Korea: Day 5 - Busan to Gyeongju
The day dawned grey and spitting as we left Busan. We headed over to the bus station on the other side of town, past green hills and more of the ubiquitous numbered blocks.
Everything was easy peasy at the bus station and soon we were heading towards Gyeongju in what I can only describe as one of the most luxurious buses I've ever been on.
The seats were a dark, tasteful red leather and very wide. They look like armchairs with foot rests - indeed reclining and leg rest possiblities were available with a touch of a button. Large windows afforded nice views of the green countryside. The trip is only an hour long and soon we were approaching a rather flat, grey town. The odd Chinese style roof could be glimpsed. No real landmarks, a criss cross of similar-looking lanes, and the fact that all the hotels seemed to have changed their names made our lodgings search a little frustraing. But finally we managed to bag a decent room at the Bellus Hotel and set off to explore.
It was still spitting - but a somehow fitting backdrop to this historical city. It was the capital for 1000 years from 57 BC, during the Silla dynasty. There are loads of ancient temples, bare foundations of palaces, old buildings and tombs scattered in and around the city.
We first visited the tombs in Tumuli Park which are a range of giant grassed mounds. Fairly huge really. Though it did remind one of Tellytubby land!
A free guide can take you inside one of the tombs which buried royalty with gold, jade, utensils, weaponry and the like. The mounds are constructed in such a way that entry other than from the top (where all can see you) would involve a pile of rocks collapsing on top of the burial chamber - a big deterrent for looters.
We walked a fair way round the area and ended up at the observatory Cheomseongdae. It's the oldest astrological observatory in the Far East. I was imagining a very large tower, maybe a few ancient astrological instruments scattered around, a few maps of stars etc.... but it was just a tower really - and a short one at that. We took advantage of the free guide who recited at an extremely rapid pace the history, construction and measurements of the tower. Of course I admire anyone who will offer to be a guide in another language for free, but at one point we asked a question and the poor girl was rather flummoxed, and had to rewind to where she had got to before we interrupted and restart. We didn't interrupt any more after that.
Next, the museum. Museums are a terrible bore for Fatt unless they cover war. After about half an hour he indeed wandered off to sit down. It was a little dry for me too, but I did manage to find some genuine 1000 year old eggs (pidan) that had been buried in one of the tombs.
Well, all this exhibiting was making us hungry, so I finally managed to have my Korean banquet, known as Hanjeongsik. This is basically a range of dishes which come to your table in a constant flow. We started off with some delicate DIY pancakes with various fillings.
After that, all hell pretty much broke loose. Kimchee, soup, hot dishes, cold dishes, prawn tempura... my camera gave up its battery and I had a lot of difficulty taking pics of the feast :(
My absolute favourite dish was light salted pine mushrooms on a hot plate. It was delicious and is my favourite dish from the whole trip. The mushrooms tasted almost creamy, but combined with the salt... it was exquisite.
We were a little full and had whacked out a fair amount for the food (about £30 per person). The lady came to clear things away and we thought, yeah, maybe a little overpriced but still enjoyable. Then she came back with another six dishes for us to savour:
It was a hugely enjoyable way to taste many different kinds of Korean food. We groaned and rolled our way back to the hotel which was attached to a brand new German brewhouse. It was practically empty, but a Filippino (?) band with a trio of lovely singers valiantly belted out Karen Carpenter classics. We applauded them.
Everything was easy peasy at the bus station and soon we were heading towards Gyeongju in what I can only describe as one of the most luxurious buses I've ever been on.
The seats were a dark, tasteful red leather and very wide. They look like armchairs with foot rests - indeed reclining and leg rest possiblities were available with a touch of a button. Large windows afforded nice views of the green countryside. The trip is only an hour long and soon we were approaching a rather flat, grey town. The odd Chinese style roof could be glimpsed. No real landmarks, a criss cross of similar-looking lanes, and the fact that all the hotels seemed to have changed their names made our lodgings search a little frustraing. But finally we managed to bag a decent room at the Bellus Hotel and set off to explore.
It was still spitting - but a somehow fitting backdrop to this historical city. It was the capital for 1000 years from 57 BC, during the Silla dynasty. There are loads of ancient temples, bare foundations of palaces, old buildings and tombs scattered in and around the city.
We first visited the tombs in Tumuli Park which are a range of giant grassed mounds. Fairly huge really. Though it did remind one of Tellytubby land!
A free guide can take you inside one of the tombs which buried royalty with gold, jade, utensils, weaponry and the like. The mounds are constructed in such a way that entry other than from the top (where all can see you) would involve a pile of rocks collapsing on top of the burial chamber - a big deterrent for looters.
We walked a fair way round the area and ended up at the observatory Cheomseongdae. It's the oldest astrological observatory in the Far East. I was imagining a very large tower, maybe a few ancient astrological instruments scattered around, a few maps of stars etc.... but it was just a tower really - and a short one at that. We took advantage of the free guide who recited at an extremely rapid pace the history, construction and measurements of the tower. Of course I admire anyone who will offer to be a guide in another language for free, but at one point we asked a question and the poor girl was rather flummoxed, and had to rewind to where she had got to before we interrupted and restart. We didn't interrupt any more after that.
Next, the museum. Museums are a terrible bore for Fatt unless they cover war. After about half an hour he indeed wandered off to sit down. It was a little dry for me too, but I did manage to find some genuine 1000 year old eggs (pidan) that had been buried in one of the tombs.
Well, all this exhibiting was making us hungry, so I finally managed to have my Korean banquet, known as Hanjeongsik. This is basically a range of dishes which come to your table in a constant flow. We started off with some delicate DIY pancakes with various fillings.
After that, all hell pretty much broke loose. Kimchee, soup, hot dishes, cold dishes, prawn tempura... my camera gave up its battery and I had a lot of difficulty taking pics of the feast :(
My absolute favourite dish was light salted pine mushrooms on a hot plate. It was delicious and is my favourite dish from the whole trip. The mushrooms tasted almost creamy, but combined with the salt... it was exquisite.
We were a little full and had whacked out a fair amount for the food (about £30 per person). The lady came to clear things away and we thought, yeah, maybe a little overpriced but still enjoyable. Then she came back with another six dishes for us to savour:
It was a hugely enjoyable way to taste many different kinds of Korean food. We groaned and rolled our way back to the hotel which was attached to a brand new German brewhouse. It was practically empty, but a Filippino (?) band with a trio of lovely singers valiantly belted out Karen Carpenter classics. We applauded them.
posted by sylv at 1:51 pm
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