Advertisement
Published: April 5th 2013
Edit Blog Post
Leaving Seoul's Express terminal bus on a gloomy day, soon as I found where my bus is, found my seat, it was very comfortable so I passed out quickly and for the most of the 4 1/2 hour ride I was dead to the world. Jet lag and non stop nite out caught up with me, I remember the bus stopping for lunch but I could barely peel my eyes open so I skipped a feed, I felt like a train wreck, arriving at the bus terminal in Gyeongju I was the last out, I struggled to wake myself up, groggy and disoriented I paged through my rough guide, apparently there is a tourist info at the bus station, after minutes of searching for it, I gave up and asked the waiter in the cafe it's location, turns out it is outside, it's a separate building, two nice girls waiting for me there, starting with a customary bowing, they proceeded to produce a town map, circling all the highlights, they gave me directions to my hostel after calling it to make sure they have room for me.
Armed with a map I walked about 25 minutes and found
Gyeongju Guesthouse with ease, the owner was a nice lad, I asked him his name and he told me, just call me Mister.. well ok then, Mister, any good eats in the area, he pointed me to a small restaurant nearby and god help me I could not find it! So I gave up and walked towards the mounds and voila a number of small eateries in the area, I chose one and the woman served me some hangover soup and side dishes, it was heavenly delicious! I do not understand though why they call these soups hangover soups, they are of different kinds, maybe it is easier to explain to foreigners? but it draws chuckles at least for me.
Then after a meal I started being a tourist, walked towards the mounds, these are burial tombs of ancient rulers of the Silla kingdom that existed centuries ago in this area, at this time of the year they are all brown, the trees around them are ablaze with autumn colors, it's nippy but the sun is out. After walikng around the park I came out the back and started exploiting the surrounds, some nice walks along narrow alleyways, checking
out how the locals live, then I ventured out further towards a bridge, I saw tourists pass me on bikes, I opted to walk, I found a small village with traditional houses, some are newly built, I wasn't sure if people actually live there though.
My feet are tired after few hours walking, I decided to head back to the dorm, I went through the downtown area, its dead quiet, it's off season now but I can just imagine how busy it is in the summer, I was surprised how modern this city is, I kinda like it, it has it's own character. I got lost as always but found the local market, I explored it and found the eateries, a woman made me sit in her stall, the chairs are heated! We can't understand each other, She pointed to some soup thing, I nodded, she then gave me a plate, Korean chopsticks and a pair of thongs, motioned me to just pick whatever I want from the variety of side dishes in front of me, so I stuff myself with pickled mushrooms, fried cod skins, kimchis of all kinds, some sweetened anchovies, seaweeds(my favorite) so by the time
she put the soup in front of me I was full!
The soup ended up to be pork skin with some greens, she served me a cup of rice, I struggled to finish and she kept pouring more soup on my bowl, all that for $7! Amazing, meanwhile there was a couple from Alaska sat on the other stall next to me and engaged into chatting with me, the woman lamented not trying the soup I had, not a big deal really, it's mostly pork rind but the broth was fab, the man was surprised that I was travelling alone, saying I am very brave, I thought to myself, haven't you heard of backpackers before? He could not understand why I wasnt part of a group tour.
Anyway I said my goodbyes to them and to the lady who fed me promising to come back the next day, she gave me a smile and posed for my camera. Then walked back to the dorm, the train station is just across the market and it was only a 10 minute walk from my hostel. I passed out in my bed and slept for 5 hours, I was awaken by
my roommate, an Italian dude, he was chatting a bit with me then I passed out again, all I remember was I reached for my water in the middle of the night, reaching on the floor, it was hot! I forgot, the heating system is on the floor! So took the water bottle and put it next to me.
Morning came, Italian dude snoring away, the room is very warm, its small and cozy, I showered and made my free breakfast of eggs, jam , butter and bread, the norm in every hostel here in Korea it seems. Mister circled the map on all the hikes I could do in the area, take bus 500 he says and get off here, pointing to Samneungul valley, he gave me all the optional trails, how long it takes etc. how to get back..
So off I go, the bus stop is literally just across the hostel, I waited a good 20 minutes and the bus came, I told the driver to drop me off at the entrance of the trail, and he did, took maybe 15 minute ride. So now on a cold sunny day,alone, I started to hike, occasionally
I see hikers, all locals, mostly old men taking their time climbing the stairs toward a temple, the tops of hills shows a good view of the valley and towns below, its quite windy so I have to be careful not to be blown away, the good thing about it is the trails are all well marked with English translation and distance and how long it takes to get there! I got to some peak then started heading to Yongjanggul valley about 3 hour hike but I was only 2 hours into the hike so I decided to take the longer route as I saw directions to it, to Namsan valley.
Most of the time I was alone which was great! then as I tackle the trail to Namsan, I started seing trekkers, and more as I near the valley, this trail is a bit tricky, lots of boulders to navigate, then there is a temple that people were stopping to pray at, I also noticed on this trail I stopped seeing trail names in English, I think the guy doing it got tired and decided the heck with it, if the tourists gets lost so be it! But
its easy to figure out anyway, so kept going and I finished in 4 1/2 hours, past apple orchards and passed the whole small village of Namsandongo only then I saw a bus stop near the Tongiljeon Hall, while waiting for the elusive bus I want to pee so I head towards the bush at the back of the waiting shed, I saw a snake! so I held it until we arrived in town.
Off to the market for my healhty lunch at my favorite stall then passed out in the dorm, woken up by new roommate from Canada, we decided to check out the market together and find something to eat he wanted some Korean BBQ which we failed to find so we ended up in this local eatery with some bulgogi type dish,we tried a few mulberry wine drinks, wow it was very good! it is quite cold now and so we went back to hostel, we wanted to drink a few, 2 Korean dudes from Seoul just arrived and they took us 3, me the Canadian and the Italian with them to eat at a local Korean restaurant, we took a taxi, a bit far but
the ambience was nice and food good, I spilled beer on myself, mood spoiler but a few more drinks of beer, cheap soju made up for my misfortune, we then headed back and I slept well again on our oh so warm dorm room.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.05s; Tpl: 0.013s; cc: 11; qc: 24; dbt: 0.0252s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb
D MJ Binkley
Dave and Merry Jo Binkley
It is good to see you blogging again
Looks like November is a good time to visit. The colors are lovely. Sounds like you were busy making friends. It was nice of her to give you a heated seat. Looking forward to reading more.