Gyeongju is Korea

Leaving Deagu was fun! Yes, it was riding through a big city, but in most places you can safely cycle on the pedestrian walkways, and even if not it's still fine to cycle (traffic was also not too heavy in our direction, heading out of town in the morning). What made us like it too, was the fact that we had been riding on bicycle paths all the while, and now we were "in the real world" again... Having said that, after about 10km in the real world, we were also very happy to be back on bicycle paradise and ride 40km on beautiful, quiet and safe bicycle trails! The wind was on our side, giving us a push in the back, and so we made very good progress - so we granted ourselves a long picnic plus coffee break around lunch.

Leaving Deagu, this time from a guesthouse in the middle of the city, with a well loaded bike!

Another great example of this super pleasant bike trail

Relaxing in the afternoon sun for a while

After 50km it was the end of the bicycle lanes, and we went onto a "normal" Korean road - for the first time basically. In the beginning it was still a rather big road, but thanks to little traffic it was very feasible. After a while we turned into a more regional road (904), and it became a very beautiful ride! In a way, we had missed this, riding on normal roads, through villages, observing life as it is, and were really happy with it. Furthermore, it was a good road and a bit hilly, making for some cycling fun, going through a beautiful area (and yes, with excellent weather again). For sure, the nicest day on the bike in Korea so far!

On a downhill, rolling into Gyeongju town

Gyeongju town at dusk; a very pleasant town!

By late afternoon, after 91 nice km, we arrived in Gyeongju, a historical city that prides itself with a suitable slogan "Gyeongju is Korea". Suitable, I guess, because it has a lot of historical buildings and culture related to the old Korea... We checked in for 2 nights to a very nice guesthouse, Momojein. So that makes 3 consecutive nights in a guesthouse instead of camping; we'll have to compensate for that 😁

Spring is in the air! With a tumulus (tomb) in the background

Tumuli, centuries old royal tombs

Part of an old mansion

And a traditional Korean house

Being in this place, we used our day to explore the historical places. First of all, this place is full of tombs (burial mounts, called tumuli), which are impressive to see and they're all over the place. There are also many temples, palaces, monuments and old houses scattered around the town. Gyeongju has become one of the major Korean tourist destinations thanks to all these historical structures, several of which are world heritage sites. It definitely made this an interesting day exploring the surroundings. There is much more around the town, 10 to 20km further, and some of that we might be able to visit on our way to the coast tomorrow...