16 August, Rivertain Hotel, Gyeongju

Off on the local bus early this morning for Andong station for the train to Sin-Gyeongju, the new KTX station outside Gyeongju. The KTX didn’t have a train at a suitable time for us, so we caught the Mugunghwa 1601. Even for a less than two hour trip such as ours today, the Mungunghwa, which is the lowest level of Korail trains, was fine. Flying along at speeds up to 150kms/hr with comfortable seats and plenty of legroom, even at this low end of the Korean network, this is not too bad at all. To top it off, the fare was about AUD$9 each.

Bumped into an Italian family at the hotel, then the bus stop and again at the station. They are travelling independently with two small boys, about 6 and 4 and twin girls about 2. The parents each had a twin in a backpack carrier, there was a twin stroller, a large suitcase, a small suitcase and two soft bags. Have to admire them!

Sin-Gyeongju is about 15 minutes from Gyeongju, probably a little longer if your bus driver is Stirling Moss reincarnated. By 12:30pm we were at our hotel, but unable to get into our room, so we elected to wander about town to kill a few hours. Not so good a call. It was 30ish degrees and very humid, but at least we now have the lay of the land.