The most expensive Taxi EVER!! (in Korea)

Colten said I wouldn't remember this taxi ride 3 years from now- well when I read this 3 years from now I'm going to remember. At least we had a super nice and friendly driver.  Taxi’s here- AMAZING!! Don’t get in the black taxi. BEWARE of the BLACK TAXI!!!!  This is your final warning- don’t say you didn’t know, BLACK TAXI’s are considered the luxury taxi and they are more expensive. Price rises fast in those buggers. But any other taxi starts from anywhere between $2.30 -$2.80 as a starting rate and then they rise 10 cents every … what I am getting at is taxi’s here are VERY CHEAP!!!! But don't be fooled, just because the taxi isn't black doesn't mean the taxi driver won't try to outsmart you and make you spend more money- fyi.

So once upon a time Colten and I decided we were going to see the cherry blossoms in Gyeongju. We took a bus from Dong Daegu to Gyeongju- it was cheap (about $5) and took about an hour and half maybe, pretty decent. When we got to the bus station a taxi driver showed us where the information booth was. Well after that we felt obligated to take his taxi (it wasn't a black taxi **whew*)- mind you, the tour busses were directly across from the information booth and they were pretty cheap. This driver knew what he was doing!!!!  He showed us the number one spot to tour- The Seokgulam Grotto. It actually was a place we wanted to go so we asked him to take us. Well it ended up being COMPLETELY on the opposite side of the city and once you get up there you have no transportation options except for the ones you arrived in. It’s up this huge windy road and once you get to the parking lot you hike to cave temple (yes, it’s considered a cave temple but it isn’t much of a cave, don’t get too excited.) And the hike really isn’t much of a hike either- just a trail and at the end some steep Korean stairs= VERY STEEP and SKINNY stairs. We pulled up and the driver turned the car off – at the same time the meter went off. I was a bit confused. Colten and I discussed and we decided we are in Korea and sometimes they do things differently over here so maybe if we weren’t in the car the meter would get turned off until we got back. I found it odd. Later we also discovered it was not only odd but wishful thinking and we were indeed sad to find out the whole time we were touring the Seokgulam Grotto the meter had been running. However, we were grateful at the Korean rate compared to what we would have paid in the US. We figured eventually we would have come there anyway so it really was worth our money. I do HIGHLY RECOMMEND this place if you are coming to Korea. It is FASCINATING and is certified as one of the world’s best Buddhist shrines with Bulguksa Temple by UNESCO. The Seokgulam Grotto is this MASSIVE Buddha. I mean it’s BIG!! And so cool. You aren’t allowed to take pictures because it is a place of worship so sadly I only have my memories and my ticket stub, but it is a place I won’t soon forget. We also went to the temple, it is right next to the shrine. I would recommend doing both – however, not from a taxi as we were rushed at the temple due to the slow pace we had used at the Seokgulam Grotto. But the temple was also a treasure; very cool and a lot of reconstruction. They have this beautiful pond out front. The whole place was just beautiful!! Also I learned something new- you will see rocks piled one on top of another (I’ll post pictures) and I heard it is like a prayer. But upon talking to a Korean friend of mine I learned it is pretty much the equivalent to an American throwing a coin into a fountain and making a wish. VERY INTERESTING!!! Both places cost about $4 each. Cheap! The taxi on the other hand wasn’t as cheap as we had intended it to be. But what can you do? You live and you learn. 4 hours later we payed our very kind yet very devious little taxi man $80. Not bad for 4 hours but still- I’m sure every member of his family each ate a fatty steak that night!!!

                 After that we went to Gyeongju National Museum but we were starving and that museum is HUGE!!! So we only went through two buildings before heading off to lunch. Sadly it was SO STORMY that day that we were exhausted and soaked. So weren’t much fun after lunch and we headed back. The saddest part is that due to the intense rain the cherry blossoms had lost many of their blossoms and those that still had great blossoms required some walking to get to and we were pretty pooped so we didn’t take too many pictures of the cherry blossoms. Once again, I guess I’ll have to live off my memory of that. But a picture probably wouldn’t have done it justice anyway!

                Oh and before I forget I wanted to talk about the watering hole. You know how horses all drink from the same trough? Well, when visiting a temple in Korea they are usually located at the top of a “mountain” or hill so you pretty much prepare to do a little bit of hiking. Once you get to the top you usually come across the water hole. It is basically a trough of water for lack of better words, with what looks to be measuring cups strung nearby somehow- I’ve seen it different ways. You take the measuring cup and dip it in the trough and drink from it. These cups are not washed to my knowledge. A part of me wants to do it for the experience but a bigger part of me wants to consider what is lingering on those cups. I still find it very interesting even if I am grossed out a little.

And yeah, I know this happened a while back but I want to put the date down. We went on 4/6/13.