Foreigner Falls In Love With This Korean Town (#43)
good morning from a beautiful and wonderful feeling day here in Gyeongju I uh just got done with my sauna check this one out this one is huge and there's actually two of them and so nice place it's very similar to the one in Hwacheon in that they don't have a bath or like a jacuzzi or like a big bathroom area to soak which I really like they just have a shower room and so they kind of focus on the whole jjimjilbang sauna experience and so you're a little disappointed when you get your clothes and you go in the locker room and you're like, oh, it's just a shower dang it I want to soak in some hot water I'm all packed up and ready to go something happened to my flag and uh I don't know what to make of it and so I come out here this morning to grab a change of clothes and I look on my uh my bike here and my Korean flag was like stuffed right here and so it's broken off right here the stick and so last night I've looked at the the last video I took and it's flying and it's parked right here and so I don't know if one of the dogs maybe saw it and saw it waving in the air and grabbed it and then maybe somebody saw like oh no and then put it back for me or maybe somebody snapped it I don't know the stick is gone and everything but it was uh yeah like I said it was just stuffed like right in here and the stick is broken I don't know what to make of it I don't know I really don't know so I guess I'll just have to get a new one hey did one of you get my flag? huh did one of you take my flag they're even selling some Balenciaga all right they were cooking up something good in there but they did not offer any dang it oh well I'm going to ride into town and stop at a nice cafe or something and get some breakfast so when I was riding out this way last night it just looks like such a beautiful town every building is built in the old traditional style way and so I'm excited to see it during the day so let's head that way so this is interesting so I'm just heading back into town because the jjimjilbang was about a good 30 minutes away from the center of town so I'm just going back and I passed by these statues here looks like it would be a monument or some sort of memorial but there's no signs and they kind of look like uh I don't know were they discarded? were they not used I don't know there's a few other statues over here that aren't in the greatest condition missing arms and whatnot but clearly Korean War memorials uh statues I mean guy's holding a Korean flag there let's go have a closer look that one's interesting, this dude's butt naked and talking on the phone. okay looks like he would be holding maybe a flag or something at some point um yeah this guy talking on the phone butt naked interesting but it looks like it's just the entrance of somebody's house and uh did they make them? I don't know I just want to have a look at this one real quick and then I'll get out of their way this one over here any idea who that would be? he's holding the book wearing a suit interesting but they're just uh you know in this person's garden here I don't want to get too close there's a statue over there of two people holding each other in their arms see if I can yeah what are these doing here it's very interesting but anyways quick little pit stop but it looks like it is okay it's pretty crazy looking they're just freaking huge mounds just big hills in the middle of a park and they probably date I don't know four five 600 years old uh this one has I think four huge mounds uh so I was reading a sign on the way over here that talks about these four or five mounds right here and of course they were built during the Silla period it's crazy the Silla Kingdom lasted from 35 BCE uh something like 935 CE and so almost a thousand years that's crazy that is a long time and they unified the country in like 635 and so for a good two or 300 years, they controlled the entire Peninsula before that there were two other kingdoms that fought for supremacy anyways but these I was reading were excavated by the Japanese in 1906 is what the sign said and so that was one year after Japan pretty much gained full influence and full control over the Korean Peninsula that was a year after the Sino-Russian war that was in 1905 these were excavated in 1906 were the Japanese over here and did they want to see what is in there for historical purposes or were they looting it in a way where they like, hmm, there's a big mound right here a big hill let's see what's inside of it and uh maybe there's something of value that we can take yeah that's crazy I was just reading it says uh the fifth King of the Silla Dynasty built a Royal Palace here in 101 AD and named it Woseong it served as the D Central Royal Palace until its fall in 935 AD so for 834 years the palace was here that's crazy that is like three times the age of the United States wow makes you wonder what did it look like what were the rooms like how was the decorated who walked through the halls who stayed there crazy what is this you definitely don't want to be staying over here though is this the dungeon it's kind of hard to tell but we're basically up on a hill right here and so that's why they said the palace was built up here you had a vantage point so there's a little bench over here that I want to come check out and it should give us a nice view of the town yeah super windy hope you can hear me all right all right so this is what we're going to do uh one of my subscribers reached out to me and said hey I have a coffee shop and small hotel in Gyeongju he says you're welcome to come by and stay so I'm going to go check it out say hello and uh yeah get some tips on what to do and uh see around here you know especially when it comes to the food so heading there now all right so this is it but uh they're not here right now they stepped out to get some lunch and so that's what I'll do too so let's go get a bite to eat all right so this is what the owner of the hotel recommended got a full parking lot which means it's probably pretty good let's go give it a try mhm look at that piping hot, boiling over, just how I like it you got some hot pepper some onions kimchi it's going to be good def going to be good we have I'm guessing pork ribs some glass noodles some cabbage hopefully it's not too noisy they are cleaning dishes back there it's going to be hot doesn't that look good super tender nice and soft exactly what I needed this is going to be a good one yeah this place is super nice it's really really nice it smells brand new because I think it is it's hasn't been open long but I really enjoy it it's uh pretty fancy just like everything else in Gyeongju so far and how's the bathroom look? nice walk-in shower yep two beds one too many It looks like you get a nice patio out here to yourself how cool was that yeah and so I guess he gave me the suite too so there's two other rooms right here but they don't have this big balcony out here that was really nice of them um I'm not sure what's going on up there down here you have the cafe and he says he's about two weeks from opening up(opens December 1st) and so not quite open yet but uh super nice place all righty it is time for dinner and my new friend my host he has taking me to this place he says it's super famous here says since 1970 so been here a while and uh it's packed it smells freaking delicious and uh should be some good beef look at that this is kalbi? my favorite I love this first one I'm just going to try plain Juicy kind of fatty lettuce garlic I can do it I can do the raw garlic yeah my favorite in Korea man this is it right here and Jay over here he's cooking it perfectly thank you for doing all the cooking no problem I feel so bad, I'm just eating he keeps putting it in front of me and I'm just like thank you for doing all the work look at that might be the best barbecue I've had in Korea man it's so good it's hard to beat this thank you thank you that was legit maybe some of the best Korean barbecues I think I've ever had so day two in Gyeongju I just went to this Museum right here and I have to say it was pretty cool I learned a lot and I've learned a lot from Jay my host uh that's uh let me stay at his hotel it's pretty cool, Gyeongju, uh this town has definitely grown on me I didn't realize I'd like it this much you were right there's a lot of history here uh but this kind of history to me never is as interesting as more modern history and so but it's been pretty cool learning about this place like for example this right here is just one huge excavation site and so back in 553, I just learned all this in there, it's pretty incredible, there used to be a nine-story pagoda that sat right in the middle of this huge area right here and it stood for 700-plus years until the Mongols came in like 1225 or something and burned it down it's terrible terrible it burnt the whole thing to the ground burnt most of the stuff around this area to the ground and it wasn't until like 1776(1976 actually) that they started actually digging up stuff and excavating the area and so there's a lot to I think to find a lot of artifacts and whatnot and so this Museum right here kind of goes into detail about the whole area and uh it's really cool they have a replica pagoda inside there it was the largest temple in, I keep saying pagoda, maybe it was a temple, pagoda, uh maybe they're both but it was the largest temple in all of Korea it's pretty uh fun to imagine they have a really cool 3D presentation in there a little like a 10minute movie or so from what I understand they're trying to essentially rebuild the old Silla kingdom here it might take 10 20 30 years but I think that's the plan they're going to rebuild that nine-story pagoda right here anyways from here I'm just going to head back to my hotel and chill out and then tomorrow we'll get back out alrighty so I'm doing it again uh I am about to leave this amazing place that I've stayed at for the last couple nights the owners are incredible they've taken such wonderful care of me showed me around the city let me stay here again I want to return the favor and so what I'm going to do is I'm going to purchase, I think I did 11 one two three yeah 11 drinks or coffees or whatever uh for you guys for free um just come here if you're in Gyeongju and you want a free drink come here and uh claim your free drink also what I want to do since they let me stay here, they wouldn't take my money. I'm going to purchase one night for you guys and so, but I'm only going to make it accessible to members of my channel and so what I'm going to do whenever this video airs, uh you have 24 hours to sign up to be a member of my channel and the cheapest(membership) one is like $2 a month and you can cancel any time so if you would like to uh join the raffle drawing for the free stay here in Gyeongju and stay here for free then sign up to be a member uh I'll give you 24 hours from the time that this video drops and then what I'll do I think I'll uh I'll do like a Members Only video or a Members Only Live you know I'll give everyone a number and uh draw the winner and so that's what I'm going to do and so I'm about to get out of here uh and maybe see a little bit of Gyeongju and then I'm going to go climb a mountain Namsan mountain I think it is and then get on out of here so all righty so before before we go to Busan or Yangsan or wherever I end up today we're going to go for a little hike and we're going to go climb Namsan shouldn't be too bad it's only like 5K 2 hours and so let's do it let's uh put the bike somewhere and uh grab some drinks I got a kimbap let's go for a stroll all righty so I'm just about all set there's a few signs here warning you about the uh the wild boars up in the mountain and I just translated this one here and actually it says the African swine fever disinfection platform to prevent spread and we're off one thing you'll notice about Kore one thing I noticed is that they love the straw woven mats these uh it's like a bunch of rope that has been tied together and they lay them just about everywhere they don't want you to slip and so I haven't seen these in any other country before but they love them here in Korea just a random observation for you and so it makes the the walk and hike a lot more comfortable and easy and there you go, got some more mounds over there too I'm sure this whole area is covered in those small little mounds, those hills it just makes you wonder what's inside of them and maybe there just wasn't much in there cause if there were treasures and things of value found in the tombs I'm sure all of them would have been raided is what I would imagine here we go now this feels like hiking all right so here's the first one there's a sign way down there that just pretty much just says this was carved during the Silla period between like 600 and 900 doesn't say for sure and uh that one got its head chopped off oh wow this water feels good it is nice and chilly what a beautiful spot getting kind of winded here getting kind of steep the higher and higher you go woo the first main lookout point look at that that ain't too bad I think the jjimjilbang is like right over there yeah I can see the two uh the two cones from the sauna over there but in this area right here you're not allowed to build anything high up everything's got to be low and everything has to look like the Silla Kingdom all the architecture pretty cool, mountains are beautiful and just imagine how cool this view would be when the Silla kingdom was in its prime and you had that nine-story pagoda sitting right over there and all the buildings what a sight what a sight so I think this is good enough for me I had a nice lookout point and uh it looks like the trail kind of wraps around you can go all different ways but I think that's good enough and I got some lunch here got a nice kimbap and I got some chocolate, so thank you Jay, for lunch, what a view what a place to have lunch all righty finished navigation 3.91 km says it took just an hour and 10 minutes I don't think that's right maybe an hour and 10 minutes of moving feels a lot longer than that but uh made it back down here I guess when you get back you're supposed to clean your shoes off again hi hi nice to meet you nice to meet you hi no no no no no nice to meet you nice to meet you you're very famous and we have tried sh what is it come put on the Silla Dynasty King's clothes okay. it's free do you want to try it? okay sure yeah we'll see not sure, oh the traditional clothing okay so you can try okay. I'm kind of sweaty. it's okay it's okay, no problem all right I get to play dress up real quick all right wow you look so good wow look at that such a king I'm the king now, the Silla King I like it shall I take picture for you? please do let's get a picture yeah let's go outside now how many people get greeted like that when they come down the mountain probably not many that was awesome all right from here we're going to Yangsan uhhuh this is the kind of barbecue you would find in Texas been eating lots of Korean barbecue, but not not not campfire Korean bbq
2024-11-23 18:48
