4 May 2012
The plan for the afternoon of Day 2 in Gyeongju is to do the walking tour of the city. Sights to see include the following:
Daereung-won Tumuli Park (Cheonmachong Tomb) ~ Cheomseongdae Observatory ~ Gyerim ~ Anapji (Imhae Jeonji) ~ Gyeongju National Museum ~ Seokbinggo (Stone Ice Storage) ~ Tomb of Queen Seondoek.
From Bomun Resort area, the cheapest way to get to town (about 1300 KRW per person) is by Bus #11. Easiest way is by a taxi but that would be relatively expensive (about 10,000 KRW). Besides, we wanted to try the local buses. So we took Bus #11 to the city. For more information on taking the local buses (#10 and #11) to and from Bomun Resort in Gyeongju, read here.
But first, a stop at the Tourist Information Center to gather information and maps for our hiking trip up Namsan in Day 4 of our trip. We alighted near the Gyeongju train station and walked to the Tourist Information Centre located just outside the station. The staff manning the Centre speaks a little English and provided us with the information we wanted which was:
a. information on where to take the bus to go for a hike up Mount Namsan and some maps of the hiking trail (only in Korean language)
b. directions to the Sampo Ssambap restaurant based on a printout of a blog-page from Sherwin Jones’s Gyeongju blog. Gyeongju is famous for its Ssambap meal (rice wrap with assorted lettuce and leaves) and the Sampo Ssambap restaurant looked interesting based on the blog post in the Sherwin’s blog.
From the Tourist Information Centre and armed with an updated and more detailed map, it was a walk under the surprising hot Korean spring sun to the restaurant which is located near the Daereung-won Tumuli Park. We passed by many ssam-bap restaurants near the Tumuli Park but we are fixed on going to this particular Sampo Ssambap restaurant. On the way, we also saw a few shops selling the famous Gyeongju bread. It was not easy to find this particular Sampo Ssambap restaurant. After buying a drink from a provision shop, we asked the shop keeper for directions and he pointed us the final directions to the shop.
Here are some pictures of the restaurant from the outside.
There is little need to look at the menu before placing any order. We just settled down on a table and the standard meal costing 10000 KRW per head is quickly laid out on a long table while we sat on the floor, traditional Korean style. I am familiar with the many side dishes provided in a typical Korean meal but the Ssambap meal is really going overboard. So many side dishes, some of which I am not sure what is made off.
To eat it, we have to use our hands to wrap the food items from the side dishes and rice with a large leaf of vegetable and drop the whole thing into our mouth. We were not too sure on the protocol.
“Monkey see, monkey do” as we stole a glance at a neighbouring table of local Koreans eating their Ssambap.
We took a video of me eating my ssambap but I am not going to post in here.
We were the last customer that came for lunch and we were soon left alone in the restaurant. As described in Sherwin Jones’ blog, this restaurant is interesting not just for the food. It houses many interesting display of relics including weapons, armour, replica of Queen Seondeok’s headwear, red mailbox (like those in UK). We got permission from the owner to look around and took some photos after our lunch. Here are some photos.
Overall, the ssambap wrapped rice meal was not really that fantastic as there are other Korean food that I like better. However, I enjoyed eating in this restaurant for its friendly hosts and interesting exhibits.
Acknowledgement: Thanks to Sherwin Jones for the useful information of this restaurant in his Gyeongju blog (sherwinvjones.com)
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