So I'm working over here in the hills of Gyeongju and I often find myself exploring ancient Korea off the beaten path. One of my favorite places to go is the tomb of King Munmu. The dragon king, protector of ancient Silla. His tomb under rocks in the sea side. (King Munmu was the 30th king of Silla, the guy who finally unified the Three Kingdoms of Korea back in the 7th century. Legend has it that on his deathbed he asked to be cremated and buried in the sea, not in some fancy tomb on land, because he wanted his spirit to become a dragon and keep protecting the kingdom from invaders — mainly Japan — forever. So that's literally what they did. That rock formation offshore is supposedly his underwater tomb, and locals still consider it sacred ground over 1,300 years later.)
On long lunch breaks, I'll go pay him a visit and if the weather's right I'll go for a dip in my secret swimming hole. Sometimes he leaves me treasure to find, I often find fishing lures and other goods down there. But this is a holy area. The shamans come down and hold rituals here. Last week I was fortunate to catch 8 or 9 female shamans chanting and dancing at my swimming hole. There were swords, a pig head, makgeolli and fruit offerings abound. I was left in awe as I witnessed the ceremony.
Yesterday, I was going to go golfing, but something was calling me to the beach. I decided to go for a swim. I changed from my suit to my swimming trunks in the car and scaled down the cliff side. To my surprise I found two scantily clad ladies had set up camp and having a picnic. I played it cool and wandered by without acknowledging them and went for a swim. I swim out to these rocks and climb up 'em and jump off. While I was out on the rocks, I saw them make their way over to me. They started posing and taking pictures in their bikinis right in front of me. I decided to take them to the gun show as well.
Well now that the ice had been broken, I decided to go talk to them. They were very friendly. Found out they were English teachers from the Philippines. They invited me over to their camp for some pork adobo. And whiskey. The dragon king had bestowed his greatest gift yet upon me. Me!! I was the luckiest guy in the world, my secret beach, Filipino bikini babes, meat n whiskey! Sit down, enjoy with us they said.
But the warning bells were ringing. I had to be back at work. I got a wife n kid. I can't be drinking with bikini babes on the beach. Thoughts of the shamans and the 9-tailed fox had entered my head. (In Korean folklore, the gumiho — the nine-tailed fox — is a shapeshifter who usually takes the form of a beautiful woman to lure men in. In some versions she just wants to eat your liver, in others it's more about tricking you out of your life, your family, your soul. The catch is she never forces anything on you — she just presents the temptation, perfectly timed, and waits to see if you'll take it yourself. That's supposedly the real test.)
I politely excused myself and headed back to work. I'm either incredibly stupid for passing on this opportunity or lucky for avoiding this trap. It was a test and I'm still here.
