Gyeongju Weekend (+ KBS Film Site)

Last weekend I went with Se hee to Gyeongju. By bus from Bucheon, it took about five hours to get there. Instead of a hotel, we decided it would be more fun to stay in a guesthouse, so we spent the weekend in SINDAL House.

Our night bus tour wasn't until several hours later, so we went exploring nearby areas. As we walked, Se hee told me a lot about Korean history. We went along a street of traditional houses and stopped at a home with a sign calling the area "birthplace of Choe Jun," a freedom fighter. This home was open for the public to look around, although you couldn't go inside. I noticed some homes with historical significance would have a sign detailing the history out front, but people appeared to still be living in them. 

For lunch we went to have milmyeon (밀면), which is a refreshing cold noodle dish, as suggested by the guesthouse owner. I also got to try Hwangnam bread (황남빵), a popular bread in Gyeongju with red bean filling! After eating and sightseeing, we returned to the guesthouse and passed the remaining time before the tour playing Chinese chess. 

During the night tour, our first stop was Seochulji pond (서출지). The pond was made famous due to a legend that took place there, which was about the King of Silla receiving a letter that said, "unopened one will die, opened two will die." You can read about the legend here if interested!

Seochulji (photo credit Se hee!)

Next we stopped at Anapji (안압지), another pond. It was an incredible sight at night!

Anapji

Then we came to Cheomseongdae Astronomical Observatory (첨성대). The picture below makes it appear smaller than it is. 

The following day, Saturday, we went on a day tour to see some new (and already seen) areas. The tour was split into two busses, one for Koreans and one for foreigners. Our foreigner bus didn't have a tour guide, just a one-minute hardly informative video explaining each next stop in English. One woman on our bus was Japanese and couldn't communicate in Korean or English, but she wisely prepared a lot of research for the trip in advance. After reaching each destination, the tour guide would explain the significance of the site in Korean, while the English speakers huddled around Se hee as she translated the information. 

First, we arrived at Poseokjeong Pavilion (경주 포석정지), where the royals would sit around the circle and float their drinks in the water while conversing and playing games. 

Poseokjeongji

We also saw Seokguram Grotto and Bulguksa Temple (석굴암 & 불국사), below. (Sorry about all the collages... too many pictures!)

Anapji was on this tour, too, but since we'd already seen it we went to see the lotus flowers and lily pads in front:

There was a camera crew from a local television station here that interviewed us about the flowers. I was so confused and embarrassed because I didn't know what they wanted me to say! I'm sure my ears were bright red in the interview.

After the day ended, we went to dinner with Se hee's family and aunt. I forgot to take a picture of my meal before I ate it. :( We were served a lot of local herb side dishes that were fun to try though!

I found this on Sindal House's blog haha. The girls sitting across from me were staying in the room next to us. I was too tired after the day and felt awkward not understanding the conversation, so I went to bed first.

On Sunday, Se hee's parents took us back by car. But first, we all stopped in Mungyeong (문경) to visit the KBS historical drama set. The set was so amazing, I felt like we had visited a deserted village! It was raining hard so not many people had come that day. Here are some photos!:

We had traditional tea at the set! With the tea we ate these sweet glutinous rice ball things(?) that were really good.

After that we drove back, but not without stopping for dinner!

I am so thankful for Se hee and her parents taking time out of their days for me! It was a really fun and interesting weekend!