South Korea: Day 5 - Yangdong Traditional Village

We were up at 9am this morning to try to catch the signature breakfast sandwich at cafe Ohi. We had tried yesterday but they were sold out by the time we got there. This cafe is popular with all the Korean vloggers as it's very centrally located and has a third floor open area with a nice panorama over the hanok houses. We went up to the 3rd floor for the view, but was too cold to stay.

Cafe Ohi and the vloggers wet dream panorama.

Back down in the cafe's warmer regions, we were able to order or special sandwiches and they were pretty darn good (well I thought so). One of the better breakfasts so far on this trip.

Finally got those signature sandwiches.

We got to the bus station around 11am to catch the bus to Yangdong Traditional Village, but we'd happened upon the daily long gap in the bus timetable. Next one was not until 12:30. So we walked back into town to watch the robot arm coffee seller in action.

Robot coffee = Shit Coffee.

After what seemed like an age we finally climbed onto bus 203 bound for Yangdong. An hour later and we were walking the streets of the village, making a beeline for the recommended restaurant there - Uhyang Daok. It was a tiny place run by a very friendly man and his wife. There was only one set meal on offer, but it turned out to be delicious - fried fish and some kind of thick miso-like soup with tofu. Not to mention the obligatory mountain of side dishes.

Lunch at tiny Uhyang Daok was wonderful. 

Our bellies full, we wandered around the UNESCO World Heritage village. Yangdong is Korea’s largest traditional village, and most of the homes are over 500 years old - dating from the Joseon dynasty. It was a beautiful clear day, not too cold, and there were over 100  homes to see, nestled in the valley.

Yangdong Traditional Village.

At 5pm, with the cold starting to settle in, we grabbed Korea's worst coffee from a little old lady in the village and hopped on the 203 bus back to Gyeongju.

We didn't stop long before we were straight out for dinner. We had spied a BBQ beef place "Daereung Galbi" that we wanted to try, and fortunately there wasn't a wait. Yet again we had an amazing dinner. The beef was delicious, with beer and soju to accompany it!

BBQ beef, beer and soju.

After our sumptuous feast, we decided to walk off our beers (and soju) with a trip to Gyeongju Donggung Palace and Wolji Pond, best viewed by night. Even with all our layers, the -1C temperature combined with a stiff wind cut straight through us.

Given it was our last night in Gyeongju, we pushed on and walked the 25min to the palace/pond. Gyeongju Donggung Palace was built in 674 and served as a secondary palace used by the crown prince of the Silla Kingdom. It was abandoned when the Silla kingdom fell, so everything existing today has been rebuilt. It's only a small portion of the original structure. That being said, it still looked impressive, and it was very nice all lit up. Even though our teeth were chattering and our bollocks were literally about to drop off.

Gyeongju Donggung Palace and Wolji Pond. Freezing as fuck.

After walking around the entire structure and snapping some photos, we headed for home to thaw out and get some much needed rest.