I’ve lived here in Gyeongju going on about 5 years now and I love this place. Maybe it doesn’t have the music scene, night life or contemporary culture of the big cities like Seoul or Busan, but it’s got a lot of fascinating history and traditional Korean culture that make it a really cool place to explore.

Over the years, I’ve noticed is that a lot of the English tourist info on Gyeongju only really focuses on the big tourist sites: Bulguksa Temple, Seokguram Grotto, Anapji pond, etc. Sure these places are all well worth checking out, but you could knock them all out in a day or two or of sight-seeing.  As they say, Gyeongju really is an “museum with out walls.” There really is enough stuff around here to keep you busy for a week or more, especially if you’re into hiking or biking. The problem is just knowing where to go.

I’ve started this blog to try and shed some light on interesting things around Gyeongju that the guidebooks and tourism websites might’ve breezed over or missed: ancient relics, hidden temples, hiking and cycling routes, etc. And just so it doesn’t get too boring, I’m keeping things mixed up with local restaurant reviews, website and book reviews related to Korean culture, plus an occasional local legend or myth now and then. 

That said, you won’t find on here any of my humble musings on K-pop, swine flu or the ethics of eating dog soup. There are enough witty commentators on contemporary Korean culture out there in the blog-o-shpere already, so I don’t really feel the need to put my 2 cents in. If you’re itching for more Korea-related blogs to read, feel free to check out my “blog roll” and website reviews.

As this blog’s really more about Gyeongju than bout me,over the next couple of months I’m hoping to turn it into more of a community thing with posts and articles from other expats in the area. If you live around Gyeongju and you’ve just done a temple stay, eaten in a good restaurant or climbed a mountain and want to write about it, please let me know. Just give me a shout in the comments sections below or by email (ivgotamouse -at- yahoo.com) with an idea of what you’d like to write about and we’ll see what happens.

Thanks for reading.

Sherwin ;->

Drinking tea

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