Gyeongju part 1

For summer vacation I decided I should try to see more of Korea while I'm still here. After the mud festival we headed down to Gyeongju. Gyeongju was capital of Korea, during the Silla Kingdom in the 7th to 9th centuries. Though a lot has been destroyed, there is still much to see. The most prominent being the tombs that are scattered within and around the city. Some are small, but some are quite large. According to a poster near the tombs, Tumuli numbers 90-114, and 151-155 (numbered during Japanese occupation) are earthen mounds. Larger ones have wooden chambers covered in stone and then earth while smaller tombs don't have mounds. One of the tombs that has been excavated, the Cheonmachong, (Heavenly Horse Tomb, named after ) is open to the public. The parks containing the tombs are quite large. Near the tombs there is a small forest. Inside used to be Banwolseong (Castle of the Crescent Moon). The only thing left is the Seokbinggo (a stone ice house) which has been rebuilt. Nearby is Cheomseongdae, which is the oldest astrological observatory in East Asia. Across from the main road we went to Anapji pond. It was made in 674 by King Munmu. The buildings burnt down in 935. The pond and 3 of the buildings were repaired and rebuilt in 1975 and many relics were found buried in the pond. From there we headed over to the Gyeongju National Museum. I love museums. I hated studying modern history in high school but I do love ancient and archaeological history.I think I started to make Zak crazy as every time I saw lotus flower pondseverywhere (lotus crops?) I would have to stop to take pictures. ESPECIALLY when a crane (the national animal of Korea) landed in one.Once back in the downtown area it was already well past lunch time and we were starving. We found an excessively cute (just my style) sandwich shop just off the main shopping street. It wasn't too expensive and the food and drinks were great. :) Definitely a possibility for another lunch. For dinner we found a nice little (sort of) Italian restaurant (also excessively cutesy) near the main shopping street near our hotel. Not too bad. The food was good but the house wine was one that I would probably use in cooking rather than drinking if I ever opened it at home.

March 19th: Amman

I'm still trying to finish posting about my trip earlier in the year but it is very time consuming. I'm working on it!!!
The bus drop off in Amman was not at any sort of station. It was in some sort of alley behind a small building, in a dirt lot. Hmmm. Odd. I didn't have any problems, though. Got my bag, headed to the main street and hopped into a taxi. I gave the taxi a business card for the Palace Hotel (I got the card from some of the people I met in Syria). He seemed to know what it was and started going. But then he kept stopping to ask for directions. Along the way, he said 10JD. I said WHAT?? NO! Meter. He said okay, 5 JD. I said NO. He said 4 JD. I said NO, Meter. Finally he stopped. I didn't see the hotel. I asked and he said it was on the other side of the street, back a little bit. He had passed the walk that was near it and didn't want to go and turn around and go back to drop me off closer to the hotel. He refused, even though I had my big back and small bag to carry, not to mention a knee that didn't seem to want to work. I got out, got my bags and paid him. It was quite a bit more than the meter rate. If I had smaller change I would have given him only what the meter said, as he was being a jerk. He drove away, almost knocking me over. Ack. I should have taken down his lisence plate number but was too tired and just wanted to get to the hotel. It was more than a block back!!!! Argh.

I was at the hotel by about 10 AM.
In the hotel I guess I was lucky as they had a single room w/bathroom left for 18JD/night. I say lucky as everyone I saw coming in after was told it was full, including a girl that came in with a reservation - they said the thought it was for the next day. I think they called a couple of other hotels for her to help find her a room. My room was okay but not fantastic. It was actually a double room with a private bathroom/shower. It was room #104 but to get to the room I had to go up to the 4th floor (3 on the elevator numbers, as it is 3 up), across the hall, out the door, along a balcony and then in a door to a long hallway. I think there are only 3 rooms in the hall and mine was at the end. It was a fairly cold room. The heater was on the opposite side of the room from the beds, under a drafty window. I had to use the blankets from both beds to stay warm. The Palace Hotel is fairly well known as a back packer hotel/hostel. It had Internet (for a fee, of course) on 6 computers in the lounge type area, which was great. Saved having to search for a Net cafe. The hotel let me have breakfast for free that morning. :) A simple breakfast but good; fairly standard from what I had been having in the Middle East.
After eating I went out to wander around a bit. I found the King Hussein Mosque. I didn't go in, though. I went through the fruit & vegetable market behind it and went up the hill.It was opposite the citadel hill, and so I had a good view of the citadel.I started making my way back down the hill, along another route. At one point, a group of guys started following me and making strange noises and laughing. I knew they were watching me... and making the noises at me. No matter what country, men are still men. I walked past the Wild Jordan Cafe, which looked fairly interesting, and down to the bottom of the hill and found the amphitheater. It is HUGE!!!I walked up the stairs and looked around. It held up to 6000 spectators!!! It would have been amazing to see how it was when it was built and used. On either side of the amphitheater, inside, are two little museums: the Museum of Popular Tradition and the Museum of Folklore, with clothes and tools and such. Not bad.Next to the amphitheater is the Odeon, a small theater that seated up to 500 people.From what I have read it is still sometimes used. From there I took a taxi to go up to the Citadel. For some reason, it took a long time to get him to understand where I wanted to go. I even pointed and he gave me a blank look. Eventually, though, he figured it out and I made it there. There are several structures on the top of the mountain of the Citadel: the Temple of Hercules which was possibly made by Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius:a 5 meter deep cistern: what remains of a Byzantine Church, the ruins of the Umayyad Palace:the palace entrance and the Ummayad Mosque. The difference between the old and the refurbished is so well defined![THIS link has a little map and information of these places.] The small Archaeological Museum has quite a bit to see including pottery covered skullsThe info card says:

Plastered Skulls
It is thought that skulls of ancestors were kept in
Plaster to be worshiped by their descendents
Found at Jericho
Neolithic

jar babiesThe info card says:

Child Burial
The burial of infants in jars was a common custom in
Mesopotamia, Egypt and Palestine. The jar was generally
placed under living room floor possibly to keep the
child within the family circle
Ghassul
Chalcolithic

Anthropoid coffins:The info card says:

ANTHROPOID COFFINS

The five anthropoid coffins on display were discovered in 1966 in the grounds of the Raghadan Palace in Amman among other archaeological finds in a cistern-like tomb. Made of baked clay, with crushed pieces of pottery used as grits, each of them has four handles that were used to transport them from their place of manufacture to their place of use. One of them has 16 handles at the back arranged in two rows, apparently serving to elevate the coffin when laid horizontally.
At the place where the head of the deceased would rest, a lid was cut out. the lug handles, one on the lid and one on the body of the coffin, were placed so as to fasten the lid to the body. On two of these lids, there are portraits of the deceased. Note the pointed noses, the small, elongated eyes and the eyebrows arranged in such a wasy as to connect up with the outline of the face. The ears are large and prominent, the lips small and straight and the beards of a pronounced length. Two of the coffins have arms placed on the sides of the body.
When discovered, it was found that each coffin contained two or three skeletons.
Very few sites have shown this type of burial practice in Jordan and Palestine. These include Sahab, south of Amman, and Lachish, Tell al-Far'ah, Besan and Deir al-Balah in Palestine. This burial practice was in use from the 13th to the 7th Century BC.

pottery bombs (maybe?):and other such interesting things. From the info card:

Architectural Relief

young woman wearing a laurel wreath holds a
mask of Pan, the herdsmend's god, or of a Satyr. She
may be Melpomene, the muse of tragedy, or be part
of a frieze in honour of Dionysus, the god of wine
Alternatively she may be the muse Thaleia holding
a mask of Pappos (father), as in the comedies of the
poet Menander which were the most popular on the
ancient stage at that time.
Nabataean, first half of 1st century A.D
Limestone, from Petra

From the Citadel, the view of Amman is amazing, including a great view of the Roman Theater in the distance. I took a back route down the hill using stairs on one side near the Temple of Hercules. The stairs took me to one of the roads that winds along the side of the hill, along which I found other stairs to other roads. The sights along the way were very interesting, with old and new intermixed. Some buildings were being destroyed or just deserted and falling down. When I was almost at the bottom, a guy approached me and wanted to talk. He seemed decent enough so I decided to let him join me. Ahmed, an electronics engineer, is learning English. We walked for a while and then sat in the forum (the area in front of the Amphitheater) to have some tea. Then, since I was hungry, he took me to Hashems, a very famous little restaurant that only serves felafels and side dishes. It is said to be one of the oldest restaurants in Amman. It was SO delicious!!! And cheap!!!! I was so full by the time I finished but only payed a little more than 1 JD. After eating, he took me to Jabra, a cafe, for some coffee. An interesting place with a good atmosphere. A bit smoky, though, since it is a sheesha cafe. After we finished our coffee, Ahmed wanted to show me his favorite street in Amman, a little street just off of Rainbow Street. The whole area there is very wealthy. A huge part of Rainbow Street has cobblestones. I think they are trying to make it back into something of what it once was. [Here is a blog post I found that shows Rainbow Street in some detail: 360East.]
Then it was back to the hotel for me. I was sitting at the computers working on a post and adding pics when all of a sudden something went wrong and the whole post went blank. ACK!!!!! So much time wasted!!! Back in my hotel room, I froze. The room was soooooooooo cold. The little heater was right under the windows, which were not well sealed and which seemed to suck out any heat coming off of the heater. I had the blankets from both beds in the room on top of me and was still a bit cold. Not cool.

Deoksugung, etc

During summer vacation I spent a day wandering around down town Seoul. I started out just through the tunnel from where I live (the 3rd tunnel going under Namsan) in the Myungdong area. I went to the Bank of Korea Museum.I have always looked at the outside and wondered what it looked like inside. It is a beautiful building, built in 1912 by the Japanese.The museum is definitely worth a look. Very interesting. Did you know they shred old paper money and make things with it, such as parts for cars and blocks for flooring??? Did you know that there is such a thing as knife money??? There is even an entire wall covered in Notgeld (emergency money used in Germany, especially during the war - some examples)! Too bad I couldn't take pictures inside the museum other than the stairs.Then I went for a walk towards City Hall.[Sinsegae Department Store][Korea Post Tower]
I decided to finally check out Deoksugung, (덕수궁/Deoksu Palace/Palace of Virtuous Longevity). It is right in the middle of downtown Seoul, across from the City Hall. Deoksugung was originally the home of a brother of one of the kings, but then became the main palace in 1592 when all of the other palaces were damaged/destroyed in fires when the Japanese were invading (during the Seven Year War). It is one of "Five Grand Palaces" built by the Joseon Dynasty (1392-1910) in Korea, the others being Gyeongbokgung (경복궁/Palace Greatly Blessed by Heaven or Palace of Shining Happiness, the largest/main palace, which is a little North of City Hall - I've been there a couple of times), Changdeokgung (창덕궁/Palace of Prospering Virtue, or Palace of Illustrious Virtue, which is near Anguk Station, to the west of Gyeongbokgung. I've been there a couple of times as well), Gyeonghuigung (경희궁/Palace of Serene Harmony, to the southwest of Gyeongbokgung/northwest of Deoksugung; it was completely destroyed by the Japanese and only a small part was rebuilt) and Changgyeonggung (창경궁/Palace of Flourishing Gladness, sort of attached to the east side of Changdeokgung). I guess I could mention that 'gung' is palace in Korean. [Taehanmun - Taehan Gate]
From a sign at the entrance:

On the site of Deoksugung were residential buildings of descendants of the royal family, including prince Wolsan (1454-1488), the older brother of King Seongjong (1469-1494), and high-ranking officials of the Joseon Dynasty. When all the palaces int eh capital were destroyed by fire during the Japanese invasion of Korea in 1592, King Seonjo (1567-1608) used these residential buildings as a temporary palace. In 1611, this palace became a secondary palace named Gyeongungung when King Gwanghaegun (1608-1623) moved to Changdeokgung, which was rebuilt as the offical royal residence. From that time to the mid nineteenth century, Gyeongungung played no important role as a palace. In 1897, King gojong proclaimed the establishment of the Great Han Empire and became and emporer. Gyeongungung became the central palace of the Great Han Empire, and a number of new buildings befitting and imperial palace were built. As evidence of Gojong's determination to modernize the country, some of the buildings were built in a Western style. In the 1880s, the area around the palace was called Jeongneung-dong and was crowded with foreign legations and residences of missionaries, making expansion of the premises of Gyeongungung difficult. The premises eventually surrounded the already existing American, British and Russian legations, resulting in a very irregular layout. In 1907, the palace became the residence of the former King gojong after he relinquished the throne. The palace was renamed Deoksugung, and its prmises were reduced to make way for street widening. After Gojong passed away, Seonwonjeon in the northern section and Jungmyeongjeon in teh western section of the palace were sold, reducing the premises of the palace by one-third. In 1933, all of the buildings on the palace premises, except a few central buildings and Western-style buildings, were removed. The palace was then made a park and opened to the general public. The Junghwajeon area, the center of the palace premises, and the Western-style buildings including Jeonggwanheon and Seokjojeon, remain. Deoksugung was the symbolic center of resistance in the face of several national crises, including the Japanese invasion on 1592 and the difficulties during the closing years of the so-called Great Han Empire.

THIS is a good site to see the layout of the palace.I love the fact that this giant cat has it's little tongue sticking out!!!

Gwangmyeongmun was originally the south gate to Hamnyeongjeon,
sleeping quarters of the king. It was moved to its present location when the
west wing of Seokjojeon was expanded in 1938 to be used as an art museum of the
Yi Dynasty.Inside the gate are an automatic striking water clock called
Jagyeokru (National Treasure No. 229), the Bell of Heungcheonsa Temple forged in
1462 (Treasure No 1460) and a powerful wheeled cannon that can fire 100 arrows
at the same time using gunpowder. [from a sign in front of
the gate]

Singijeon Launcher Carriage
The singijeon is a weapon that was invented by Choe Museon at the end of the Goryeo Dynasty and improved in 1448. It is an iron-tipped bamboo arrow with a paper-gunpowder rocket attached to the rear. When the rocket was lit, the weapon would launch. There were a variety of types of these weapons, including large singijeon, medium singijeon, small singijeon and incendiary singijeon, but mostly small and medium singijeon were fired from the launcher carriage. The singijeon launcher was a wooden frame with holes 4.6 centimeters in diameter into which the small and medium singijeon were placed. When fired, the carriage that carried the launcher was aimed at the proper angle, and then all the singijeon fuses were gathered together and lit at once. The firing range of small singijeon was about 100 meters, while the medium singijeon could reach about 150 meters. It is the oldest weapon in the world for shich there is still a blueprint that was made when the weapon was constructed. [from a sign in front]

Heungcheonsa Bell
Treasure No. 1460
Heungcheonsa is a temple established by King Taejo, the founder of the Joseon Dynasty, in 1397, to pray for the repose of his Queen Sindeok's soul and to protect her tomb. In 1409 the tomb was movedo ut of the capital city, to the prese3nt location in Jeongjeung-dong, Seongbuk-gu. Aftgerward, Heungcheonsa remained as a royal family's administrative temple until 1510. The Heungcheonsa Bell was installed in 1462. Since Heungcheonsa was burned down in 1510, the bell was first moved to Gwanghwamun of Gyeongbokgung Palace in 1747, then to Changgyeonggung Palace, and finally to the present location. According to the inscription found on the bell, it was petitioned byt the royal family, such as prince Hyoryeong. It also belongs to the representative temple bells made in the early period of the Joseon Dynasty. [from sign in front of bell]

Borugak Jagyeongnu
National Treasure No. 229
The jagyeongnu is a water clock that was made in 1536. In 1434, Jang Yeongsil connected a device which automatically told the time to a water clock for the first time, creating jagyeongnu, which moved by itself. This clock ws used to keep the standard time of the Joseon Dynasty. The jagyeongnu of Borugak is an improved device built by Yu Jeon and others during the time of King Jungjong. The intricate and complex time-telling device is now gone, and only 3 water bowls and 2 cylindrical water containers remain. In the jagyeongnu, water flowed from the water bowls and gathered in the cylindrical containers. A stick in the containers, marked with time gradations, moved a leverage-principle apparatus, causing the metal beads attached to the apparatus to strike bells, drums, and gongs.
This jagyeongnu, which carries on the tradition of King Sejong, is a precious scientific cultural asset, being the oldest and largest water clock in teh world. It was originally located in Borugak in the palace of Changdeokgung, but it was moved here. The automatic time-telling device and other devices were lost sometime before the clock was moved. [from a sign in front]

View of Seokjojeon, one of the more modern buildings.
Looking towards Jeonghwajeon (the main throne room) through Jeonghwamun (Jeonghwa Gate). Guardians on the roof of Jeonghwamun.Both Jeonghwajeon and Jeonghwamun were burnt down in 1904 and then rebuilt in 1906. Because of that, it is the most recently built of all of the palace throne rooms. It is said that the original throne room was 2 floors high. The posts on either side show where different officials would stand during ceremonies. Notice the pigeon on the walk way?I stopped to take some pictures of the bird. It sat there for sooo long!! I wasn't sure if it was just resting or if it was injured, especially the way it was holding its wing a bit out to the side. But while I was taking pictures, all of a sudden it flew away, making a few Korean women that were checking it out jump out of their skin. LOL. I love these guys!! So ugly they're cute. Decorations on the stairs up to the throne room.The throne.The ceiling above the throne.There is a bit of a mix of old and new. Here is a view of a bit of both: the front corner of Jeonghwajeon, the throne room, with Seokjojeon in the distance, which now holds a sort of Royal Museum).An insense holder at the corner of Jeonghwajeon.Seogeodang (hall)This is how the rice paper doors/windows were stored out of the way to open the entire side of buildings.A chimney behind Jeukjodang. The chimney is from the ondol heating - there is a place to make fires under the floor, which heats up the entire floor, keeping the building warm in the winter.A back view of Jeukjodang.Deokhongjeon (hall)

Guardians on the roof.The little black spots in the air are dragonflies. :)A statue of King Sejong, the one that created Hangul, the Korean writing system.The Jidang (pond). It was around this pond that I found all of the cicadas (and the casings/shed skins) everywhere. I sat at a little cafe overlooking the pond and enjoyed an iced mocha and my book.After the palace, I headed over to the City Hall.I watched the children playing in the fountains and then headed onto the grassy area. City Hall is now completely surrounded and is under contstruction. They are trying to incorporate the old with the new. The original City Hall was built by the Japanese (in 1926) during the occupation. It had a similar feel to the other buildings from that time (the Bank of Korea is another one). THIS is what the new City Hall building will look like. I took a walk barefoot in the grassy area in front. Gotta love the feel of grass on bare feet. :) I was approached by a Mongolian student trying to sell me socks, and a Korean guy that is obsessed with traveling (though he hasn't really traveled much, but is PLANNING to travel) who talked my ear off for a good 15 minutes!! I couldn't get away with out being rude, and don't like to be rude, so just stood there looking around, responding every now and then until he seemed to run out of things to say, and then took my chance and said I had to go. I WAS going to sit on the grass for a bit and read, but he interrupted me. I think he just wanted a chance to practice his English (of course). View of another interesting building in the distance. Not sure what that one is (the one that bends). I headed orff in the direction of the Cheonggyecheon (Cheonggye stream). I'll save that for another post.