Korea Part Deux

From Donnie:
Now that I am back home for a while, I thought I might make a few posts to show some of the stuff I have seen. I'm not going to try to do it all in order because that would require way more effort than I plan on putting into this but I will try to hit the highlights. This post will cover my last two trips to South Korea. The first to Busan for the International Fleet Review and the second trip was to Osan for a planning conference.

Busan:

The International Fleet Review had ships from all over the Pacific including Russians, Chinese, South Koreans, Indians, Aussies, Kiwis, Singapore, Thiland, and us. This is a Russian SLAVA Guided Missile Cruiser named the Varyag (ancient Russians often called Vikings). You can see us anchored out behind them. We all anchored out for a day and then conducted a pass and review the next day as we entered the harbor.



This is the view we had once moored. Busan is a pretty place with lots of mountains that border the ocean. The ROK Fleet facilities are also very nice and new.


This is the Chinese Luhu Destroyer HARBIN, named after a city in northeast China. They were extremely friendly and gave a bunch of us a great tour. The ship was immaculate and I swapped a zippo for a hat. He got the better of the deal for sure, but it is a cool hat.


And a close-up of the VARYAG. Those missile tubes are enormous.


Downtown Busan had a shopping district with lots of colorful tiles. Apparently Vikings came here (but I don't remember that in the history books...maybe the Russian Vikings):



While in Busan I took a one-day tour to see Pulguksa Temple and the Silla Royal Tombs which are UNESCO World Heritage sites and the Kyongju National Museum, which holds most of the original artifacts from this area.

Pulguksa Temple:

This site dates to about 528 but a large portion of it was destroyed by the Japanese in the 1500s. What is left dates from reconstruction in the 1600s and is very impressive, but perhaps only 1/10th of the original size.



There were several Buddah statues, one which dates back to the 9th century (yeah 800s). They are gilt-bronze and still look magnificent.


And who can pass up a turtle carrying a drum with a dragon on it?!?!?


Or better yet, a huge wooden fish with horns?!?!?!


As we were loading back on the bus I snapped this picture of a group of bus drivers in really nice suits playing cards on a mat in the shade. You just wouldn't see this in the US. It'd be more like a bunch of guys in dickies hanging around a Waffle House and smoking cigarettes.


Silla Royal Tombs:

This site has over 20 tombs which date from the Three Kingdoms Period (57BC - 668AD).


A few tombs were double-mounds and are the resting place of a King and his wife.


This tomb was the burial place of King Michu and had been excavated. The interior shows exact replicas of the artifacts they found in the positions they found them. What is not in the picture are the 200 school children waiting to go through. Our tour guide just pushed us to the front and squeezed us in. Every one of the children knew some English and decided to practice on us. "HI!!" "Hello!!!" "How are you?" And when you answered thay all laughed and ran away.



Our last visit was to the Kyongju National Museum. I think all 200 kids and another 300 of their friends also went. "HI!! HELLO!!!"


This crown came from the tomb that I mentioned above. The picture is a little blurry but you get the idea. Lots of jade and gold. Considering this is contemporary with the Romans, you can get an idea that there wasn't much separating the two as far as craftsmanship goes.



These are a few bronze swords. I always pay attention to this stuff and I can honestly say I have never seen bronze in as good a condition as the sword on the right. It normally looks like the one on the left. It is also very ornate with fine detail carved on every piece of bronze. Really amazing.


These are daggers carved from stone. These most likely were ceremonial in nature, but it sure is incredible to see how delecate these are.



And no place in Korea would be complete without a huge bell that is rediculously old.



After we left Busan, I worked for about a week on the ship then flew off to Osan. I had one weekend there and took another tour.

Battle of Haengju Fortress (1593):

This is one of Korea's greatest victories over the Japanese. About 3000 Koreans defeated a force of 30,000 Japanese by fortifying the top of this hill will palisades and earth walls. The dense Japanese formations were easy targets for Korean projectiles. The battle is famous for the effort the women played in bringing rocks and logs to the soldiers to throw at the Japanese.


Great view from the monument overlooking Seoul. You get an idea how high up you are.



The Koreans used rocket technology extensively. I definitely wouldn't want to be at the other end of those big ones on the wall.


This temple is dedicated to General Kwon Yul, who was the Korean comander and probably the most famous Korean General ever.


General Kwon Yul's statue. Of note, the tour guide reminded us several times that the winner of Survivor: Cook Island was named after this general. I've never seen that season but maybe you have.


Seoul:

After touring the battle site, we did some shopping in a famous shopping district in Seoul. This guy is selling caramel taffy shavings. He takes the wood block and shaves off curls of taffy and wraps them around a stick.


And wouldn't you know it, but an all female brass band came marching through. You don't see that every day.




Changduk Palace:

Changduk is another UNESCO World Heritage Site and was built in 1405 during the Choson Dynasty. It is considered the epitome of Korean architecture.

This bridge is the entryway and it splits the water between good and bad. That's all well and good until the water mixes up again on the other side.


This is the gateway to the big temple that is on the compound. Notice the three-tiered walkway and stone posts along the sides. Only the royal family could walk on the central tier and you had to be of a certain status to walk on the other levels. The stone posts were engraved with specific govenment (left) and military (right) titles.




This is the big temple. Very ornate and the interior was as nice as I've seen in a Korean temple. Unfortunately, none of my pictures came out.


This is the Royal Family's house. Pretty nice entrance.

The interior of one of the rooms here shows you what it looked like in the early 1900s. Notice it is fully wired with electricity and has western furniture.


This is the interior of a living space. Paper thin walls and wicker screens don't do much for the cold though. The tour guide said they had heated floors but that only does so much if the window isn't air tight.


This is the concubine house. It was more rustic looking and had an older feel about it. I dond't understand a word of what the tour guide said here so that's about all I know.

This is another building on the grounds but I cound't figure out if it was a temple or another residence. I'm guessing a temple because of the ceremonial gates.


Believe it or not, but this tree is 750 years old. It was planted by monks and has been maintained by them ever since. Notice all the stilts to help hold the branches up. Definitely the oldest tree I've ever seen.



That's it for my Korea adventures. I'll start working on another post.