Andong to Gyeongju

We were certainly ready to move on from Andong and on Saturday we caught the first of only two trains that day for the 2 hour trip to Gyeongju. The view was better - lots of small farming communities and crops. We also started to see traditional burial mounds.

Our motel is one of many in downtown Gyeongju - some of which are obviously the infamous 'love motels'. Ours isn't advertised as such although a young couple without luggage checked in as we went out in the afternoon.

Gyeongju was the capital of the ancient kingdom of Silla and we spent a good 2 hours at the National Museum learning about the history and burial mounds. On the way back we passed the world's oldest surviving observatory which was used by one of the Queens in the 7th century to observe the night sky.

It got really cold on our way back in the evening. For dinner we ate in a small cafe where luckily there were pictures of the dishes on offer so we could point! I had a ramen based dish which was lovely and hot but also quite spicy.