Gongju is about an hour from
Daejeon by bus, and it a big part in Korean history, since it was once the capital of
Beakje. So, I decided to check some things out.
Woke up early, to get the 9:05 bus from my town to Jangseong station, and got Mugungwha to Seadeajeon station, then walked to the West bus terminal (40 - 50 min walk, depending on your speed, and if you take the long way when looking for it *^^*), and got the bus to Gongju, arriving at about 2:50pm.
walked from the terminal, and across the bridge, to get to the information centre at Gongsanseong (공산성).
The woman that helped me, even though she was chatty, was helpful, and gave me a map of Gongju (I'll whinge about the map later *^^*), and then paid my 1,200 won entry fee for Gongsanseong. This place is huge - way bigger than Jinjuseong (진주성) in Jinju.
The most peaceful place was the temple.
I didn't go in, I just sat outside for a while. A nice breeze was blowing, so it was good to cool down for a moment.
I then got to the observation post, the highest point in Gongsanseong.
Some of the artwork in the pagodas can be pretty colourful.
I then walked around to the entrance again, and sat down near a place that was offering free iced water...
...and a girl that worked there started talking to me (she noticed my cool blue and yellow nike boots *^^*). She works there on the weekend for a part time job, doing the hourly announcements for the changing of the guards thing. They get 30,000won a day for that, but it's pretty easy (and boring). They just stand there, with the uniform on, and every hour, rotate around. Was interesting to see.
After she came back from announcing the changing of the guards, she suggested to have a photo taken with the "general" with the fake facial hair (that comes with the costume) that doesn't look all that good close up *^^* None the less, it was cool. And the general spoke pretty good English as well :p
It was getting close to closing time for Gongsanseong, so I decided to walk into town, and find a cool PC room to cool off. After using that for an hour, I went to get some dinner, and found one of the restaurants recommended in the Lonely Planet guide book, 명성불고기 (Myeongseong Bulgogi), and had a huge serving of Bulgogi, with awesome side dishes. The 아줌아들 working there had a good laugh when I asked for 매운고추 and 쌈장, and had the usual conversation I have with restaurant staff (which consists of "but, the peppers are really spicy"... "it's okay, i eat them all the time"... then it gets to the "where do you come from?/ where do you live?/ how long have you been in korea?"), which I don't mind when I'm in tourist mode for a weekend away.
I didn't want to waste anything, so I ate all the Bulgogi (only 8,000 won! so cheap!), paid for my meal, said 잘 멋었습니다, and walked further up the street, checking out the available accommodation. Ended up walking around the main downtown area, then down to where city hall is, and then back up on the other side of downtown, and back up parallel to Gongsanseong. I thought about staying in a 찜질방, but felt like some privacy, so found a clean and cheap small hotel (25,000 won), and pretty much crashed as soon as I hit the bed.
Woke up at 7am, but got distracted by Starship Troopers on the TV, and didn't leave the hotel until about 9:20am. I am not happy with some places making maps, that are not simple 2d drawings with lines. I am a man! When it comes to directions, I want something accurate, and to scale, to get an idea of distance, etc. None of these maps that are, basically, a drawn picture, with a bit of perspective to make it look like you're looking from south, up to north. grrrr...
Anyway, I made it to 무령왕릉, which has another Information centre, and I hear a "hi!" - it was the same woman that helped me at the Information centre on Saturday afternoon, so I asked about the map, where the hell I was, and how to get to the museum. After getting that sorted, I checked out 무령왕릉 - the burial site of King Muryeong, which was found accidently in the mid 20th century, when archeologists were checking out other burial sites.
You can also check out replica burial chambers at the park.
The real burial chambers.
After 무령왕릉, I walked to Gongju National Museum (great weather again today, actually better than yesterday), which has more artefacts/replicas/English explanations of the history and what happened during the Baekje era.
On the way back, I took a quick photo of the 장문 of a temple next to the museum...
... and the 근강유황온천 (a public bath - i worked up a sweat walking around all morning! like i said, great weather).
Felt good after a decent wash, and a soak in various baths (the 45 degree one was too hot, but the 35 degree, 40 degree and green tea baths were pretty good), i was hungry, so decided to check out a restaurant that I saw the night before, and get a feed.
Had a very good and filling meal here. There's one thing on the menu, that some (or many) people won't agree with me eating (but that is their problem, not mine), but just for their sake, I won't mention what I ate :p
The traditional markets were a bit quiet today, so didn't look around too much.
I walked back over the bridge, got to the bus terminal, and then got a bus to the West Daejeon terminal, walked to Seodaejeon station, and got the next train back to Jangseong, then the local bus to my apartment. Left Gongju at 2:30pm. Arrived at the West Daejeon terminal at 3:30pm. Walked to Seodaejeon station (40 minutes), and got a ticket for the 4:30 train (and arrived in Jangseong at 6:40), and got the 7pm bus back to my apartment (arriving home at 7:25pm.
Have to do this tourist thing more often. It can be such a drag being in the same place all the time *^^*
Gongju - thanks for the great weekend *^^*
