Evening light-ups can be a hit-or-miss affair, especially where historic sites are concerned. That said, I’ll admit that it’s interesting to reflect on how the kings and exalted personages of Silla, with all of their untold wealth and unbridled power, could never have enjoyed the nighttime vistas (courtesy of modern-day electric lighting) that we simple commoners throng to see today.

They would have had something along these lines back in their own time, of course. One could easily imagine a few hundred torches planted in the ground, and perhaps a few thousand flickering lamps strung up along the corridors, whenever a royal after-dark party or a hey-we’ve-just-trounced-Baekje banquet was in progress. But it wouldn’t have been quite the same thing – not without floodlights and colour-changing LEDs, anyway.

Right, enough chit-chat. Let’s keep this post short and sweet, free of dry chatter about dates and dynasties. I’ve already described the two major landmarks I visited after sunset in this previous post, which I invite curious visitors to read should they wish to learn more.

For the moment, I shall let the pictures do the talking. First stop: the Donggung Palace and Wolji Pond (동궁과 월지), or the Anapji Pond (안압지) if you’d prefer the outdated (and no longer official) name.

Back northwards now, across the open fields of the archaeological zone sitting in the heart of Gyeongju…

…for an evening look at Cheomseongdae (첨성대).

Right, quite magnificent and all that. I personally prefer the daytime view, but of course, to each his own.

Cheerio.