Monet's Poppy Field and more

Good evening from Gyeongju! Today, I took the KTX high-speed train and traveled 2.5 hours through rice fields and greenhouses in the south. Gyeongju (pronounced Gjonng-dschu) was the capital of the Silla Kingdom and many of the historical sites here are recognized as UNESCO World Heritage sites.

Fun Fact: Gyeongju is beautifully nestled in the foothills of the Taebaek Mountains, which stretch along the entire east coast. Surrounded by lush green hills, it feels like time has passed a little slower in this small town compared to Seoul. And yes, it really is a small town: it has fewer inhabitants than Bielefeld, Germany. 🙂

You're probably wondering what this Silla Kingdom is all about, right? That's why I've prepared a brief summary for you.

Similar to Germany, Korea was once composed of many small kingdoms before becoming a unified empire and later being occupied by Japan. From the 1st century BC to the 7th century AD, the Three Kingdoms of Korea emerged: Goguryeo, Baekje, and Silla.

Goguryeo stretched from present-day Seoul to Northern Korea and even into Manchuria. Baekje was located in the southwest and Silla in the southeast.

At some point, Silla wanted to expand and sought China as an ally. This led to the formation of the "Unified Silla" and a flourishing period of culture. In the 10th century, Gyeongju, the capital of the Silla Kingdom, became a wealthy city with millions of inhabitants and one of the major metropolises in Asia. Some buildings and tombs of the Silla Dynasty can still be seen in Gyeongju today.

So, I arrived in Gyeongju after a very adventurous bus ride from the train station to the city center. My 20kg suitcase was sliding around in the corners, tossing me back and forth. From the bus stop, it was a 10-minute walk to the Airbnb. But it was so warm, and my suitcase was so heavy that it felt more like 40 minutes... (Yes, I know, my own fault. Bought too many stickers.)

I have to thank Past-Nina for finding such a lovely accommodation. It's a beautiful old house with a charming garden. I'm staying here with a very nice host couple and have a small room with a private bathroom. Tomorrow morning, I'll even have breakfast, which I completely forgot about! 😀

After changing clothes, I went out because, as you can guess, I hadn't eaten anything yet, it was already 3 pm, and it was about time. On the way to the general direction of "Royal Tombs/there might be something interesting there," I passed by a café that looked nice and treated myself to a little snack.

With my energy restored, I continued my journey, following the motto: "Oh, that place looks nice, let's go there." Gyeongju is small enough that you can wander around without getting lost. Maybe that's why it truly felt like a vacation today, and I went into tourist mode, taking tons of pictures.

I saw the burial mounds, the oldest surviving observatory in East Asia (Cheomseongdae - a weather forecast from 600 AD), the Woljeonggyo Bridge, a beautiful field of poppies, hand-painted roof tiles, and a motivation potato. There were small shops and the "food street" of the city, cats, lions, dogs, and a free-roaming herd of Chinese tourists taking pictures.

I bought a felt spring onion, a cute ring, and possibly more stickers (they were Gyeongju stickers, guys, I needed them for my travel journal!! - and besides, if you knew how much I didn't buy, you would be quite proud of my restraint! 😂).

I dropped my phone, and now I have a cracked screen for the very first time in my life, and I'm devastated! 😞 To console myself, I had a delicious dinner.

Back at the accommodation. Good night!