South Korea: Day 3 - Seoul to Gyeongju

We rose at a reasonable hour today (8am) to grab some sustenance before our KTX trip from Seoul to Gyeongju! We got packed up and were out of the hotel room by 9:00am; grabbing a quick bite to go at Paris Baguette before descending into the Jongbak subway station bound for Seoul station. 

Jumping off the subway, (it's a quick 2 stops) we took a moment to get our bearings in the main station and find the KTX platforms. With that little bit of administration taken care of, we headed to Bean and Berry to grab a much needed coffee. Caffeine levels restored, we were soon on the platform where we spied our first vending machine for the trip (exciting huh!). We couldn't go past a long-time Japanese favourite.

Hey I like them so stop fucking judging me :).

It was then onto KTX025 (the train to Busan! eek) bound for Singyeongju. To be honest, the KTX (at least this KTX) wasn't a patch on the Japanese shinkansen in terms of comfort or smoothness of ride, but hey it was so easy and a great deal cheaper! There was no need to validate our Korail passes, no-one poured over our tickets or seat reservations, and it was a simple matter of finding our carriage and reserved seats. Anyway, we were soon ensconced and speeding through snowy hills and farming hamlets between city-stops.

Bound for Gyeongju on the high-speed KTX.

After an easy two and a half hour trip we found ourselves at Singyeongju station and boarding bus 70 for the 20 minute ride into town. Our accomodation for the night "Trip to Gyeongju" was a hastily arranged affair after discovering that our original booking was only for one double room and there were no additional rooms on new years eve. Turns out, our new lodgings were awesome, with beds for all, space to spare, and in a much, much better location.

Guest House "Trip to Gyeongju".

Once we checked in with our very friendly, and very talkative host, it was time to brave the weekend crowds of Poseok-ro to grab some lunch. We found a place called "Sunny bistro" and eagerly devoured bolgogi beef and beef bibimbap. 

Bulgogi beef and Bibimbap at Sunny bistro. Delicious!

With full bellies, we rounded out our afternoon exploring the Daereungwon Tomb Complex. The complex houses a bunch of huge barrows for the kings of the Silla Kingdom, with 23 tombs all clustered together in quite a small area. The grassy mounds tower over you as you walk between them and it's really quite a surreal experience. One of the barrows has been excavated and you can go inside to see the structure of the mound and what Silla treasures were buried with its occupant. Fascinating stuff.

Wandering the Daereungwon Tomb Complex.

By the end of our tomb adventure, it was getting very chilly indeed! With the sun behind the horizon, we decided to both warm up, and unwind with a beer, before returning to our hotel. Before we made it that far, as Claudia and Katrina browsed a few stores, Eben and I decided to grab a couple of fish cakes on sticks - both normal and spicy (yum!). We didn't dare to approach the stand until we'd spent several minutes  observing other patrons, trying to work out the process of purchasing and consuming. People were just walking up and eating without paying. WTF?? After careful study, we were finally comfortable to approach - and were soon in possession of tasty delectables.

Fish cakes on a stick, with a cup for the broth. Yum.

So back to the beer! Just down from our hotel we noticed a small cafe called the "Little Forest" advertising 500ml draft beers for 5000Won - a bargain. We settled in and had a relaxing beverage to end day of walking.

Beers in the "Little Forest"!

Relaxed by the beer, we retired to our room for a rest before dinner. In no time it was 8:45pm and we headed out to find some food. Unfortunately, every restaurant in town bar one was shutting at 9pm, and the one that didn't had a 4 hour wait. Arrrgh. No decent dinner for us! Eb and Clau settled on some street food - 10 Won coins filled with cheese - to tide them over. This was augmented with instant noodles from 7-eleven. Oh how low we had sunk.

Cheese filled 10-Won coins is a Gyeongju staple street food.

For the next hour or two we cooked and ate instant noodles, and generally did little else (except this little treatise) waiting for 11pm so we could head out view the local New Years Eve celebrations. Katrina, Clau and myself headed out, with Eb wisely choosing to sit this one out. What followed was an absolutely fucking freezing night of high-pitched traditional music, marching bands, choirs and best of all some kick-ass taiko drumming, before the local official festivities wound down.

Gyeongju New Years Eve sub-zero spectacular.

It was interesting to be there and witness it all, in a really boring kind of way. I'm glad of the experience, but I'd love to get my hour back.