Day 3 – 이천 십이 년 구월 이십오 일 [화요일] 2012 September 25 [Tuesday]
Third day in Gyeongju. Breakfast was 2 slices of french toast with coffee made in the kitchen and enjoyed in Sa Rang Chae’s courtyard. Should have consumed more, had I known that it was a super long walk to and fro Namsan…
Original intention was to take bus to the starting point of Namsan (aka. SamNeung), but as the bus was not in sight when I reached the bus-stop and it was wonderful weather, cool and sunny, I decided to walk towards the starting point. Views were rewarding along the simple long walk although SamNeung is only 3 to 4 bus-stops away from Sa Rang Chae.
I think the beauty of walking is discovering new things along the way when you can keep your eyes / ears opened to new things. (^_^) At least, lots of mini stops and a detour to Poseokjeong [Admission Ticket is ₩500] and Royal Tomb of King Jima.
I finally reached the recommended starting point of my hike, SamNeung around 1140hrs. Didn’t see any eateries nearby that I could pack my lunch for ascending… If you are keen to do this hike, I could recommend you to pack a simple lunch to enjoy at the peak of Namsam [Geumobong]. The ascent was easy to navigate as signs were clearly marked. There was a registration counter for hikers to leave their names before ascending but the instructions and columns are all in Korean, so I didn’t register my name with them. Afterthought > might be good to register with them for safety reason…
The hike was fine till I passed Geumobong and went for a toilet break. Saw the sign to Yangjang Village, walking towards it, clearing the three ‘short’ ropes [used to pull yourself down safely], with confirmation from a high school principal in Suwon who was doing his own trek, but along the descending, somehow the directional signs disappeared and doubts started forming… I was LOST in the mountain!!! As I could not hear any other sounds of hikers, I backtracked up the way I had descended. Am really relieved to see a group of Korean University Students. They were really sweet! There were 6 of them, 5 of them went ahead while 1 paced me and we conversed in simple English and Japanese > he was much more comfortable to converse in Japanese as he had stayed in Japan for few months for his industrial attachment. The 5 who were ahead of us would make regular stops and even offered me water. Was told that they couldn’t converse in English so they speed ahead to avoid talking to me. (@_@)lll This group of students were from Seoul and they rented an apartment in Gyeongju with intention to hike Namsam. They would be back to hike another side of Namsam the next day! We finished the descend around 1630hrs. I am really thankful for their help, can’t think what would happened if I didn’t found them, but I totally forget to take photos with them and didn’t even asked for their names.
Was really hungry and tired, so am really happy to see Bus No. 500 [Bus fare ₩1,200] arrived at the bus-stop at 1635hrs. Took the bus back to Sa Rang Chae and went back to the same eatery where I had my kimbab the day before, ordered Ramyeon (라면) for my Tunch and treated myself to a free instant coffee from the eatery, before heading back to Sa Rang Chae to rest for the day. I think I would still want to do another hike in Namsam but this time, I would definitely be more prepared, and most probably, would try to get someone else to go with me. Back in the guesthouse, David, an retiree american, treated me to their rice wine bought in Seoul and Italian White Wine which they brought all the way from USA. The 4 of them were enjoying long holiday, they had been in Seoul for the past week, leaving for Busan the next day while their wives will be flying off to Beijing via Busan airport, while they stayed on in Busan for few more days before joining their wives in Beijing and flew back to US together. Envied their willingness to try new things / new places at their age and at the same time, taking time to enjoy life. I was also able to further introduced the same eatery to an Israelis couple, as they had just arrived in Sa Rang Chae and were trying to settle their dinner. Tomorrow will be my last day in Gyeongju before taking the express bus in the afternoon to Seoul…
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Just remember that I had forgot to mention… Upon my arrival in Sa Rang Chae on 23 September night, the 2 girls (Candy & Choco) were quick to welcome me, while Choo immediately show me my room and orientate me with the common area. They didn’t ask for my payment at all. In fact, I had to ‘sort of’ remind them that ‘tonight is my last night staying in Sa Rang Chae, can I do my payment now?’ (^_^)
I think their first priority is to make all their guests feels homely in their guesthouse, afterall Sa Rang Chae was a 120 years old house, and just converted to be a guesthouse for approx. 14 years. Why I said that?! Because there was this Australian girl who arrived / checked in this morning, she went out to explore Gyeongju and came back in the late afternoon and checked out, we chatted abit and she told me she found another wonderful place to stay (didn’t mention where though) instead. Personally, I am glad that she is able to find another wonderful accommodation but on the other hand, I feel that Sa Rang Chae is at an disadvantage, they never asked for deposit, and they also didn’t ask the girl to pay any compensation (the room is now empty when it could have rented out to another guest). Anyway, I really enjoyed staying in Sa Rang Chae.
usaginotabi 