I went south -- to Gyeongju, Korea's ancient seat of government -- in search of adventure, history and cherry blossoms. All was accomplished except the later, which was replaced with an unmistakably saddle-sore bum that only 10 hours on a bike can award. The 4.5-hour bus ride to the coastal city gifted my friends and me with blue skies, sunshine and open space, a welcome antithesis from Seoul's gray, crowded streets. We threaded through Gyeongu's rural neighborhoods and rice fields, enjoying the Easter weekend and company. I didn't realize how much I missed the smell of fresh earth and cow dung until we found some farms, too.
Gyeongju means, "congratulatory district" and is one of the biggest tourism sites in South Korea with several UNESCO heritage sites. In the Silla and Unified Silla periods, the city was the center of court and cultural life through the end of the ninth century. After that time, the area was pounded multiple times by the Mongols and Japanese -- but that's the basic idea of all Korean history.
Below us in front of a famous astronomy tower.
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