Sightseeing

Because of the trouble in Thailand I decided to cancel my trip. I will still visit Thailand this year. However, seeing as I was traveling by myself, during the rainy season and a military coup, it seemed like it would be better to visit another time. So I spent my break over the past week relaxing, socializing with friends, visiting the beach and sightseeing in Pusan.
A few days ago I went with Teal, one of the other teachers from my school, to visit an area of Busan called Dongnae. There are alot of ancient historic sights in the area. We visited the Bokcheon Tombs and adjacent Museum. It was really facinating to experience some Korean history. Western education does not provide a good understanding of Asian history, and what history I know generally focuses on China and Japan. The oldest Bokcheon tombs date back as far as 300 B.C. There are 170 tombs which have been discovered in the site covering almost 800 years of Korean history. The outdoor site is quite picturesque. It sits on on the side of one of the many small mountains that cradle Busan. The area is carefully maintained and you are able to walk around some of the tombs that have been succesfully excavated and covered over again. There is also a dome protecting several tombs which have been left open to allow visitors to see the inside of the structures.



The museum itself is really nice. It's architecture amalgamates modern and ancient themes and maintains a position at the very top of the mountain. The museum contains a great many artifacts from the tombs. Armor, weapons, pottery, grave goods and some truly incredible gold jewelry. There are also models showing how the construction of the tombs advanced and changed through Korean history.



On the way back down the mountain we visited a 600 year old Confucian shrine school (Hyanggyo). It has been damaged and rebuilt numerous times during various invasions. The majority of the current structure dates back to the beginning of the 1800's.
It was really nice to discover more of Pusan. Because so much of the city is modern, it is easy to forget that you are in a country and city with thousands of years of history.