This weekend a group of us travelled to Gyeongju, an hour east of daegu. This is my third time to Gyeongju. As described earlier, Gyeongju was first the capital of the Silla Kingdom in southeast Korea, then of the unified Korea, from about 50BC to 930AD. The whole town is an open air museum with an abundance of historical sites on every street. There were six of us again but two new people from last week.

We travelled to the Shilla Millennium Theme Park. This is a large open air purpose built theme park, where tv and film productions have been shot, and there are several open air costume performances. The park is designed to show the Silla Kingdom at its height in the 8th century. We arrived just at noon in time for the horseriding show. There are three performances so its best to check show times and plan ahead.

Video : Horse & Sword Show Part I
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FuMSZGSe HgM

The is in a circular arena and begins with the horses and riders carrying flags riding around the ring. A horse will kneel on his front two legs and bow to the crowds, before standing on his back two legs in upright position. Next there is a sword display from foot soldiers, who chop bamboo trees, and have display fights.

Video : Horse & Sword Show Part II
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rENt8-Qd 0RQ

Next the horse riders will return and circle around the ring. They fire bow and arrows and hit a target board. Then they return with spears and again hurl then onto the target board. After they return and do a mongolian style acrobatic performance.

Video : Horse & Sword Show Part III
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x_EMIZyF q6U

The riders will perform various acrobatics while the horse circles the ring. They will do 360 turns on the horse like a gymnastics horse. They will lay at 90 degrees across the horse and then upside down. They will swing around and sit backwards and even stand on their heads. Later two riders will come together on a horse and two riders will stand on top of each other two high while riding the horse. They jump off the horse, run alongside, and jump back on.

Video : Horse & Sword Show Part IV
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pIhOPmcH v_0

We were all very impressed by the 30 min show and we felt as though we had already got our moneys worth for the 18,000 won admission ($16) even though there are several other performances to see in the park. The main stage performance was at 3pm so this gave us time to wonder the park.

We decided to look for food first and found egg shrimp fried rice, but there are different food vendors as you wonder around the park. At the far end is a traditional style housing hotel. After that they built replica towns to show the other world capital cities from the 8th century. They had Baghdad, Constantinople, and Changan.

Baghdad was an Islamic courtyard with arches, quranic writings, fountains, and greek columns. Constantinople had four Islamic minarets, although this is historically inaccarute, as during the 8th century it was Byzantine not Ottoman. China had a water garden with bridges, pagodas, and dragon sculptures. Later in the souvenir shop we even found islamic souvenirs, hookahs, rugs, and turbans, to represent each of the four metropolises.

In another part of the park they had a stone cave and waterfall. Next they had a village with traditional homes and straw teepees. After there was a royal palace which was very impressive with eleborate decorations, balconies, a throne room, and a bridge walkway over a pond. This was a film set for a tv show about the queen. You can even stand next to a cut out of the queen and take your picture.

Throughout the park are photographs showing the different film and tv productions that have been shot here, mostly historical costume productions, although a couple of contemporary ones too. There are other stage and perfomance areas but they were closed off as we went too early in the year. Probably in the summer there are other events here.

At 3pm we all met back at the main stage area. We have a seating area in front of an artificial river, behind which is a city wall and gate like the great wall of china. The show begins with a man on a row boat who then is able to walk across the water to the waters edge. From here he stands on a rock which then elevates to the stage level shooting water below the rock like a waterfall giving the impression of floating on a magical rock.

Video : Main Stage Show - Part I
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zSzfFclJ 27M

A giant soldier will then rise from the ground as the queen rides over on a horse and addresses the soldier and the crowd. After that the city walls slowly slide open to reveal a town square full of residents. The city comes to life with a vibrant scene as villagers go about the market, and there are dancers, and a chinese dragon.

Video : Main Stage Show - Part II
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_xci30fc zgA

After that soldiers ride into town and attack the villages. Some are killed and others are led away. The leader of the army lauds over the villages as they cower in fear. Then another army rides into town to liberate the villagers. The two army leaders do battle in a star wars style sword battle. The evil leader is killed and all the villagers rush out and rejoice.

Video : Main Stage Show - Part III
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KPOv9erp Voo

After that there is a grand sea battle. Both armies retreat back to their ships. Two ships for each side sail out from the left side and the right side. They fire bow and arrows at one another and there are large water explosions. One of the ships catches fire and capsizes sideways into the water. As the town is now completely liberated their are celebrations and fireworks.

Video : Main Stage Show - Part IV (Sea Battle)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JbnUtGj8 vJM

The King and Queen come out and address the crowd, as the performers take a final bow, and the city walls slide back in and close. Again, this was a really impressive performance. There is a third night show in the same area at 7pm but that would mean we would have to kill another four hours in the park when we had already seen everything, so decided to leave back for Daegu. There was also a string puppet show and a shadow puppet show which we forgot to see.

Even though the ticket price was high, the park was well worth if for the two shows we got to see. The price reduces if you go later in the afternoon just for the night show. There are three horseriding shows, several puppet shows, and two main stage shows daily. The night show is on weekends only. Its a good idea to call ahead and check the showtimes as they vary each month as daylight hours change.

The number for the English Speaking Gyeongju Tourist Line is 054-1330 and the website for the park is http://www.smpark.co.kr/eng/. Gyeongju also has an english speaking tourist office right outside the bus station. If Gyeongju is too far for you, I've also been to a similar theme park at Suwon Folk Village. This is an hour south of Seoul on the metro line 1 and has the same horseriding performance and folk village, as well as other cultural shows (see earlier entry from Sept/10). Gyeongju is also on the new high speed KTX line from Seoul to Ulsan.

Outside the park we saw lots of people riding ATVs. They said we could rent for an hour for 25,000 won ($22) but we thought an hour would be too long for today. The park is in the Bomun Lake part of Gyeongju which has a large amusement park, Gyeongju World, and other leisure facilities in the area. Back at the bus station I bought some Gyeongju Bread for the teachers at school, which is a soft ball filled with bean paste.

Last friday a gang from school came with me to the friday market. We bought and shared chestnuts, baked goods, and fried fish balls. They did the interpreting for me, explained what some of the items are, and introduced me to some of the vendors who must have been wondering who I am every friday, especially my friend at the baked goods stall.

Its also strawberry season. A dozen cost about $10 when I first got here so I daren't not buy any. Now they are in abundance and have dropped to $3 for a crate!! Didnt know they fluctuate that drastically. There are several strawberry festivals going on in the next few weeks and I will be at one next weekend. And they're real strawberries, not the steroid pumped apple sized ones back home!

This weekend is the Dagaya Festival celebrating the Dagaya Kingdom just east of Daegu. There are also strawberry and cherry blossom fields nearby.

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I have just been contacted by a local monthly english magazine who want to do an article on me about my recent visit to the Presidential Palace, and being selected as a writer for TheKoreaBlog... more on that later