With many recent mixed reviews on this site, I wasn't sure what to expect of Seokguram and Bulguksa. All I knew was that I had to include them on my June 2023 trip to Korea at all costs, as I knew them to be renowned as masterpieces of the great Silla kingdom. I visited them on the morning after a late night exploring Historic Gyeongju, which had tired the rest of my party out, meaning I was to explore this site on my own and be back at 12:00 to join back up and head to Yangdong. With under 4 hours to check both components off my list, I rushed for bus 700 at the central bus station (I think you can also take bus 11, though the route may be different), which passes by Bunhwangsa and Bomun Lake on the approximately 40-minute ride to Bulguksa. Upon getting off, it's about five minutes uphill to get to the gate, then another five minutes to leisurely get through the temple grounds until you arrive at the imposing front of Bulguksa Temple.

The historic staircases are on full display, and considering their granite composition, they're already quite impressive. Inside the temple, the two pagodas are also immediately seen in the main courtyard; this will probably be extremely crowded, but these are also worth stopping to gaze at the exquisite carving and artistry on display. The rest of the temple, wooden as it is, expands up the slopes of the mountain, but the buildings are all reconstructed fairly recently, so I understand why some may say it detracts from the site. However, I think having the reconstructed temple is better for the overall experience as long as it has been done with a high level of authenticity, as it seems now, to me at least. Regardless, the original stone Silla structures in the temple are masterpieces of Silla masonry in their own right, and they make the temple worthy of WHS status in my opinion; if you're attracting visitors to these, you might as well give them a complete temple, right? Bulguksa took me around an hour to see; I tried to explore every nook and cranny while also keeping a fast pace, so you could spend a lot less time if you're only here for the original Silla structures with OUV, or a lot more time if you explore at a relaxed pace.

When I came out, I saw that bus 12 from Seokguram had already arrived... and that meant the next one would be nearly an hour after. I didn't have the time to spare, so I hailed a taxi to take me up the mountain. The drive took around 15 minutes and cost me about 10,000 won; I guess I'm excusing my extra spending as a sort of express entrance fee. From the parking lot, I sprinted to Seokguram and joined the queue of people waiting to get inside the grotto. Finally, my hard work had paid off the second I stepped into the building, for the grotto was a small, but marvelous, sight. It must have taken me at least ten minutes to take in all the details. It really is a masterpiece, in a very different way from the flashiness of Bulguksa or the intricacy of Tongdosa, but it's just so perfectly and meticulously constructed. I was pretty jealous of the group of worshipers inside; I wonder what process they took to get such an opportunity. Definitely read Clyde's more thorough analysis on just how impressive the construction of this grotto is. I could definitely see why Seokguram is the crown jewel of the Silla remains in Gyeongju, but you can't necessarily tell just by glancing at it. In the end, I made it back to the bus stop just in time for the 11:00 bus back down to Bulguksa, eventually making it back to the bus station right on time.

In conclusion, I find that both Bulguksa and Seokguram, while perhaps not everyone's tea, are both outstanding monuments to the remarkable skills of the first empire to unite the Korean peninsula, and I believe they are must-sees when exploring the history of Korea, perhaps more than any other singular monuments. I would've liked for them to be incorporated in the Historic Gyeongju WHS, since a visit to Gyeongju is incomplete without them, and I found their OUV very similar to that of Namsan. That being said, these treasures of Tohamsan definitely make for an outstanding WHS on their own, and some of the most impressive Buddhist monuments in East Asia.