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* photo by Choi, Sung-min
Hikers waitng for start

It was dark when the hikers grabbed backpacks and water bottles and moved out onto one of the numerous trails in Namsan mountain, on the outskirts of Kyeongju, the ancient capital of the Shilla dynasty. It was difficult to discern things around me at first, by the full-moon light, but as time went on, I was able to adjust myself to the darkness. Furthermore, a bright moon was becoming ever more clearly defined against the darkening sky.

"The quality of light at night is very special," said Lee, Dong-gyu, a musician for traditional musical instruments, in his 6th Namsan dal-bbit-gi-hang (hiking Namsan in the moonlight), in an on-the-spot interview. "The romantic poet in us all just connects with this unique half-light. In addition, chief Kim's interesting explanation about ruins adds to the fascination of the hike."

* photo by Segye Ilbo
A bird's eye view of Namsan

Chief Kim, Gu-seok is the head of the institute for Namsan which is registered with UNESCO as an international heritage. His name sounds like "every nook and corner" and gives an image of probably knowing everywhere in Namsan. He has been leading the moonlight hike that started as an association activity 10 years ago. The free-of- charge hike, held monthly on a Saturday close to the 15^thday of the lunar month, has been continuing mainly thanks to his dedication and commitment to Namsan mountain. It is open to anyone and you can register on the website of the Namsan institute though you have to hurry up because each moonlight hike usually fills up quickly.

* photo by Choi, Sung-min
Darkness in Namsan

* photo by Choi, Sung-min
Hiking along the path

* photo by Choi, Sung-min
Climbing up rocks

Every moonlight travel has a different route and destination; this time we walked through Sam-hwa-ryung and Jung-chang-ji to Hae-mok-ryung. The trail was snaking and moderately steep and I sometimes lost my balance over rocks or branches on the ground, as I was off-guard. Some hikers brought lanterns and kindly spotlighted some dangerous spots to help others whom they met there for the first time.

Sam-hwa-ryung means the pass(ryung) with the name of three(sam) flowers of youth(hwa-rang) who were excelled in beauty, bravery and military arts. There used to be 3 Buddhist statues here but they were moved to the Kyeongju museum. Ironically, one of the statues has lost its nose during the move. Incredibly, a tomb now stands on the original site of the statues, since someone obviously thought it was a propitious site for a grave.

* photo by Choi, Sung-min
Chief Kim, Gu-seok

In Jung-chang-ji, there used to be a huge warehouse(110m X 30m) which had been built in the era of King Munmu(A.D. 626-681), 30th king of Shilla and was completely destroyed by fire in King Haegong's (A.D. 765-780). "It overlooked Worlsung, the palace of the king. So this building may have been related to the King's power. In daylight, you can see burnt rice that had been stored in the warehouse." said chief Kim.

* photo by Choi, Sung-min
Hikers walking by the moonlight

Hae-mok-ryung was presumably used as a military observatory, as it was possible from here to see enemies invading from any directions. "This place also overlooks the palace. It was probably possible to communicate by hand signals with people in the palace because the distance between the two places is about 2 km and most people at that time had thirty-thirty vision. It makes sense when we think that Mongolians now have fifty-fifty vision." chief Kim said.

* photo by Choi, Sung-min
A night view of
Kyeongju

* photo by Choi, Sung-min
Lee, Dong-gyu on the rock adjoining a cliff

* photo by Choi, Sung-min
Gu-seok
enjoying songs sung
by hikers

* photo by Choi, Sung-min
Lee Dong-gyu with the traditional flute

“Diriri~di, di~” the musician played Dae-gem, a large Korean traditional transverse flute on a big rock adjoining a cliff. The beautiful melody reverberated in the mountain valley. Some other hikers sang songs or recited poems in return. "It's a great way to spend a night. Last time, I was deeply touched when old and weathered buddha statues took on a new beauty in the candle light" said Kim Jinhan, a student of Kyeongju University.