Gyeongju Summer Trip (part 13): the 2nd day in Gyeongju

Just woke up in the morning. hmmm..a tired face. A bit drowsy. yet..we're ready to explore Gyeongju today. oh, have I mentioned that we love the scenery at the back. It turned out to be a great decision to stay at a pension with hills surrounding it. 

From the 2nd veranda..we could make barbecue party if we wanted to. But..we didn't, though.

another picture of a decorative touch on the 2nd floor, overlooking a garden.

and..wait.. I saw.....Om Wawan, Eyra, and tante Ulfa were sitting on a swing... 

not..again...why is it that they always make a 'heart' pose? is it a girl's thing? *^ 

Oh, I found one particular item that took my mind back to my hometown years ago. I used to have one of these to repel and whisk away mosquitoes. Yes.."obat nyamuk" or mosquito medicine...that's what we call it. 

hmm..summer. mosquitoes are striking back again. 

and then..we're ready to take a morning walk... 

another different facade of the garden...

earthenware disposed of? No..they're decorative touches @ the garden.

Gyeongju Summer Trip (part 9): The Pension Village Entrance

The Octopus and Suntubu Restaurant where we had dinner. This neighborhood is also famous for its varied selection of restaurants. 

But interestingly, that IS the only convenient store in the village. We got to walk 3-km to reach this store, had the owner of the house did not give us a ride.^^ 

Waiting for the bus to Bomun Lake Resort. At the back, there was another construction in progress. Yes, Gyeongju seemed to build more and more touristy areas. 

What I liked most about Gyeongju was the lanes full of trees in the middle of the two separate lanes. This is what -- I think -- differentiate Gyeongju with Seoul, for instance. 

The very fact that no tall buildings were visible, and the very fact that trees were neatly planted along the lanes and major roads...well at least in some areas...were giving me a good time in Gyeongju. 

We just got off the bus and walked towards the Bomun Lake Resort.

The sidewalks were shaded/canopied(??) with trees: another plus in Gyeongju. 

I find this amusing. Teseum: Teddy (Bear) Museum.

Teseum market...(It's a good thing that it is not a mesum museum)ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

*mesum: 야하다..^^in Indonesian.

Gyeongju Summer Trip (part 8): Pension Village

What a colorful block of houses. Pretty neat. They looked more like Lego blocks: and that's what makes it even way cooler to look at. 

Freya, Eyra, and their Mom were passing a house with rice field right in front of it. What a way to live.  

This is what I mean. I wonder if this rice field would stand against the time and against our greed of setting up more buildings (e.g. pensions). I hope that they just let it be like this. 

Oh. we saw one of the pension (which) used to be a location for 1박2일 (One Night, Two Days) TV Show in Korea.  

Another greenery in the neighborhood. 

Eyes soothed. 

Mind cured.

Gyeongju Summer Trip (part 6): Staying at 펜션 (Pension)

One of the advantages of staying at this kind of pension was the garden or front yard full of things to explore, at least for the kids. 

Eyra and Freya ran down the stairs and started to have their hide-and-seek game. 

Taken from the 2nd floor veranda, I could see a number of pensions in the neighborhood. 

Oh, even mbak Ulfa played along with the kids. Yes..it's around 6.30 and yet..it's still bright. oh, right..it's summer. the sun does not set until around 7.30. So, it means only one thing: we got plenty of time. 

This is the corner of the stairs that connect our room with the 1st floor. I think the owner did a good job in 'decorating' its pension. 

A view from the door leading to the 2nd floor veranda. Up front were another row of pensions: well, that's why it's called 'Pension Village'  

Once again..it's green, yes. But...boy..it's still hot. Summer..gosh..summer. and yet..it's already 6.30..but the heat....

it's a good thing, though that....we managed to enjoy to our fulfillment. 

This is the facade of our pension we stayed in.

I just wished that we'd have one of these back here in Seoul.^^ 

Now..let's take a pose, girls. 

the second pose, girls. oh..wait..om Wawan, too. Yeach..once again..I do wish to have this kind of wooden house this posh in Seoul. 

With vast front yard for us to play along the whole year...around...

who would not wanna stay in this kind of place?

This is the plus side of having a trip to Gyeongju and staying in a place like this.

A different life from what we have in Seoul, for sure. 

Gyeongju Summer Trip (part 5): Staying @ 펜션 (Pension)

First: it was a good decision that we chose to stay at a pension. Second: we're lucky to have a discounted price for this pension for two nights. It was \ 110.000 although the original price would be \1400.000 during weekend or peak seasons.  

Pension served us well since there were six of us. Two families. So..the idea of staying at the pension seemed to be a perfect fit for our trip.

There were enough spare blankets, mattress, pillows tucked in the cupboard...ready to use. 

The living room or family space is spacious enough to accommodate all of us. 

Oh, this kind of pension  allows 4 and up to 6 people. Should there be more people, we'd be advised to use the bigger one.

There was an attached kitchen and for that..we'd packed rice, snacks, and other ready-to-cook ingredients for our trip. Yes..that's the whole idea of staying at the pension. 

Okay..the kids loved the ornaments and the wallpaper of the pension...though frankly speaking ..it's a bit girly polished for me.  

Even a vacuum cleaner was provided. Eyra found her newly found toy and she played along with it...well...I asked her..since it'd be better off to start our first stay here by making sure that it's clean. Well, to start with..it was clean. 

Then..we had our first dinner. Oh, yes..it's already around 6 pm and we decided to give ourselves a neighborhood look-out after dinner. 

The whole interior of the pension. So, one room, one kitchen, one living room and one bathroom...enough for 6 people. 

Comfy? well, that's relative. but...for us..it's comfy enough.

Gyeongju Summer Trip (part 4)

After taking the express bus with the priciest fare we'd known so far....(\ 1.450 hahahaha), we arrived at Bukgundong or Bukgun Pension Village. (북군펜션마을). 

This is the three-section in front of the street that led us to the pension we were about to stay in for 2 nights.  Gosh..oh gosh..it was so hot. It's stifling hot. Well..the picture sure shows how blue the sky was. How green the trees were. But..oh boy..oh boy..as soon as we got off the bus, we came face to face with the the real culprit for our 2-day great and not that great summer trip.  

But first...let me tell you..that we're so lucky to have reserved the Pension we chose from the arrays of selection on the internet. 

Why we're lucky? well, the owner herself picked us up from the very place we got off the bus. We're waiting for her. 

And..after 5 minutes or so, she arrived with her car (not shown here) that would take us to her pension she manages. 

What is pension and what does it look like? 

See in my other entries on this Gyeongju Summer Trip.

Gyeongju Summer Trip (Part 1)

Finally, the day we took the train (this one is Saemaueul train) taking us to Gyeongju had arrived. We boarded the train in the morning at 9.40 that would take us to Dongdaegu station before we transfer to Mugunghwa train (a local train) taking us to Gyeongju.

It's the air-conditioned coach that lullaby-ed them to sleep. Well..it's a 3-hour trip and after tiring themselves with snacks and sight-seeing..it's time for them to 'sleep'.

As for me, what would a trip be without letting my fingers and camera do the job of capturing the blurring images of the scenery along the way.

Summer, yup...we went on a holiday summer to Gyeongju..which to my friends' surprise..they asked me as to why we went there....since that's one of the hottest place in Korea to be..during summer.

But...I did not see that coming really. So..let's just enjoy the moment..and for the time being...seeing the 'outside' world through the train window inside the air-conditioned coach somewhat 'blinded' me of what's coming ahead...^^

Even..the place underneath this KTX-railway seemed a cool thing to capture into my camera.

And..along with the vast green rice field.....the vinyl-housed farms....the mountains...all of them seemed to be so tenderly cool...in summer.

Once again...it's all because ..everything was seen and enjoyed through the windows of the train we boarded to Gyeongju.

Creeks...small paths...bushes....hilly villages...houses that looked like dots on the slopes of the mountains...

were all...once again...cool to look at even in the 'Korean' summer.

*once again..thanks to the comfort of train window that separated us from the direct 'impact' of heat in the summer.:)

Gyeongju: Here We Come!!!!

 We are going to Gyeongju. Yes....although summer is hot..hot..hot, we do not want to just stay at home...without doing nothing. We want to explore Korea. I've been to Gyeongju, of course. But, my family and my friends have not. So....we booked trains (all kinds of trains: Saemaeul, Mugunghwa, and KTX) to have a different taste of Korean train in all of its aspects. We depart from Seoul to Gyeongju via ordinary train, and we return to Seoul via KTX. Smart, choice? hmm..not really..coz we could've just booked all KTX train..from and to ..back and forth Seoul - Gyeongju. Because it's not even 5,000 Won in difference!!!!

Anyway we booked it already. Yeeeeeeee...

We go to Gyeongju with mas Wawan and mbak Ulfa: our fellow friends. 

Wait..this is not the price for Gyeongju, but Busan..

hmm going to Busan via KTX costs above 50,000 won per trip.

But...the trip to Gyeongju cost around 40,000 per trip.

Guess..we'd do it  

aoh..one more thing, we did manage to secure a home (pension) for our 3 days, 2 nights trip to Gyeongju.

We do hope that this is a great and an enjoyable trip.

Hurray!!! Got the tickets already...for 6 people in our group.

Korail Train Ticket.....^^

and...of course....one of the ways to explore Gyeongju (for those who want to have a hassle-free experience in Gyeongju).....is to take the Gyeongju City Tour Bus.

Got our seats reserved already...and we're ready to see the Shilla Kingdom:)