G for Gyeongju

Gyeongju is a touristy spot. It’s a good place to check out because it has so much history, but because it’s so popular, I’ve actually been there three times and feel sick of it. I have no recollection of the place when I went as a kid, but I went the second time on a tour to see the cherry blossoms (but poor timing led to us not seeing any), and the third with my school (bad decision).

One of the temples (Seokgulam I believe) stands out to me because the architecture is ingenious. I can’t remember the details exactly but it was built so that sunlight hit Buddha optimally at all angles during sunrise and sunset. Unfortunately, the temple needs constant touch-ups because it suffered damage during colonization (wars, ya know? -_-). I wanted to badly get a picture when we were inside but I stopped myself. I also felt awkward because there were monks worshipping! But a lot of foreigners were snapping discreet pictures, which is a huge faux pas. C’mon people. Don’t do this anywhere. So rude. Preserve history!