Whistle-stop day in Gyeongju 경주

I took a KTX to Busan to rent a car, stayed in Gyeongju for one night, then drove to Naeyeonsan for a hike, then stayed two nights at National Park Juwangsan campsite for more hiking.

DAY 1 OF 3-DAY ROAD TRIP

After collecting the car and getting our of Busan, I stopped for a coffee near a lake/reservoir (대암호). It turned out I got ticketed while there for going through a red light at a completely quiet, small intersection, so be warned; they’re ALWAYS watching! Once in Gyeongju, I found the G HOUSE Mini Hotel & Guesthouse (now called something else). After I parked where it would be okay and left a note for the hostel manager, I set off exploring…only to get a call twenty minutes later… “Come back, you need to put your car in a different place!”. So, once that was done, I set off again on a walk around the town.

I’ve been to Gyeongju before with Romana a few years ago (I may add a post for that), so had some idea of where to go. I headed to the famous tombs of Gyeongju Daereungwon (경주대릉원) amongst the older, traditional area of the town. This area of traditional housing has been developed a little since I was last there and the hanok buildings are now coffee shops, restaurants, boutiques, and experience centres. A few of the buildings are still lived in. I guess this kind of thing in inevitable in such a popular tourist area, however, I think it still looks very pleasant and has a good atmosphere. This general area is known as Hwangridan-gil. As I’m lucky enough to be able to travel outside of the weekends, it wasn’t at all overwhelmed with visitors. I stopped for a late lunch at Gyerim Gyudong (계림규동): one word review – good.

The tombs are basically a series of green mounds which visitors walk around and relax in. Doesn’t sound like much, but it’s very relaxing and a nice place to spend a few hours.

After the tombs, I headed to more green spaces, the area of the famous observatory, Cheomseodae (첨거대)., and the surrounding parks and forest. The park land is being developed and some areas were off limits but I saw how the workers were creating waterlilly ponds by making ponds for planting. I then headed off to the palace area of Donggung and Wolji (동궁 and 월지), two other main sights of the city. This particular sight is best seen at night because it is creatively lit and the reflections from the ponds are great. Today was a daylight stop. On the way out (or there: can’t remember), I saw Woljeonggyo Bridge.

I was getting tired and a started heading back towards to hotel. I wondered through Gyochon village (교촌) a place I’d never seen before. I believe it’s used a lot for filming; in any case, it was pleasant to walk through and see the buildings, cafes and restaurants.

The last thing I needed to do was to get food supplies for my two days camping at Juwangsan and I got these at a supermarket on the way back to the hotel. The hotel parking was a little tight as is the norm in these modern villa type houses. The owner kept reassuring me that I wouldn’t get blocked in by another guest after I explained that I needed to leave by 8:30 in the morning (when I got back from dinner, I was blocked in…but they’d left by the time I’d left, so I guess he’d done his part!).

I wondered back to the Hwangridan-gil area to find food, but found that most of the interesting places were closing or had closed around 8 pm (covid innit). The whole area I’d been to before had a completely different vibe at night with all the cool lighting. I managed to find a pizza place that due to the influx of people with no other options, were talking about 40 minutes to get the orders ready. I waited it out then ate on the roof terrace with a beer… I so needed that!