Gyeongju (part 2)

Saturday was an improvement. The rains held off and we set out for the bus tour we had booked. One snag: Christa had left me in charge of the tickets, and I'd left them back in our room. Thank god the tour guide was forgiving and issued us another, and we set off. Because Seollal is so important to Koreans, they must've all been at home, as there were only five tickets sold for our tour, and we had the huge bus almost to ourselves. Gyeongju is sometimes known as the 'museum without walls' as there is so much to see. We saw many tombs, temples and Buddha statues. Here's my favourite: Rock on. Or maybe this one: Ok, that's enough of Buddha for now. Our favourite spot was the underwater tomb of King Munmu. Really it just like any other rocky outcrop, but it meant we got to go paddling in he East Sea. And boy was it cold. Some of us got more wet than others. We got back around four, and hooked ourselves up with the tandem that would be our sole means of transportation for the next two days. A few people had said that Gyeongju is best explored by bike, and it was certainly much more fun than the taxis! This is Tumuli Park. These 1000-year-old tombs are scattered through the city, and I couldn't help thinking of the pyramids when I was standing among them in the park, though I can appreciate that in my photos you're really just looking at a bunch of hills. This is Anapji pond. I'm sure there's a fascinating story to it, but all you really need to remember is that we were here taking photos. There's a narrative. We cycled back into town hoping to stuff ourselves with sushi at a restaurants we'd seen earlier in the day. But boo! It was closed for the holidays. We were standing on the street outside debating where to go instead when a young Korean couple came up to us. They had seen us previously at the pond taking pictures and wanted to say hi. Actually, they said quite a bit more than that, as without further ado they invited us to eat dinner with them! His name is Moo Hwan, and his girlfriend is Yeon Kyeong. At least, I think it's that way round. His English was pretty decent, she wasn't as confident but both were real nice. Well, they paid for our meal anyhow! He'd recently been to Canada where some locals had treated him, so he was after returning the favour. I guess I'll have to be on the lookout when I get back so I can do the same! And dinner was delicious. Afterwards, me and Christa went to another nore bang until we were too hoarse and exhausted to sing any more. We were both looking forward to bed, but it was no to be. The guest-house owner stopped us in the yard and redirected us to the kitchen/common area, where all the other foreign guests were having drinks to toast the new year. It was strangely jarring to hear the voice of a lad from Sheffield in amongst all the yanks, but they were all real friendly and willing to share their liquor with us. However we were both too whacked to stay more than another or hour or so, so it wasn't long before we slipped away to bed...