Gyeongju-Busan-Seoul Day 5 (Part 2) – Exploring Gyeongju near Bulguksa Temple

7 May 2012

On the way to the Bulguksa Temple, we saw some hanoks (traditional Korean houses) and so decided to explore the area after our visit to the temple. At the same time, we were looking for a place to take our lunch. It was nice to see the sights of rural Gyeongju and South Korea that most tourists would miss.

Petrol Kiosk – with beautiful traditional Korean architecture styling.

Gyeongju resident planting vegetable on a plot next to their house.

I was looking forward to shooting some landscape photos of the rural part of Korea, often seen in Korea dramas. This was my chance.

Fire-station designed with traditional Korea building roof form.

Street with Hanoks – traditional Korea houses.

A row of Korean restaurants near the Bulguksa Temple.

The streets were deserted at this time of day. We went into a restaurant owned by an elderly couple after they came out to greet us with a smile and invited us in. We were the first customer of the elderly couple and they were probably surprised to find a non-Korean speaking couple wandering without a tour guide in this part of Korea.

Our lunch with traditional Korea side dishes of kimchi, seaweed, anchovies, garlic, preserved fish. 

Over lunch, they tried to talk to us and exchange some information on where we came from. They thought we were from China. Using a few words of Korean I learnt from watching K-drama, I tried to tell them our grandfather were from China, but we lived in Singapore. Finally, I showed the old man a $2 Singaporean currency note and he understood.

I gave it to him as a souvenir before we left.