Gyeongju, just for the day

All photos, bar one, taken with Pentax SP 500 and UltraMax 400.

So, a few weeks ago my friends I headed to Gyeongju for a quick Saturday day trip. I say “quick” but the only thing quick about it was the succession of travel related…incidents. Firstly, none of us paid attention to the constant announcements of delayed trains at the station. So when a train pulled up to the platform we were waiting on…we got on. We very quickly realized the error in our ways as we messaged back and forth (we had to split into two groups because of social distancing measures) and fortunately the train attendants were kind enough not to kick us off the speeding train. We managed to change trains at the next station (Dongdaegu) and all was calm for the time being.

The weather in Daejeon had gotten milder that week and we were quite excited for the first signs of spring so, of course, none of us were prepared for the icy mountain wind when we arrived in Gyeongju. Waiting for the bus (which comes every hour) was pretty unpleasant so we opted for two taxis. Off to a Hanok café we went. The café was stunning - apparently the dark features are more of a Japanese feature than Korean but it still made for a lovely breakfast spot. And, as we were getting ready to leave, the first drops of rain started falling. We decided to chance it - “it looks like a light drizzle”. T’was not a drizzle.

As we walked to the Gyeongju Observatory tower, the wind picked up and the three umbrellas we had between the six of us proved to be quite worthless. Angled liked shields against the assault of piercing rain and wind, we managed to take one or two photos before giving up. I suggested we head to toward the museum - it would at least offer a dry place to wait out the worst of it. By the time we got to the museum, the chatter had died down and we shivered as we made our way through the displays of Korean history. Once we dried out and warmed up a bit, the museum turned out to be very interesting and I would definitely like to go back to pour over some of the displays they have set up.

The entire idea of Gyeongju had come up because a) my coteacher’s husband lives there and she has recommended a visit since I arrived in 2019 and b) I found an Instagram post about a delicious-looking pizza at a restaurant there, instantly obsessed. The restaurant has a partnership with the place I sometimes get my film developed at in Seoul, Filmlog. And a lot of their social media is film related. Pizza, film…what more could I want?! So, after the museum we finally made our way to Domi.

The restaurant is currently undergoing a renovation so it will look quite different when I visit again next time, but when we went it was a cozy family-run business in the heart of Gyeongju. I loved the vibe and could.not.stop.photographing! I had just gotten my Rolleicord and was still testing it out so almost all the shots came out blurry but one or two were keepers. After letting the chef-cum-photographer play around with my TRL, he gifted me with a roll of expired Tri-X and when I know I have the hang of 120 film, I’ll give it a shot. Photography pun intended.

Rolleicord, Lomography CN 400

After the food, we were all quite knackered and the wind had picked up again so we spent some time in a very cute café drinking hot chocolate. Until one of my friends spilled his coffee and I nearly broke the antique table. We decided it was time to throw in the towel (almost literally) and that it was time to make our way back home. We split up for the taxis again - the first group getting to the station 10 minutes before my group. We managed to get stuck in a traffic jam because a car had swerved in front of an oil tanker. Luckily it seemed that no one got hurt! Eventually we made it back to Daejeon - just in time for me to miss my bus home.

It definitely wasn’t one of my worst travel days but it isn’t high on the list either. I am very keen to go back sans rain storm and explore more of the outdoor historical sites. Also shakshuka and film. The highlight of the day for me!