If I were to win an insane amount of money on the lottery, here’s how I might spend it. I’d charter a boat (and crew – I’m no sailor), and maybe a guide / interpreter, and go on a slow sea voyage for a couple of months from Busan to Mokpo, taking in some of […]
Place: Gyeongsangbuk-do
Selected publications
- Michael Gibb: A Korean Odyssey: Island Hopping in Choppy Waters, Camphor Press 2020
- Robert Oppenheim: Kyongju Things: Assembling Place, University of Michigan Press 2008
Nine Confucian academies listed at UNESCO
For visitors to Korea (such as myself) who like to try to get round all the UNESCO-listed world heritage sites, the list just got longer. On Saturday 6 July, the World Heritage Committee included nine Seowon, or Neo-Confucian Academies, in the list. The nine seowon are dotted around the central and southern parts of the […]
The Duke of York’s visit to Korea
HRH Prince Andrew paid a visit to Korea last week, and as part of his visit retraced the footsteps of his mother’s state visit twenty years ago. He arrived on 12 May and his first engagement was a reception hosted by the ambassador HE Simon Smith: https://twitter.com/TheDukeOfYork/status/1127907416526458885 The next day, after giving a welcome speech […]
2017 travel diary 5: Wolbong’s hermitage and Buddha’s Birthday at Bongamsa
Mungyeong-si, Gyeongsangbuk-do, Wednesday 5th May 2017, 4am. An early start this morning is required to beat the crowds. Slightly groggy, Master Oh, Kyung-sook and I drag ourselves into the car at 4:30am and drive for half-hour or so to Bongamsa. We get the last space in the temple’s car park. Even at that time in the […]
2017 travel diary 4: The Mungyeong tea bowl festival
Mungyeong-si, Gyeongsangbuk-do, Tuesday 2 May 2017, 1:30pm. Mungyeong Saejae, the pass high in the hills above the town of Mungyeong, is the place where Gyeongsang province meets Chungcheong province, and the place where the Yeongnamdaero – the old road between Seoul and Busan – crosses the Baekdudaegan, Korea’s mountain backbone. On the Mungyeong side of […]
John Stark’s shamanistic “Field Work” on show in Milan
John Stark, a British artist based in South Korea, currently has an exhibition in Milan. His paintings are based on his experiences travelling around many of the remote areas of South Korea and exploring the folk culture and landscape – particularly in Yeongyang County, Gyeongsangbuk-do, the site of Ilwol san (“The Haunted Mountain”), which is […]
Buddha’s Voice – The Bell of King Seongdeok
People sometimes take a jaundiced view of Korea’s estimation of the importance of its cultural heritage. In the case of the Sacred Bell of King Seongdeok, however, it was foreigner, Dr. Otto Kummel, a director at the National Museum of Germany, who suggested that the museum’s description of the bell as ‘the best in Korea’, […]
Stargazing in Ancient Silla – the Cheomseongdae
Cheomseongdae, the world’s oldest surviving observatory, features a great deal in tourism material, and even if you haven’t been to Korea or the Gyeongju area, you will probably have seen it. You will also, if you are like me, have been somewhat underwhelmed by its rather modest appearance, which if anything does it less justice […]
Haeinsa celebrates 1,000 years of the Tripitaka Koreana
Haeinsa Temple is hosting its first contemporary art exhibition, involving 34 artists from 10 countries, to commemorate the millennial anniversary of the Tripitaka Koreana, which UNESCO has designated one of the “most important and most complete corpus of Buddhist doctrinal texts in the world.” The exhibition’s title — 通 | 통 | Tong — uses […]
Travel ideas in Gyeongju: the Teddy Bear museum
In Gyeongju? Had too much Silla dynasty culture? Try the Teddy Bear museum – including bears visiting models of tourist attractions such as the Seokguram Grotto. Cute. http://t.co/aPfXkhCF
Bridge of National Defense collapses into Nakdong River
‘Bridge of National Defense’ Collapses into Nakdong River – reportedly due the Four Rivers project. The Marmot has a timely feature on some of these historic bridges: http://bit.ly/kHg19s. Photo above from Joongang Ilbo #
Destination: Daegu International Body Painting Festival (2010) (NSFW)
Author’s note: this post is rated NSFW (Not Safe For Work) due to some nudity – this IS a body painting festival, people. Please go elsewhere if you’re looking for pornography – this is tasteful and beautiful art. As one might notice at a body painting festival, there’s plenty of paint, a touch of toplessness, […]
Hahoe and Yangdong listed at UNESCO
Congratulations to historic villages Hahoe and Yangdong, “two of the most representative historic clan villages in the Republic of Korea,” and Korea’s latest inclusion in the UNESCO world heritage list, on 31 July. http://bit.ly/cqjKEl # The BBC has some nice photos of both villages, plus other UNESCO sites listed along with them including Reunion Island […]
There’s such a thing as a world skipping championship?
Yes, and Loughborough is hosting it. So, welcome to the schoolchildren from Ulleungdo, who have come to the UK to compete in the world skipping championships 2010. http://bit.ly/96KgFT #
Visit Korea, experience the Cold War
Coming to the Travel Channel this autumn is a new travel documentary on Korea. At the Korea Tourism evening at the KCC last week we were given a preview. It was refreshing: a Korean tourism documentary, but from a Westerner’s perspective. Yes, we were told that the KTO assisted in the film’s production, but the […]
The LKL Korea Trip 2009 pt 5: Bulguksa and Seokkuram
Sunday 19 July 2009 More World Heritage points today. The Samgyeopsal from last night is still sitting heavily on my stomach and I don’t feel like breakfast. The 9 am KTX from Seoul Station, and the connecting train from East Daegu, went without a hitch, and bang on time. Just before I arrive in Gyeongju […]