been more than 24 hours since it was reported missing. Yet no sign of the aircraft has been found. Be it good or not, at least knowing its whereabouts will change how things take course. 

Insha Allah, semua perancangan dari Nya maka hanya dengan Dia tempat kita mengadu & memohon. Amin ya Rabbul Alamin.

eryantierdabdulkarim