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| Couldn't agree more Mario! |
Transport and Budget Accommodation
As can be expected on busy national holidays, the buses for the first day of Seollal sold out quickly and I was forced to travel down to Gyeongju on the Wednesday evening. After a horrendous 7 hour journey (almost double what it usually takes) I finally arrived at the bus terminal at 2am, weary and aching for my bed. I was a bit worried that I wouldn't be able to get a taxi due to the lateness of the hour, however the bus terminal was bustling with taxi drivers waiting for customers. For people who have not pre-booked accommodation, the bus terminal is surrounded by dozens of Motels, all with the lights on (this means they have rooms available), so cheap rooms are easy to find (You can expect to pay from 40,000won for this kind of room). However, as I was travelling solo and on a budget, I opted for the jimjilbang (Korean Spa) option. The name of the jimjilbang I stayed in was 스카이스포렉스 (I just showed the name to the taxi driver). Having been to numerous jimjilbangs before, I can say that this one is nothing special, having only a few small bath tubs and a rather dated interior. However, the complimentary pj's and towels were clean (extra charge of 500won for a blanket), the room was clean and warm, and it is the closest jimjilbang to the bus terminal (only 5,000won in a taxi). So if you can stand to sleep on the floor for one night, with the sound of Korean ajummas snoring (and sometimes farting) to lull you to sleep, this is by far the cheapest and most economical option at only 8,000won per night.
Dreamer Guesthouse, Gyeongju
Thankfully the next day, my friend Lucy and I had pre-booked a bed in a lovely little guesthouse called 'Dreamer Guesthouse', which we found through Agoda.
On arriving at the Guesthouse we received a warm and friendly welcome from the receptionist, who showed us around the rooms, which were brightly and modernly decorated with many additional girly little touches. We opted to stay in the 8 bed female dorm. Each bed had the following features: curtains, personal reading lamp, bookshelf, slippers and the hugest, fluffiest blanket we have ever seen (We had serious blanket envy!). We particularly liked these features as they provided a level of privacy that we wouldn't usually expect in a shared dorm room. Definitely a step up from the wooden block that passes for a pillow at the jimjilbang. However, the winning feature for us was the foot spa and nail bar which the guests have free reign over. Not really a necessary feature, and I'm sure the boys won't be impressed by this at all, but we loved it and it added a little unexpected touch of luxury to our stay.
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| Foot spa at Dreamer Guesthouse |
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| Nail bar at Dreamer Guesthouse |
Follow the link for pictures of the gorgeous interior, and additional info on the types of rooms available:
Dreamer Guesthoust, Gyeongju. Agoda.
Breakfast at the Guesthouse was basic self service but the owners have tried to accommodate both Korean and Western guests, which I thought was very thoughtful of them. Korean style breakfast consisted of noodle soup, and Western style consisted of eggs, toast, jam, butter and filter or mix coffee. It was great value for money, and superior to most hostel breakfasts, however my only complaint (and a very small one at that) would be there was no milk for the filter coffee and no juice :(
An additional bonus is that the Guesthouse is conveniently situated close to both bus terminals which makes getting to all the sights extremely easy.
A bit of History: Korea's first ever Queen!
Gyeongju is packed full of historical sights and museums having once been the capital city of the Shilla Dynasty which rules two thirds of the Korean Peninsula from 57 BC to 935 AD. So if you enjoy geeking out as much as I do then there are plenty of historical bits and pieces for you to drool over.
My all-time favourite fact of the trip being that during this period women were of surprisingly high status (something that would change drastically in Korea's later history) and Gyeongju is the proud home of Korea's first Queen: the almighty Queen Seondeok. Queen Seondeok not only survived many male attempts to discredit her claim to the throne (due to her being a women, the shame.) but also built many great temples, pagodas and buildings including Cheomseongdae, the oldest surviving Star-gazing observatory in East Asia, and Korea's 31st national treasure. In fact, her reign was SO successful that she improved the already high status of women in Silla society, and led the way for two more female regents after her death. And to think the Spice Girls thought they invented 'Girl Power'...
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| Cheomseongdae is the oldest surviving star-gazing observatory in East Asia. |
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| Me posing awkwardly (as always) next to the observatory. |
To read about it CLICK HERE
To watch it online CLICK HERE
Anapji Pond at Sunset
By far the most impressive of the sights in my opinion was the Anapji Pond. After our initial confusion due to the fact that it is referred to everywhere as 'Anapji', but the sign for some reason says something entirely different, we managed to time our arrival at the pond perfectly, just as the sun was going down. I'm sure that the pond is still beautiful by daylight, but by night it is absolutely stunning.
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| No caption necessary. |
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| Proudly sporting my audio tour headset there! 8-) |
Anapji pond was originally built as part of the Wolseung Fortress (which no longer stands) during the reign of King Munmu in 674BC. In true kingly style, Munmu ordered the pond to be built in the shape of the Korean peninsula so that he could feel like he was lording it over his whole kingdom at once (He was probably feeling a bit demasculinised after all those female monarchs, bless). In it's heyday the grounds were filled with exotic plants and rare animals and it could hold as many as 1000 people, including envoys and diplomats from all around the world, within it's walls.
For the geeks among us, an audio tour head set is available in multiple languages for the small free of 1000 won. Although we felt very conspicuous wearing our nerdy headsets (we were the only ones, haha), it was worth it to hear in detail about the history and the various artifacts that were excavated from pond in the 1970's. Among the artifacts, my absolute favourite were the multi-sided drinking dice. The party guests would roll the dice to receive some kind of forfeit or dare. An Ancient Korean version of 'Ring of Fire' shall we say.
It seems Korea has a long and on-going tradition of drinking games (my kind of country!), which is in keeping with my next blog post which will include a modern (and much more fun) twist on the Korean traditional board game of Yunnori.
And that concludes this post.
For directions and more info about Anapji CLICK HERE
For a great blog about Anapji and other sights in Gyeongju CLICK HERE
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