IT WOULD HAVE BEEN CHEAPER TO TAKE the Busan Metro to the Sasang Bus Station but a taxi was less hassle. Besides, we are millionaires in Korea! Surprisingly few Koreans feel comfortable speaking English and we’re still struggling with gamsahabnida, Korean for “thank you” which is pronounced more like “kamsahnida.” So when the woman at the bus station gave me tickets for Jeongyu instead of Gyeongju—even though I had spelled it out in my neatest block letters—I hardly gave it a second thought. Luckily Connie caught the mistake or we would have been 150 miles from where we wanted to be!
Palace Hotel, Gyeongju—better on the inside
Finally on the right bus we arrived at Palace Hotel in Gyeongju around noon, only to learn check-in isn’t until 5:00—no exceptions! So we dumped our wheelies, secured the laptops and valuables in a locker and found a taxi to take us to Yangdong Folk Village, a UNESCO World Heritage Site outside of Gyeongju—quite a bit outside as it turns out. I watched the fare increase, not knowing how much farther we had to go but very aware of how many won were in my wallet and wondering if we’d have to hitch a ride back to Gyeongju. When we finally arrived at Yangdong the gate guard indicated by smiling and pointing that we could get a bus back to Gyeongju. Whew
Yangdong Historic Village World Heritage Site
Models of the traditional houses without 21st Century distractions
Model of Songcheom Head Family House
The Real Deal—Songcheom Head Family House (without family Hyundai)
Yangdong is a “traditional yanban village from the Josean Dynasty,” which translates as where the Korean aristocracy lived in the mid-1400s. If you have the time and the interest, you can read the minutiae of the provenance of the buildings, the clans that occupied them and even see models of individual houses as you enter the site. I could only match one of the models—Songcheom Head Family House—with photos I took of the real thing.
Looking up at Yangdong Village
Traditional "yanban" aristocrat's home
Try to imagine living here
More than 150 buildings—some with tile roofs, others are thatch—are scattered up the forested hillside. The thatch roofs are nothing like those in Europe or even what we’ve seen in Japan. The tile roofs with all of their intersecting angles, on the other hand, are mesmerizing. It’s impossible for us to tell how old the houses are but the age of some of the trees hint at their authenticity.
Some houses have Thatch Roofs
Tangle of Angles—Tile roof homes
Gnarled Cypress tree bears witness to the age of Yangdong
Most of the homes are still inhabited and cluttered the detritus of modern life—trash bins, bicycles, satellite dishes, drying laundry and bright red fire-extinguishers. These ancient wooden buildings must be an insurance underwriters nightmare! Paved roads lead to many of the homes while others are accessed by narrow trails. Some of the trails are made of woven rope, which must be a godsend during the rainy months.
Attention to detail but still a potential fire trap
Follow the Woven-rope Trail
Spring adds a bit of color to the scene
Unless one is an expert with Photoshop—which I am not—taking decent pictures requires working around Hyundais, KIAs and the occasional Range Rover to frame an interesting shot but the flowering azaleas, redbuds and cherry trees make it all worth while.
Last stop—Gyenongju Market
After a couple of hours strolling around Yangdong, Bus #203 dropped us off right at the Gyeonngju market. Now to find an ATM that accepts global cards.
