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Mini Report / Thoughts on 4 Weeks South Korea Oct 2022

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Mini Report / Thoughts on 4 Weeks South Korea Oct 2022

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Old Mar 4th, 2024, 05:20 AM
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Mini Report / Thoughts on 4 Weeks South Korea Oct 2022

We had an absolutely wonderful 4 weeks in Korea back in Oct 2022.

A few random thoughts, written on the flight home and posted to the FB group I used for a lot of research and planning, Korea Travel Guide.

Self-drive was absolutely the right choice for us. It's a really really great way to see the breadth of the country, especially if you avoid the toll roads and use local highways and roads, as we did – which doesn't usually add much time to the trips either. And the views and snippets of small town and tiny village life are worth it! If you've driven much in big cities like London, you won't be fazed by Korean driving! If you're a fainthearted, nervous or inexperienced driver, you may not enjoy the experience at all! Pete really enjoyed it! Our itinerary included overnights in Seoul, Suwon, Jeonju, Gwangju, Yeosu, Jeju Island (Jeju City and Seogwipo), Busan, Gyeongju and back to Seoul. We had 3 separate car rentals to cover this and didn't bother to have a car whilst in Seoul or Busan, but picked them up on the morning we left each city.

We used Naver Map to navigate, for driving, public transport and walking. Ahead of the trip I had saved hundreds of favourites into the app (hotels, sights, restaurants, cafes, airports, key stations, rental car offices) and added more as we went. Even set to English, a lot of it remains in Korean, and not possible to use fully, but we got along fine with it anyway.

I already loved Korean food before this trip (I worked for several years in a town known colloquially as Little Korea and used to eat Korean for lunch 3-4 data a week), but that love has intensified even more. And there's still looooaaaads of dishes we didn't try, waiting for our next trip!

Google translate has come on leaps and bounds and we used it to translate menus all over the place. In tourist-heavy places they may have English translations but in many places they don't, but this wasn't an issue for us at all. If you have allergies or restricted diets this will likely be a lot trickier! I very occasionally used papago to translate a sentence to someone but it is much slower than Google translate. Still handy to have it. Load the Korean keyboard at that if someone wants to reply and have it translate Korean to English, they can.

Anywhere you have high rises in the cities, there are always amazing sculptures on the corners. Everywhere. It's amazing!

In Seoul we used buses more than the metro, mostly because it reduced walking and stairs and we had time. But we did use metro too. All very easy to use in our opinion.

Hotel beds in Korea are universally pretty damn firm. Some were so hard it was hard to sleep. Not much you can do about it but be aware. I chose my hotels carefully based on location above all plus bed size and room size and of course price. Was happy with all of them... booked them all via booking dot com.

Lost 3+ days of the trip to a really bad bout of food poisoning aka traveller's diarrhoea. 99.9% sure I got that at a hotel breakfast buffet I said at the time was a disaster waiting to happen - why didn't I listen to myself? We didn't even book breakfast anywhere but this hotel included it for genius level booking dot com members. All the clichés of food that should be kept hot being left out till cold, covers not put onto dishes between customers serving themselves, car crash in many respects. I'm an idiot. Conversely I didn't get ill once from street-food or casual cheap restaurants.

Almost flooded one bathroom when I went to the toilet whilst more than half asleep and pressed the button for arse wash instead of flush. As I was standing up, it shot up and out of the loo and even when I slammed the loo seat lid down it poured out until I woke up and pressed the button to turn it off. Name:  1f604.png
Views: 146
Size:  1.4 KB I love robot loos but make sure you know which one is the flush to avoid ensuing hilarity! Name:  1f601.png
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A lot of restaurants closed during the pandemic. Naver Maps is more up to date than Google but you'll still find some places that aren't open though they seem to be listed as such, and a bunch of places that are open but still restricting to take out only. Have back up plans!

We pre-booked WiFi and a SIM that could accept incoming calls (but not make them). It had data as well. The WiFi was very very helpful when out and about. And the Korean number was useful for two things - booking taxis with Kakao taxi, and adding our name to waitlists for 2 or 3 restaurants that operated that system. We needed to be signed in to Kakao talk for that to work.

I posted a LOT to Instagram, usually with restaurant and place names and Naver Map links: www.instagram.com/Kaveyf and look for #kaveyeatskorea Name:  1f970.png
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Happy to answer questions if you want more info on anything!
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Last edited by Kavey; Mar 4th, 2024 at 05:30 AM. Reason: Report posted blank, again.
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Old Mar 4th, 2024, 07:01 PM
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I'm so glad you had a good trip, Kavey, except for that bout of GI distress. (Been there, done that, if not in Korea.) Korean cuisine is amazing, isn't it?
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Old Mar 5th, 2024, 08:39 AM
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Originally Posted by kja
I'm so glad you had a good trip, Kavey, except for that bout of GI distress. (Been there, done that, if not in Korea.) Korean cuisine is amazing, isn't it?
Yes that was a bit of a blip but didn't take away from how much we loved our time in South Korea!
And I was already a big fan of the cuisine for previous 10-15 years so it was an absolute delight to try everything in its country of origin and to try the things I hadn't encountered in UK!
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Old Mar 5th, 2024, 04:34 PM
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Thanks so much for your report. Brings back memories.

I too enjoyed driving in Korea and found it very easy throughout. I was surprised by how quickly we got around and the distances we were able to cover. When you say the Naver app was sometimes in Korean, do you mean Hangul?

I didn't run into any firm beds, unlike in China where many beds are like sleeping directly on a box spring.

Since I don't fool around with most popular social media (like Instagram) could you give me a rundown of your top five food discoveries in Korea?

Mine were:
Konguksu, noodles in a cold soy milk broth
Sujebi, hand torn noodle soup
Marinated duck bbq
Galbi jjim, braised short ribs
Dubu kimchee, side-by-side, half the plate is tofu, the other half is a tangy stir-fry with sliced pork, carrots, onion. So... not the cold, fermented kimchee I was previously familiar with..
Bindatteok, ground mung bean pancake

I also live in an area with a ton of Korean places to choose from. The single biggest difference is the quality of the noodles. They are always the first thing to suffer in the US.

The other thing that surprised me was that, smack dab in the middle of summer, we were served boiling hot soups and stews. And I mean a rolling boil, like it was about to erupt.






Last edited by shelemm; Mar 5th, 2024 at 04:38 PM.
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Old Mar 6th, 2024, 01:13 AM
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Originally Posted by shelemm
Thanks so much for your report. Brings back memories.

I too enjoyed driving in Korea and found it very easy throughout. I was surprised by how quickly we got around and the distances we were able to cover. When you say the Naver app was sometimes in Korean, do you mean Hangul?
Yes it was a joy to drive. We mostly avoided the expressways in favour of local roads, which gave us the best views of rural and small town life.
And yeah, sometimes with Naver we couldn't find a place in roman alphabet, so we searched google in English, and copied and pasted the hangul over to Naver.

Originally Posted by shelemm
I didn't run into any firm beds, unlike in China where many beds are like sleeping directly on a box spring.
We found several really hard ones. We didn't stay in many international chains which may provide mattresses more akin to what we're used to!

Originally Posted by shelemm
Since I don't fool around with most popular social media (like Instagram) could you give me a rundown of your top five food discoveries in Korea?

Mine were:
Konguksu, noodles in a cold soy milk broth
Sujebi, hand torn noodle soup
Marinated duck bbq
Galbi jjim, braised short ribs
Dubu kimchee, side-by-side, half the plate is tofu, the other half is a tangy stir-fry with sliced pork, carrots, onion. So... not the cold, fermented kimchee I was previously familiar with..
Bindatteok, ground mung bean pancake
Things we tried that I hadn't come across before:
Soy-marinated crab
Cutlass fish braise
Huge mandu with different fillings, either steamed or to cook within a hot pot
Bindaetteok
Milmyeon and nangmyeon
Tteokgalbi
The stalls that sell a variety of things in tempura batter, you pick what you want and they refry them hot and fresh for you

A breaded pork burger stuffed with cheese
The enormous banchan selections with traditional meals, so much variety and new things in this category
Handcut noodles
Jajangmyeon
Deep-dish bulgogi pizza
Ribs, grilled, a speciality in a village near Maisan-Tapsa
Croiffles
Sundae and Sundae gukbap
Braised pigs trotters
Acorn jelly


Ones we were already familiar with but loved having in Korea:-
KFC with a wide variety of different sauces, and the many side dishes that were available in those places
Chimek
Korean BBQ
Galbi
Bingsoo
Gimbap
Tteokbokki
Much wider array of kimchi
Bibimbap
Yukhoe
Things on sticks
Bossam
Kaseu (katsu)


Originally Posted by shelemm
I also live in an area with a ton of Korean places to choose from. The single biggest difference is the quality of the noodles. They are always the first thing to suffer in the US.

The other thing that surprised me was that, smack dab in the middle of summer, we were served boiling hot soups and stews. And I mean a rolling boil, like it was about to erupt.
Yes, I used to work in a town in Surrey known as Little Korea with high density of Korean restaurants and I ate out 3-4 times a week for lunch. They offered a wide range but not everything we found in Korea!
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Old Mar 6th, 2024, 03:32 AM
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We stayed in mostly in very cute motels - like the Japanese, the Koreans are really into 'cute.'

Oh yes, the huge mandu in a pot were a revelation, like this:



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Old Mar 6th, 2024, 04:11 AM
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Originally Posted by shelemm
We stayed in mostly in very cute motels - like the Japanese, the Koreans are really into 'cute.'

Oh yes, the huge mandu in a pot were a revelation, like this:
I must have just had bad luck then, but certainly I found almost half the beds too hard.

THAT LOOKS DELICIOUS!

I'll sort my pics to get some loaded to this report soon!
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Old Mar 7th, 2024, 08:02 AM
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I just realised I did share a version of this previously, apologies for the duplication!!!

Here's the Itinerary and I'll be posting photos against this trip report in the next few days!

Here's our itinerary, and some general observations.

Seoul 5 nights (more at end)
Suwon 2 nights
Jeonju 2 nights
Yeosu 2 nights (was booked as 3)
Goheung 1 night (added last minute instead of last night in Yeosu)
Gwangju 2 nights
Jeju Island 4 nights (self-drive)

Busan 4 nights
Gyeongju 3 nights
Seoul 2 nights
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Old Mar 7th, 2024, 10:52 PM
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Seoul 5 nights


Sinyet Chatjip (Old Shin Tea House) in Insadong


Sinyet Chatjip (Old Shin Tea House) in Insadong - tea and sweet fluffy rice cakes


Sinyet Chatjip (Old Shin Tea House) in Insadong - tteokbokki


Imun Seolnongtang, beef bone broth soup


Imun Seolnongtang, beef bone broth soup (we got soaked on the way there)


Myeongnyun Jinsa Grilled Short Ribs Jongno Gwancheol Branch


Myeongnyun Jinsa Grilled Short Ribs Jongno Gwancheol Branch


Jeonyeongjun Pro Sushi Insa Main Branch


Ssamziegil (a little craft shopping centre)


Paris Baguette for breakfast


Changdeokgung Palace


Changgyeonggung Palace


Sodamseureon Soban, Casual lunch near Changgyeonggung Palace


Sodamseureon Soban, Casual lunch near Changgyeonggung Palace


Gwangjang Market


Gwangjang Market, acorn jelly with cucumbers


Gwangjang Market, bindaetteok


Gwangjang Market, this is a friend we made in Vietnam a few years ago, he was our student goodwill guide for Saigon, and was about to move to South Korea to study on a scholarship


On a group chimek (chicken and beer) tour with Joe at Zenkimchi


On a group chimek (chicken and beer) tour with Joe at Zenkimchi


On a group chimek (chicken and beer) tour with Joe at Zenkimchi


Namsan Seoul Tower


Namsan Seoul Tower


Namsan Seoul Tower


Namsan Seoul Tower


Namsan Seoul Tower


Lunch in a katsu restaurant at top cable car station for Namsan Seoul Tower

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Old Mar 7th, 2024, 11:02 PM
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Still Seoul


Dinner at Balwoo Gongyang, michelin-starred vegan temple food restaurant


Dinner at Balwoo Gongyang, michelin-starred vegan temple food restaurant


Dinner at Balwoo Gongyang, michelin-starred vegan temple food restaurant


Bingsoo at Kafe Langsom


Bingsoo at Kafe Langsom


Bongeunsa temple in Gangnam


Bongeunsa temple in Gangnam


COEX Aquarium


COEX Aquarium


Lunch at Tomodachi in Coex Mall


Starfield Byeolmadang Library


Starfield Byeolmadang Library


Billy Angel Cake Bar inside Starfield library


Dinner at Gaeseong Mandu Koong in Insadong (didn't realise till we got there that it has a Michelin reco so there was a queue, though not too long)


Dinner at Gaeseong Mandu Koong in Insadong

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Old Mar 7th, 2024, 11:41 PM
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On way to Suwon


Gonjiam Ceramic Museum


Gonjiam Ceramic Museum


Deokpyeong Eco Service Area, restaurant specialising in nangmyeon and pollock


Deokpyeong Eco Service Area, restaurant specialising in nangmyeon and pollock

Suwon 2 nights


Suwon city walls


Suwon, one of the gates


Suwon, one of the gates


Yeonpo Grilled Short Ribs restaurant in Swuon


Suwon's Temporary Palace


Suwon's Temporary Palace


Suwon's Temporary Palace


Jonaenjin Pizza, Suwon


Trendy cafe in Suwon


Along the stream within the Suwon Hwaseong Fortress area


Trendy cafe in Suwon

Last edited by Kavey; Mar 7th, 2024 at 11:48 PM.
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Old Mar 7th, 2024, 11:52 PM
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On the way to Jeonju


Gakwonsa Temple


Gakwonsa Temple


Magoksa Temple (one of my favourites of the trip)


Magoksa Temple


Magoksa Temple
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Old Mar 8th, 2024, 12:43 AM
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Jeonju 2 nights


The hanok we stayed in is in the very heart of Jeonju


Our hanok


Our room, we chose a huge room for 10 because it had a bad as well as the floor heating/ futons and an ensuite bathroom. I can't sleep on the floor anymore!


Hanok breakfast


Jeonju restaurant specialising in tteokgalbi (grilled pork or beef rib patties), we also had braised pigs trotters, it all came with banchan and nangmyeon


Same Jeonju restaurant


Jaman Mural Village


Jaman Mural Village


Jeonju


Jeonju


Jeonju


Jojeomnye Nammun Blood Sausage restaurant in Nambu Market in Jeonju


Sundae gukbap (rice soup with blood sausage), and a small portion of extra sundae


Jojeomnye Nammun Blood Sausage restaurant


Jeonju


Kkotdam Restaurant for bibimbap and tteokgalbi


Kkotdam Restaurant for bibimbap and tteokgalbi


Kkotdam Restaurant for bibimbap and tteokgalbi


Croiffles at Cafe Ireuri


Cafe Ireuri
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Old Mar 8th, 2024, 12:51 AM
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On the way to Yeosu


Maisan Tapsa


Choga Jeongdam restaurant, near Maisan Tapsa


Ribs and Wild vegetables dolsot bibimbap at Choga Jeongdam restaurant, near Maisan Tapsa


On the road


Nagan Eupseong Folk Village


Nagan Eupseong Folk Village


Nagan Eupseong Folk Village

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Old Mar 8th, 2024, 01:40 AM
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Yeosu 2 nights (was booked as 3 but we were offered a night in Goheung so we cancelled the last night in Yeosu to do that)


Restaurant specialising in soy-marinated crab and braised cutlassfish, in Yeosu


Restaurant specialising in soy-marinated crab and braised cutlassfish, in Yeosu


Yeosu Ocean Rail Bike


Yeosu Ocean Rail Bike


Yeosu Cable Car


Yeosu Cable Car


Bulgogi Pizza!


Suncheon Bay Wetland Reserve


Sky Cube monorail thing in Suncheon wetlands, connects the Wetlands Reserve to the Garden


Sky Cube monorail thing in Suncheon wetlands, connects the Wetlands Reserve to the Garden


Cultwo Chicken Yeosu Branch, absolutely fab Korean Fried Chicken


Daehan Dawon Tea Plantation, Boseong


Daehan Dawon Tea Plantation, Boseong


Green tea ice cream at Daehan Dawon Tea Plantation, Boseong


Restaurant in Boseong, offered special green tea menu


Special green tea menu


Special green tea menu


At a Museum and Tea Market in Boseong


Ceramics and paintings in a short term exhibition at the museum
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Old Mar 8th, 2024, 03:48 AM
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Geohung 1 nt


Visiting a factory in Goehung where they make yuja cha (yuzu tea, essentially like marmalade but mixed in hot water to make a drink) - this was courtesy of a marketing body, not open to tourists usually


Yuzu in Geohung


A traditional restaurant in Geohung


Sunchang annual gochujang festival!


Sunchang annual gochujang festival!


Eating lunch at a tented restaurant bbq place at the Sunchang annual gochujang festival!
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Old Mar 8th, 2024, 03:52 AM
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Gwangju 2 nights


Ski-lift style cable ride up to the top of Mudeung Mountain in Gwangju


Monorail at the top of Mudeung Mountain in Gwangju


Yuhyang Korean-Chinese restaurant in Gwangjang


Yuhyang Korean-Chinese restaurant in Gwangjang


Juknokwon Bamboo Forest


Juknokwon Bamboo Forest


Baekje Buddhism Birthplace


Baekje Buddhism Birthplace
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Old Mar 8th, 2024, 04:01 AM
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Jeju Island 4 nights


Jeju Island


BHC Chicken Yeondong Branch


Jeju City's Dongmun market


Jeju City's Dongmun market


Jeju Island


Cafe Del Moondo


Sushi Gongjang


Sushi Gongjang


Cafe Hallasan


Cafe Tenderlove (aka Sehwa Cafe Tendeoreop)


Seongsan harbour


Gwangchigi Beach with a view back to Seongsan Sunrise Peak


Seogwipo hotel room view


Olle Market in Seogwipo city, Jeju Island


Olle Market in Seogwipo city, Jeju Island


Olle Market in Seogwipo city, Jeju Island


Olle Market in Seogwipo city, Jeju Island


Olle Market in Seogwipo city, Jeju Island


Jeju Cafe Gallery in Gyoraeri


Jeju Cafe Gallery in Gyoraeri


Road view


Bosco // Riboseuko Brazier Pizza


Bosco // Riboseuko Brazier Pizza


Bosco // Riboseuko Brazier Pizza


Seogwipo Hae Tteuneun Restaurant (pork BBQ)


Seogwipo Hae Tteuneun Restaurant (hotpot)


Seogwipo Hae Tteuneun Restaurant (abalone)
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Old Mar 8th, 2024, 04:43 AM
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Busan 4 nights


BIFF square


View from roof of the Lotte mall in Nampo neighbourhood


Some promotional stuff in the Lotte mall


Can't find the name of this restaurant in Nampo, Busan!


Can't find the name of this restaurant in Nampo, Busan!


Bupyeong Kkangtong Market


Bupyeong Kkangtong Market


Bupyeong Kkangtong Market


Bupyeong Kkangtong Market


Sageori Korean Snack inside Bupyeong Kkangtong Market


Gimbap, tteokbokki, fried mandu, udon noodle soup at Sageori Korean Snack inside Bupyeong Kkangtong Market


Gimbap, tteokbokki, fried mandu, udon noodle soup at Sageori Korean Snack inside Bupyeong Kkangtong Market


Busan Jagalchi Market, Busan


Jagalchi Sindonga Market, Busan


Jagalchi Sindonga Market, Busan


Ichadol Busan Nampo Branch, BBQ, Busan


Ichadol Busan Nampo Branch, BBQ, Busan

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Old Mar 8th, 2024, 06:52 AM
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From Busan to Gyeongju


Haedong Yonggungsa Temple


Haedong Yonggungsa Temple


Milmyeon and dumplings at a restaurant in Tongdo, just by entrance to Tongdosa


Tongdosa


Tongdosa


Tongdosa


Tongdosa


Tongdosa


Tongdosa


Oegosan Onggi Village, near Ulsan


Oegosan Onggi Village, near Ulsan


Oegosan Onggi Village, near Ulsan


Katsu Lounge, Gyeongju


Honeycomb candies, as made famous globally through Squid Game


Restaurant Cheongnyong Jangmo Nim, near Bulgoksa temple


Hotpot at Restaurant Cheongnyong Jangmo Nim


Bulgoksa temple near Gyeongju


Bulgoksa temple near Gyeongju


Bulgoksa temple near Gyeongju


Buffalo restaurant in Gyeongju

Cheomseongdae Observatory

Pink muhly grass at Cheomseongdae Observatory

Cheomseongdae Observatory

Historical royal tombs in Gyeongju

Jungang Market, Gyeongju

Jungang Market, Gyeongju

Donggung Palace and Wolji Pond

Donggung Palace and Wolji Pond


Danbul Grilled Pork Restaurant, Gyeongjua

Danbul Grilled Pork Restaurant, Gyeongjua

Danbul Grilled Pork Restaurant, Gyeongjua

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