But the atmosphere seems wrong, not the calm one associates with Buddhism! Dan and I put on our ridiculously large temple-stay outfits which guide-lady told us we had to wear at all times. The main Buddha statue is actually quite amazing, It is 3.5 metres tall and sits on a 1.3 meter tall lotus pedestal. It’s not like we could reschedule for another day – our days in Korea were pretty limited. At this point we hopped in our guide’s – referred to as “guide-lady for the remained of this post – car and she began to drive, away from the temple. I attempted to cheer myself up and hope for the best. (There are several different tours) It leaves from the hotels. She seemed quite happy about getting to stay away from the temple for a night – she explained she doesn’t get cable TV in her temple room and was happy to watch her shows. For more information on Templestay Korea, check out their website: http://eng.templestay.com/, Or specifically for the Bulguksa Templestay: http://www.bulguksa.org/4. She did explain that there are two forms, sitting and walking. After the tour we returned to guide-lady’s office where she asked if we would like coffee or tea. The experiential program affords guests the opportunity to learn about the cultural assets at the temple, and take walks around the pagodas. I asked guide-lady if I could take pictures and she promptly replied “no.” I did manage to take a quick picture of the buffet setup. Bulguksa is a Buddhist temple complex that comprises a series of wooden buildings on raised stone terraces. -Choose the dates and fill-in with the basic informations needed.-You can also send us an email with details required for reservation. When it comes to Gyeongju, Bulguksa Temple comes to mind. We returned to the building where we were staying off the complex. The temple also runs a Bulguksa temple stay on a yearly basis. Bulguksa Temple, which literally translates to Temple of the Buddha Land, is considered as a masterpiece of the golden age of Buddhist art in the Silla kingdom and is currently the head temple of the 11th district of the Jogye Order of Korean Buddhism. We did exactly as the “how to get here” directions stated and took the #10 bus to the temple. We had no idea where to go and the information desk at the bottom was completely useless. When it comes to Gyeongju, Bulguksa Temple comes to mind. The Bulguksa temple in the sacred city of Gyeongju (South Korea) - Duration: ... Stan's Vlog #21 - Temple Stay At Bulguksa (불국사) - Duration: 10:40. … Turns out we were about to spend a lot of money (way more than our usual budget) and get nothing we wanted. Save on popular hotels near Bulguksa Temple in Gyeongju: Browse Expedia's selection of {location.lodging.hotelCount} hotels and places to stay closest to Bulguksa Temple… The pair were built at the same time as their brother bridges, National Treasure No.23: the Cheongungyo (Blue Cloud Bridge) and Baegungyo (White Cloud Bridge) Bridges. All Rrights Resreved. She then explained that we weren’t actually staying on the temple grounds. Jongno-gu, Seoul, South Korea. Our guide-lady proudly pointed out (multiple times) that the temple is classified as Historic and Scenic Site No. The next morning she instructed us to be awake at 5:30 for breakfast. Hotels near Bulguksa Temple, Gyeongju on Tripadvisor: Find 2,604 traveller reviews, 8,970 candid photos, and prices for 30 hotels near Bulguksa Temple in … Where is Bulguksa Temple? ○ The program contents & time line can be changed due to seasons, weather, conditions of the temple, numbers of participants, or any unexpected matters. -Choose the program at the templestay reservation system. I could only think that maybe we should have stuck to the program and visited in the afternoon of the previous day. After debating the issue with someone on her phone and sitting it out in her office for awhile she said a monk told her the roads were fine. Copyright ⓒ 2016 Templestay. 1 by the South Korean government. 24. It is one of the best known cultural destinations in South Korea and is supposedly a popular sunrise destination, although it was nearly empty when we visited. If you take only one tour, take the one that would include the Bulguksa (temple… Bulguksa Temple 불국사 is arguably the most popular attraction in Gyeongju along with Anapji Pond 안압지 which is extremely picturesque at night. But then I remembered Korea’s long and troubled history with Japan. While I have never tried to learn to meditate before, I don’t think guide-lady was doing a very good job teaching us. The stairs at the Anyangmun-Gate and Jahamun-Gate particularly display the power of the Silla kingdom and culture. She instructed us to rest for a bit and then come down and join her in making meditation beads. 13.0 km from Bulguksa Temple #30 Best Value of 1,472 places to stay in Gyeongju Prices are the average nightly price provided by our partners and may not include … Guide-lady explained the stones from National Treasure 22 and 23 are some of the only features preserved from the original Silla construction. When we came into her living room it felt more like we were interrupting her from watching her shows (she asked if we wanted them left on…) then about to make meditation bead necklaces. Making the necklaces consisted of stringing a pre-counted number of wooden beads onto a pre-cut length of string. My heart sank, again. She drove much faster than made me feel comfortable, even on dry roads and thankfully there no ice. Our most popular tours … We practiced both, the former sitting on the freezing cold floor trying to wiggle our toes to keep them from falling off and the latter walking around the Meditation Hall for all of two minutes. You’ll have the option to choose from a one day program (5h) or the overnight program. Hi everybody! The temple encompasses seven national treasures of South Korea: The Yeonhwagyo (Lotus Flower Bridge) and Chilbogyo (Seven Treasures Bridge) are a pair of bridges that are part of a stairway that leads to the temple. At this point, the only remaining thing we had left to do was visit Seokguram Grotto. Recommended. Thank you for the information. I found it really strange too because earlier when I was taking photos, attempting to crop out as many people as possible from the frame, guide-lady said to wait until later when the temple was empty. I had no idea that was an option, we had made a reservation and I planned on keeping it. We had made our reservation through templestay, an organization in Korea that opens up several Korean temples to foreigners to “experience the life of Buddhist practitioners at traditional temples.”. She also explained that only two monks would be attending the ceremony – the only two not on holidays I assume. The only semi-difficult part was the last bead which you needed to thread both ends of the string through to knot and finish properly. - 20,000(KRW)~40,000(KRW) - Groups discounts available ○ Breathing in the Millennial air - Overnight program - One night & Two days/ over 3~5 people (minimum) - Temple Etiquette, Temple Tour, Tea time with a monk, Morning ceremony and Meditation, Listening to four Dharma instruments, 108 Prostrations with prayer beads making or Lotus flower lantern making, Circling around the Pagodas, Temple meals - Adult 80,000(KRW), Student 70,000(KRW) - Groups discounts available○ Inquiry Time : 09:00-17:00 Office : 82-(0)54-746-0983 Mobile : 82-10-7773-0983 bulguksa@templestay.com * Please leave a message when not answering the call which is due to running the templestay program.○ Please arrive by 2:00PM or 2:30PM○ For groups(company training, travel agencies, schools), custom-made programs are available, please check in advance with the temple’s manager.○ Our temple house(accomodation) is outside of the temple where is far about 20 min. 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