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Ash and I were meant to save our money last weekend and have a quiet weekend in Daegu. However we seem unable to overcome our itchy feet at weekends (need to sort this out somehow!). We still wanted a cheap weekend but had the idea to find a quiet seaside village and beach nearby so we could still get out and see stuff.
I researched and found a little fishing village called Gampo just outside of Gyeongju that we decided to visit. We got up early on Saturday and caught a coach from Daegu to Gyeongju and then another from Gyeongju to Gampo. For two hours the total cost was about £3 - bargain. For anyone looking for tourist attractions Gampo is not the place for you. It’s really small and is based around a harbour. However because we love fish, the seaside and seeing traditional culture it was great to walk around. I imagine that most people’s livelihood relates to fishing in Gampo and whilst I felt a little sorry for the huge tuna and octopus we saw in little tanks it was great to see this tiny village thriving from the sea. There were fish drying out in
the sun, people collecting seaweed from the rocks and lots of different varieties in tanks. The harbour was surrounded by a fish market cum fish restaurants so we couldn’t resist having something fishy for lunch.
I’m a bit of a wimp about seeing things alive just before I eat them but I’m slowly overcoming it so decided to go for it and share a crab soup with Ash. I felt bad knowing that just before the crabs had been with their mates in the tank but the taste was amazing! What were not so amazing were the grubs we were given to go alongside our meal. Nothing is getting me to eat them after I have experienced the smell of them cooking on the streets. It makes me want to puke. I’m definitely getting better at experiencing foods though.
Bellies full we decided to get the coach to a beach a little way up from Gampo called Najeong (buses run every 20 minutes so it’s still really easy to get around here). Again all that this area has are a few restaurants and fishing shops and not much else. The sea looked beautiful but it was too cold
to swim in although Ash gave it his best shot. We found a motel with a sea view and balcony for the equivalent of approx. £25 which was a bargain because it had a HUGE bed (not used to that living here with our tiny beds). We went for a walk up the beach and unable to eat a big meal bought some mandu - dim sum style dumplings, beer and rice wine and chilled in the motel for the evening because there is not much else to do round those parts. We managed to wake up in time for sunrise the following day too. It was a little cloudy but still really beautiful. I then went promptly back to sleep
The great thing about the motel was that no one told us a check out time so we could relax in the morning and didn’t leave until about 12.30. We had more Mandu for breakfast and caught the bus back to Gyeongju.
Gyeongju revisited – burial mounds and parks full of flowers On the coach entering Gyeongju I saw a few fields full of yellow rapeseed. Judging by the numbers of romantic young Korean
couples walking through them I think it must have appeared as a romance scene in a Korean soap drama. Still when in Rome! We decided to go up and check it out. I had some tasty Tuna gimbab (like sushi rolls) and Ash had a monster lunch of dumplings, vegetable and topoki (kind of like a rice gnocchi in tomato sauce) and then walked to the outskirts of town to the park where we’d spotted the yellow flowers. It was really beautiful and as with most beautiful landscapes we see in Korea, pictures just can’t do it justice. Under a cloudy sky, to a backdrop of large lush green hills and bright green burial mounds (more about these later) the whole field shone bright yellow. There must have been well over a hundred people relaxing in the park and enjoying the view, including cute little Korean kids. The only downside to this was me Dumb and Dumber style getting my lips stuck to my lolly so much that I got a bleeding lip! That’ll teach me for thinking I’m funny and yanking it comedy style away from my lips 😞.
After a while we left and walked down
to Tumuli Park which is one of Gyeongju’s most famous sights but which we missed last time due to hangovers. This park houses over 20 large and small burial tombs from the Silla Dynasty of kings. The tombs take the form of grassy mounds and can be seen not only in Tumuli Park but across the centre of Gyeongju. They are very unique and almost other worldly looking. The park was full of trees and the gardens around the burial mounds were beautifully manicured with colourful flowers and bushes so it was nice to have a wander around on a Sunday afternoon.
So in full a nice cheap weekend was had seeing traditional villages, quiet serene beaches and a bit more of what Gyeongju has to offer!
Next time… This weekend – My lovely friend Kel from uni is flying over from Shanghai to celebrate her birthday in Seoul so looks like another alcohol fuelled evening of trying to find weird bars is ahead of us! I’ll update next week if anything exciting happens.
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Dante
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Did you enjoy Percy Jackson in the end? :)