Beautiful Gyeongju!
(At least, that is the official tourism slogan of the city.)
My friend and I left Seoul at 7:40 AM (sans coffee too!) on a five-hour train ride to Gyeongju, the capital city of Silla and United Silla. I managed to sleep through most of the train ride until I was woken up by some really loud kids. The grump in me wishes they had been more quiet, but then I wonder if my sister and I used to be that noisy while playing games with each other. Probably, considering the number of times my mom told us to quiet down.
After we got to Gyeongju, we waited for about half an hour at a famous sundubu jjigae place. The sundubu was good, as expected, less the silky tofu you normally get in sundubu in the states and more... foamy? Riddled with holes? It's a little hard to describe. It was still very soft, only it didn't break apart as easily and definitely had a slightly grainier texture. A bit like Taiwan dou hua as opposed to HK-style dou hua, for the maybe two people who will find that reference useful.
We then checked into our hotel, which is a hanok-style hotel. I spent about half an hour looking at all the doors and hinges and the neat way they keep them closed, as well as opening every single drawer in all the traditional-style furniture. In one small drawer, I found a tiny cell phone charm of an anime character, which I am leaving there as a surprise for the next occupant. The hotel is gorgeous, and each room is actually a little suite of rooms surrounding a teeny tiny courtyard. And inside the courtyard is.... a tiny outdoor bathtub! With hot spring water piped in. Awesome.
The hotel is by Silla Millennium Park, which is sort of a theme park based on the Silla Dynasty. Er, yes. It's about what you expect, and very much aimed toward kids, but the hwarang show was actually pretty neat. The hwarang did some sword and staff exercises, which I didn't find that impressive, and some horse tricks, which I did. There was a lot of jumping out of the saddle, bouncing once on the ground, then bouncing back into the saddle, all while the horse was going fairly quickly around the ring, along with one or two guys who jumped out of the saddle and managed to run along beside the horse, then jump back on! And! Some of the set for Queen Seondeok was there! So there were pictures from the drama plastered all over, which I had expected, along with some of Boys Over Flowers (kdrama version), which I hadn't. But apparently they had filmed an episode there as well. Sadly, I have only seen one or two episodes of Seondeok, but I was still dorkily happy to see Mishil's giant house. Also, despite the theme park nature, there thankfully was no water laser show featuring something resembling Scooby Doo, a possible vampire succubus, orcs in red underwear, and Kuanyin Bodhisattva.
(For my birthday yesterday, I hiked over to the Coffee Prince shop and had a very over-priced drink while mourning the lack of actual coffee princes. But then I was dorkily happy to see the doors to the kitchen and the teeny bathroom where several hysterical conversations take place, and especially the flowers Han Yoo Joo supposedly paints where Eun Chan and Han Kyul first kiss.)
Afterward, we went to Anapji Lake. I am not actually sure what it is or why it is important, save that it's very beautiful at night. It started to rain a bit while we were walking there, but we ventured on. First, there is a giant, giant lake filled with water lilies as far as the eye can see. Some have started to bloom, and every so often, you see a duck darting back and forth between them. I was very tempted to pluck a giant leaf to use as an umbrella, but figured with my luck, I'd end up falling in the lake instead. Then there is Anapji Lake, which has three small pavilions. One had placards talking about artifacts found in the lake, so I am guessing something was there historically, but mostly we just ooh-ed and aah-ed at the lit up pavilions and their reflections in the water. I especially loved seeing the reflections of the trees in the water; because they were lit from underneath, the tops were murky and faded away. The entire effect was something like a fairytale land hidden inside the lake, waiting for you to step in...
And then, the hot springs at the hotel! It started to rain while we were in there as well, but as I remarked to J., it is much more pleasant getting rained on while in a hot tub, particularly while looking at a lovely maple tree and the night sky.
Tomorrow: Bulguksa, Seokgaram, an underwater grave, ssambap, and back to Seoul. I can't believe I only have a week left in Korea, and still so much to eat and see and do!
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My friend and I left Seoul at 7:40 AM (sans coffee too!) on a five-hour train ride to Gyeongju, the capital city of Silla and United Silla. I managed to sleep through most of the train ride until I was woken up by some really loud kids. The grump in me wishes they had been more quiet, but then I wonder if my sister and I used to be that noisy while playing games with each other. Probably, considering the number of times my mom told us to quiet down.
After we got to Gyeongju, we waited for about half an hour at a famous sundubu jjigae place. The sundubu was good, as expected, less the silky tofu you normally get in sundubu in the states and more... foamy? Riddled with holes? It's a little hard to describe. It was still very soft, only it didn't break apart as easily and definitely had a slightly grainier texture. A bit like Taiwan dou hua as opposed to HK-style dou hua, for the maybe two people who will find that reference useful.
We then checked into our hotel, which is a hanok-style hotel. I spent about half an hour looking at all the doors and hinges and the neat way they keep them closed, as well as opening every single drawer in all the traditional-style furniture. In one small drawer, I found a tiny cell phone charm of an anime character, which I am leaving there as a surprise for the next occupant. The hotel is gorgeous, and each room is actually a little suite of rooms surrounding a teeny tiny courtyard. And inside the courtyard is.... a tiny outdoor bathtub! With hot spring water piped in. Awesome.
The hotel is by Silla Millennium Park, which is sort of a theme park based on the Silla Dynasty. Er, yes. It's about what you expect, and very much aimed toward kids, but the hwarang show was actually pretty neat. The hwarang did some sword and staff exercises, which I didn't find that impressive, and some horse tricks, which I did. There was a lot of jumping out of the saddle, bouncing once on the ground, then bouncing back into the saddle, all while the horse was going fairly quickly around the ring, along with one or two guys who jumped out of the saddle and managed to run along beside the horse, then jump back on! And! Some of the set for Queen Seondeok was there! So there were pictures from the drama plastered all over, which I had expected, along with some of Boys Over Flowers (kdrama version), which I hadn't. But apparently they had filmed an episode there as well. Sadly, I have only seen one or two episodes of Seondeok, but I was still dorkily happy to see Mishil's giant house. Also, despite the theme park nature, there thankfully was no water laser show featuring something resembling Scooby Doo, a possible vampire succubus, orcs in red underwear, and Kuanyin Bodhisattva.
(For my birthday yesterday, I hiked over to the Coffee Prince shop and had a very over-priced drink while mourning the lack of actual coffee princes. But then I was dorkily happy to see the doors to the kitchen and the teeny bathroom where several hysterical conversations take place, and especially the flowers Han Yoo Joo supposedly paints where Eun Chan and Han Kyul first kiss.)
Afterward, we went to Anapji Lake. I am not actually sure what it is or why it is important, save that it's very beautiful at night. It started to rain a bit while we were walking there, but we ventured on. First, there is a giant, giant lake filled with water lilies as far as the eye can see. Some have started to bloom, and every so often, you see a duck darting back and forth between them. I was very tempted to pluck a giant leaf to use as an umbrella, but figured with my luck, I'd end up falling in the lake instead. Then there is Anapji Lake, which has three small pavilions. One had placards talking about artifacts found in the lake, so I am guessing something was there historically, but mostly we just ooh-ed and aah-ed at the lit up pavilions and their reflections in the water. I especially loved seeing the reflections of the trees in the water; because they were lit from underneath, the tops were murky and faded away. The entire effect was something like a fairytale land hidden inside the lake, waiting for you to step in...
And then, the hot springs at the hotel! It started to rain while we were in there as well, but as I remarked to J., it is much more pleasant getting rained on while in a hot tub, particularly while looking at a lovely maple tree and the night sky.
Tomorrow: Bulguksa, Seokgaram, an underwater grave, ssambap, and back to Seoul. I can't believe I only have a week left in Korea, and still so much to eat and see and do!
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