Going to the guest house.

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Going to the guest house. Nowadays, one of the trendiest ways of traveling among the university students is traveling by <Rail Ro> ticket. Many young travelers visit Gyeongju by <Rail Ro> ticket which is issued during summer and winter season, and the same period with summer and winter holiday. Every time I meet young traveling groups on my field trip to explore historic sites, I hear many of them saying that they came to Gyeongju by <Rail Ro> ticket.  Lodging charge is also a lot for young travelers with shoestring budget. That is why the guest house is attractive to them as one can stay one night in approximately 20,000won. It is not only attractive to young travelers but to families who travel as well, as it has family rooms too.  This time, I went to three guest houses near Daeneungwon, or Tumuli Park, and Dongbu   Historic Site. These guest houses all have good connection to the Historic sites and also each of them has their own attraction. Should we go inside the guest house where a traveler can stopover? 1) First visit,  there are reasons for being loved for such a long time. Sa Rang Chae Guest house Address: 238-1 Hwangnam-dong Gyeongju-si Gyeongbuk Phone: 054-773-4868 The First Guest House Sa Rang Chae is the first guest house. Was it the first one in Gyeongju? No, It was the first guest house ever in Korea. Mr. Chu Jeong Won, the owner of Sa Rang Chae, opened the first guest house in Bomun-dong, near Silla seond eogyeowang neung (Royal Tomb of Queen Seondeok of Silla). That was already 18 years ago. At that time, the concept of dormitory-style guest house was fairly new. In that sense, we could say that he is the pioneer of the guest house. J As I step into the Sa Rang Chae which resembles its owner´s dignity and experience, the square-shaped Korean traditional house catch my eyes. Specifically, there are many travelers in Sa Rang Chae coming from abroad. When I went to the communal kitchen and living room to have a tea with Mr. An, he was talking over the phone using English fluently as he was taking a reservation. Wooden furniture which bears the marks of time and living were outstanding in the room. Sa Rang Chae surely has a long history, I thought again. “Mr. Ann, how long has this house been?” “According to the certified copy of register, it has been here for 120 years but some people say its 150 years.” Sa Rang Chae survived all those times and now standing straight with pride. Suddenly, Sa Rang Chae even looked more beautiful. It must have been this tranquil and peaceful beauty that attracted many foreign travelers. There are toast, butter and marmalade available in the communal kitchen. You can have some green tea or coffee as well. There are even places where you can store your luggage. Facing the house from the main entrance, the right building is the family room. The price of the family room is affordable as well. It is 40,000 to 50,000 won for 4 people! Compared to the dormitory-style rooms where you have to share the toilet and bathroom, you even have your own bathroom in the room. While explaining the family room, Mr. An said that the ringing never stops on the phone because of the reservation calls. He asked to call after 3pm for questions or reservation as he needs time to clean and manage the house. Introducing Choko, Korean Natural Monument from Sa Rang Chae. 01 | Choko, Korean Natural Monument 02 | Candy, daughter of Choko I introduce the main attraction of Sa Rang Chae, Choko. Choko is a Korean native dog, designated as Korean Natural Monument number 368. Next to Choko is Candy, a five-month-old daughter of Choko. Candy is such a sweet cutie as she like people, but she hates pigeons. Whenever the pigeon appears in the yard of Sa Rang Chae, she barks like crazy. There is a door on one side of the courtyard, which leads to the separate building. There is a table made of stone in the garden of this building. It was a place where I wish to have a cup of tea in a sunny day. I leave Sa Rang Chae through the side door which I personally liked more than the main door. It was not easy to leave Sa Rang Chae as I wanted to stay more in this beautiful place. Now I walk by the stone wall behind the Daeneungwon, or Tumuli Park. 2) Second visit. What a pleasant house!! -Luckyone Guest House Address : 214-2 Hwangnam-dong Gyeongju-si Gyeongbuk Phone : 054-744-6295 Ideal for family travelers. Luckyone is ten minutes away from Daeneungwon, or Tumuli Park, and Dongbu Historic Site by foot. Luckyone, pleasant and joyful house, does not have any dormitory room and all rooms are single room. Rooms range from small room(for two people) to bigger rooms(for four people or more).  As a guest house, the attraction of Luckyone is its quietness as a place for an individual. For this reason, it is ideal for family travelers. Also, each room has separate bathroom and the kitchens are just communal. Another attraction of Luckyone is the beautiful garden. I could see that the couple owner have worked hard on it. Isn´t the room painted with the red clay looks healthy? The owner introduces us into the room for four people. It was a room ready for four ladies coming from Seoul by Rail Ro ticket. Seeing the view of the garden from the room, I wanted to go out to the beautiful garden right away.   Clean and shining communal kitchen shows the personality of the owner. I went inside to warm myself up and found out the bus timetable of Gyeongju on top of the computer desk. The bus timetable is showing the bus schedules going to the famous historic sites. The set up shows the thoughtful and caring personality of the owner. It was very nice of him. 3) Third visit, meaning nomads. Homo-nomad Guest House    Address : 166 Sajeong-dong Gyeongju-si Gyeongbuk    Phone : +82-10-8413-0803    The heaven of people with free spirit A freestyle dancer is dancing on the yellow wall surrounding the house. When entering the yellow main entrance of Homo-nomad, the smell of dried firewood tells you that it is winter. Homo-nomad is a typical dormitory style Guesthouse, the original guesthouse itself. Maybe that´s why it feels so free in here. Even inside the Homo-nomad, you will smell freedom around it. You would know why it is named ‘Homo-nomad’ once you enter the guest house. The owner has a real free spirit. When she came to Gyeongju as a traveler, she fell in love with the city for its beauty that she just bought a house here. When I stepped into the house, I felt that it is similar to ‘Bao’, a house where Mongolian nomads live. The structure of the house was very unique and was so exotic. The owner says that this type of housing structure was popular in the 70´s.  It is a two storey house with an open ceiling in the living room. I really liked the table next to the heater, which made me feel like to have a good conversation even to a stranger. It seems like a place where we could have a talk with a young traveler who is having his last vacation before the discharge from his military service from Changwon. Can you see it from the picture that even the smell has its freedom? Furnace heating the cold living room because of high ceiling. Now we go up the stairs to take a look at the second floor. On the way to the second floor, you can see that the wall is covered with the traces of visitors, similar to a guestbook. Worthy of its name, there are many exotic and unique decorations. There are two single rooms and one dormitory style bed room on the second floor. You can see the living room on the second floor over the railing. Next to it is the table where you can read a book. 01 | Dormitory style bedroom 02 | Reading Homonomad in Homo-nomad. Epilogue   Guest house is a place where you can make a nice memory with friends and for travelers traveling alone, it is a place where you can meet new people and make a nice story. It is a place where you share good memories in a good price. There are 7 to 8 guesthouses more in Gyeongju excluding the ones I introduced. I plan to introduce the rest of them one by one. Why don´t you stay in a guest house when you are in Gyeongju? Let´s go to the guest house of the youth and romance!  For your information, you can find the location, phone number and website address in the first part of introduction of each guest house. All three guest houses have convenient transportation as they are located in the city. Bus number 70 stops at all three guest houses.   <Information of the bus stop> Sa Rang Chae : Get off at Daeneungwon Humun  Luckyone : Get off at Silla Hoegwan Homo-nomad : Get off at Nenam Sagori