We've been so busy that this is the first chance we have to update th journal. We arrived in Gyeongju, an ancient capital. We had made a reservation at a lovely homestay and was picked up a the train station. The tour books describe this town as a living museum, which so far it appears to be. There is an enormous amount to do here ans so we have completely changed our itinerary and plan to spend all our time here before going back to Seoul. So much for advanced planning. The homestay (Sa Rang Chae) is a family run homestay. The house is an "hanok" a traditional wooden and tiles house. We sleep on a yo which is a pad this is spread out on the floor. This is the traditional Korean arrangement. The homestay has a large kitchen for communal use. Two four burner gas stoves, two sinks, toasters, water filtration (hot and cold) and two refrigerators. Breakfast is included and can consist of eggs, toast and beverage, all of which is cooked by us for us.
As we arrived just after noon, once we checked in we found a restaurant near us and had a meal that was over the top. The room was a private bamboo hut, low table and we sat on the floor. The banchan consisted of 15 dishes and a main dish of fish. We ate so much that for supper we had a noodle soup that is bought in a package and to which you add hot water and let it steap for about a minute. This is a very Korean quick meal. The markets have stacks and stack of these and in a variety of flavours.
Yesterday we went to the National Museum, and toured the three large buildings which took about 3 hours. The Museum has artifacts from the Silla Dynasty and the centuries before. We spent the afternoon lounging around. The weather here gets very hot and humid and it's difficult to do anything very active. Yesterday evening we took a bus to view a dance performance at an outdoor amphitheatre that seats 1200. It took place at a luxury resort area which has a casino, a lake, numerous restaurants, an amusement park and this free dance performance every night at 8.30 PM. The dance was traditional Korean folk tales translated into dance. A screen told the story in Korean, Japanese, Chinese and English. The costumes were extraordinary.
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