Gyeongju: Bulguksa Temple and Seokguram Grotto, Gyeongju, South Korea

History was the subject I detested most during my school years. The textbooks were boring, the teachers were terrors. It was traveling (and maybe age), not schoolbooks and scary teachers, that piqued my interest.

My non–nerd friends, I am sure, would find my travel itineraries rather boring: there are almost always visits to museums and historical sites included...but that is what they get when they leave all the planning to me.

The five–day South Korea trip was, of course, not without its dose of history. There are ten Korean cultural heritage sites registered on the UNESCO World Heritage List. Two in Seoul: Jongmyo Shrine and Changdeokgung Palace Complex. Three in Gyeongju: Gyeongju Historic Areas, Yangdong Historic Village, and Seokguram Grotto and Bulguksa Temple. The rest are scattered around the country. But we could only make time for Bulguksa Temple and Seokguram Grotto.

Bulguksa Temple was built a long long time ago (year 528) in the far far away land of Gyeongju. (That is if you're coming from Brazil or Uruguay or wherever its antipodes is.) But when coming from Seoul, Gyeongju is just a 2–hour high speed train or 5–hour bus ride. ...... (follow the instructions below for accessing the rest of this article).