Gyeongju National Park/Andong Hahoe Village

 

I arrived in Gyeongju and stayed in a hotel overlooking Bomun lake.  Considering how mountainous the country is, seemingly endless hills at every turn, the locals flock to spa resorts, beach properties or Seoul. I’m here to enjoy the mountains!

William, my guide, and I drove up to Gyeongju National Park. 

We hiked to the peak of Tohamsan,745 metres high,  it was pleasant and not too taxing  

In the national park there was the Seok for-am Grotto, a Buddhist temple inside the mountain and a monastery, both famous examples of Korean Buddhist art.

After hiking and sightseeing, William, my young guide, took me to a tofu restaurant.  I must say, I was quite surprised since I’m just ok with tofu but it was very good!

The ever present multiple side dishes that come with a meal. Kimchis, crab, eggs, etc

Fried tofu side dish

Tofu spicy stew

Today we headed off to Sokcho, a coastal city since we are going to hike a famous national park tomorrow. We dropped by Andong Hahoe Folk Village to see a traditional (14th century) Korean village and watch their masked performers. Interestingly, the village  already had underfloor heating in the olden days, using the exhaust of their kitchen fires that were piped across the floor to the outside.  

Of course William chose a typical Andong meal for us of stewed chicken and barbecued mackerel.  Again, huge portions for just us two.

The drive to the Sokcho is long and just very mountainous. Korean infrastructure is pretty good and there were numerous tunnels, one even 11 km long, some even with multicolour lighting and high tech signage. Another thing I need to mention is that Korea must have the cleanest modern restrooms in the world.  Everywhere you go it’s spotless. I’m not surprised since they’ve got regional restroom committees overseeing  frequent checks. They even have conventions!

Tomorrow, some serious hiking!