igoiseeishoot: Gyeongju-Busan-Seoul Day 3 (Part 1) – Go to Gwaereung Tomb with the Gyeongju City Tour Bus

5 May 2012

The best way for visiting the historical attractions of Gyeongju that are located on the outskirts of the city would be to take a Gyeongju City Bus Tour. It would take too long if we were to go by public transport. The City Tour Bus company offers several itineraries. We chose the East Sea Tour Course (18,000 KRW per person) which will bring us to these places:

Gwareung Tomb

Seokguram Grotto

Underwater Tomb of King Munmu

Gameunsa Temple Site

Gyeongju Traditional Silk Pavilion,

Golgulsa (Stone Buddha) Temple

Note: the itinerary would be subject to change by the tour operator. It is best to check the latest schedule, prices and itinerary here.

Tip: For larger groups or family, a one day tour by private van, with English speaking guide could be an option.

The bus picked us up shortly after 10 AM. The bus made its round to pick up other passengers from the other hotels in the Bomun Resort area and also guests from the Kolon Hotel located near the Bulguksa Temple. The other passengers were Koreans from out of Gyeongju and visiting historical Gyeongju. We were the only foreigners and non-Korean speaking persons on the group. The guide speaks a little English.

On the way to our first stop, I spotted this lamp post.

Need to be observant to notice that the base of the Gyeongju lamp-post is in the shape of the Cheomseongdae Observatory.

Our first stop for the day was the Gyeongju Gwareung. The guide handed us two copies of the tourist brochure explaining the significance of this place before she proceeded to deliver her explanations to the rest of the group in Korean language. We wandered off to explore the site on our own while the group obediently listened to her.

Tomb of King Wonseong. Taking the opportunity to have a solo photo near the tomb while the rest of the tour group is listening to the guide.

From the brochure, I learnt that this tomb is that of King Wonseong, 38th King of Silla and ruled from AD785 to 798. This tomb is like all the round mound tombs we saw at the Tumuli Park yesterday but it has something else. At the bottom of the tomb, there are safeguarding stones bearing the twelve Chinese zodiac animals and above it, stone rails to protect the tomb. In addition, the tomb is franked by two rows of stone guards - civilian and military, as well as stone lions. This King must have been well loved by his subjects.

Safeguarding stones bearing the twelve Chinese zodiac animals (this one showing a monkey) surrounds the base of the tomb.

The other interesting thing about this tomb is that the coffin is suspended inside and not placed on the ground. “Gwaereung” means “hanging tomb (or coffin)”.