South Korea

They say that you have not seen Gyeongju if you have not climbed Namsan, or South Muntain, south of the city. In fact, before exploring the city itself, I directly headed to Nmsan on my first morning in Gyeongju. The weather was very nice: a clear sky, in which the sun proved so strong still that even on this December morning, the temperature was getting pleasant. At the foot of Namsan, I saw Baeri Tombs, in which royals of the Silla kingdom are buried. From here, the path went directly up the mountain. I quickly warmed up and had to take of coat and sweater, even though some small streams of Namsan were frozen. Following English signs as well as Koreans walking up, I discovered some of the Buddha images carved out in the rocks of Namsan and statues. Most of them are on small paths leading off the main path.