Busan, 2022 (Day 9)

We began the day with some gimbap and broth for breakfast, meeting the tour bus for our all day, rescheduled tour of Gyeongju around midmorning.

As my first full meal since being ill, I kept it simple with the egg variety. I need to take notes from the rolls we had: thin rice! Abundant filling! Barely closing! Great breakfast.

Our first stop was Gameunsa Temple, where there were several shrines to different incarnations the Buddha. Early in the day, it was pretty cold; the landscape was filled with beautiful trees over frozen ponds and streams.

After the temple, we had a lunch break at Hwangniwang-gil, a famous tourist street for cafes. We ate a real meal, I promise, before sharing this puff pastry with cream and sucraneige (“sugar” made of dextrose that isn’t affected by moisture.) It was about five inches tall and blew everywhere. In a word: intense. But, not too sweet.

My favorite part of the tour was next: visiting the Silla tombs at Daewang-am. The tombs rise from the otherwise flat landscape, prompting many to ask: what are those hills?

We also visited the site of the former village and a bridge, reconstructed from historical records. By the time we arrived at the site of the former palace, it was dark and freezing cold. We walked around the semi-frozen pond before bundling abord the tour bus and heading back to our hotel.

I cheered the end of the night in with some potent liquor, designated an intangible cultural treasure, before turning in. Tomorrow, train to Seoul for my last full day in South Korea!