South Korea Day 7: Anapji Pond / Tumuli Park / Busan

Assalamualaikum. 안녕.

Sambil mencekik Gyeongju Bread kami tunggu bas...and it arrived not long after. Frequency bas ni memang kerap, sepanjang kami berjalan & singgah beli bread tadi sudah ada 2 buah yang datang. 

We hopped the bus #10 & the journey from Bulguksa Temple to Anapji Pond took about approximately 10 minutes. Sempat tidur on the way tu ok. Nasib lah before naik bas aku sempat bagitau driver Ahjussi yang kami mau turun di Anapji Pond. Else, memang sampai stesen bas terminal lah kami terlajak. Baik hati sungguh driver tu, ingat pula dia which stop aku mau turun. 

Tapi yang haru sebab kami duduk agak ke belakang, Ahjussi terpaksa menjerit panggil kami. And maybe kami lena diulit mimpi sangat, terpaksalah Ahjussi & Ahjumma sebelah depan belakang kami yang tolong kejutkan. Memang part paling hampagas. 

Dalam mamai aku bangun, kejut cousin aku & berambus dari bas. Siap buat stunt melompat turun tu. Ntah apa jaklah gaya. Nasib kan ndak tersadung. Kalau ndak another drama jatuh tergolek dog di South Korea. As if jatuh dalam bas balik dari Everland tu ndak cukup memalukan. Ish!!

Eh, tapi dalam kelam kelibut turun aku sempat bow (banyak kali!) minta maaf & say thank you sama yang tolong kejut kami. Bingai bertingkek si Bibie ni. 

Anapji Pond upon entering. Admission fee is 1,500₩ (Adult) & 700₩ (Youth). Nasiblah cousin aku still under youth category. Jimat berganda.

"Anapji Pond was built during the 14th year of King Munmu (in power 661-681 AD) of the Silla Kingdom (57 BC-935 AD). Small mountains were created inside the palace walls, beautiful flowers were planted, and rare animals were brought in to create an exquisitely exotic garden fit for royalty" 

source here.

The pond which is originally built in Wolseung Fortress but now lies in ruins after the fortress was destroyed. 

At one of the pavilion, they displayed historical findings & records about Anapji Pond. Memang tempat ni sangat gah dulu. Based on the replica model (refer pic above) pun sudah boleh imagine how this place looked like during its former glory era. 

Based on the findings, the excavation team project managed to restored Anapji Pond nearly similar to its original structure. 

Frozen man-made lake. Tasik ni memang dominate almost 70% of Anapji. 

Tujuan asal adalah untuk datang di kala sunset sebab tengok gambar di google & taken by other travel-bloggers, memang terbaik view Anapji Pond di kala senja. Closely reflect what it may looked like back then. However, ndak tertunai impian sebab kami sampai awal di Anapji. And rasa ndak larat untuk stay lama untuk tunggu sunset.

Winter or autumn? Regardless the dropping temperature, matahari tetap memancar hanya haba nan ado. 

Betapa dekat bus stop sama jalan raya. Silap hari bulan boleh jadi korban while waiting for the bus. Nauzubillah.

We crossed the road & walked towards the area where the ice house is located. 

Nampak landai but trust me, it's another hilly terrain we had to climb in order to reach the stone ice storage.

Also a drama shooting location of Queen Seondok. 

We were drained out of energy so we skipped the plan to stroll around the park near the stone ice storage. It would have been a great idea to jalan cuci mata at that area if we stay overnight at Gyeongju. Next time perhaps. Partner in crime sudah mula buka bicara pasal mau travelling to South Korea once more. Dengan syarat, she wants to cover the rural area. Gyeongju is a good start I told her. Because the city itself is an open museum. It is the ancient capital of the Silla Kingdom.

Patah balik pigi jalan utama & kami ikut jalan ke arah Cheomsongdae Observatory & Tumuli Park.

Ndak jauh berjalan sudah nampak Cheomgsongdae Observatory. The oldest existing astronomical observatory in the Orient. This located in the Tumuli Park vicinity. 

Local spending their evening playing kites at the park. Gembira jak tengok cara diorang ni spent time with family; specially the kids.

Exiting the park, ada 2 biji kereta kuda. 

Wah tripping princess sangat kalau aku ada hati mau sewa kereta kuda ni keliling Gyeongju city kan. I asked the kuda "Sudah mandi?" Pastu dia tengok aku sambil batting his eyelashes. Faham Melayu kah? Wah maju, multilingual kuda ni.

For those ikut walking/cycling course suggested by the Information Centre, memang diorang akan jumpa entrance ni dulu dari Gyeongju Terminal. 

Royal Tombs. The Tumuli Park is the most popular among the many royal tombs in Gyeongju. And tempat ni juga paling senang untuk diakses from downtown.

We walked from the park to Gyeongju Bus Terminal. It took us nearly 20 minutes to reach the terminal. Thanks sama 2 budak local yang kami tanya arah untuk ke terminal. Mula tu diorang sangsi kami mau walkertapaki so they suggested us to take the bus. 

Dalam pelat Korean yang pekat "U can take bus from there. Many bus". Sambil tunjuk arah bus stop.

"Gwaenchana. We walk." Ceh mengasah skill ka Bie? Tetap bunyi slang Sabah kau dominasi kan. Uhuk.

Sungguh exercise paling kaw untuk hari tu. Walau lapar tapi semangkit gila kami superwalkertapaki. Luckily juga walau temperature dropped a bit, we could still endured the cold. My cousin jalan jauh ke depan, laju gila budak tu jalan & tinggalkan aku yang terkedek² jalan sebab sibuk snap gambar. 

Journey from Gyeongju to Busan Bus Terminal took about one hour.  

Actually beli tiket untuk slot 1845 tapi agenda kami di Gyeongju habis awal. Masa tu pula memang ada bas di platform ready for departure. Tanya counter Eonnie kalau ada kosong kami mau menyelit. Alhamdulillah tanpa banyak songeh dia tukarkan tiket kami. 

The bus has a 2+1 seater. Since kami beli tiket tu last minute, maka dapat seat pun terpisah. Cousin aku duduk sebelah minah while aku duduk solo. Ala sebelah menyebelah jak; terpisah sama aisle. Kecoh! Siap aku susun atur beg di position paling comfy supaya senang aku membuta...bas pun gerak. And aku pun belayar ke alam mimpi sepanjang perjalanan. Sampai Busan Terminal, aku lah paling last turun. Macam penat sangat. 

I booked the same hotel yang kami stayed at on the first day we arrived from Malaysia. Senang kerja, lagipun aku suka hotel tu. Dekat dengan almost everything. Facilities pun cukup.

From Busan Bus Terminal kami jalan ikut signage to subway station. Nopo-dong Station (Line 1) is connected with the bus terminal building. Nasiblah ndak payah bertukar line train bagai; direct journey to Jagalchi Station. 

Kami memang super lembik sudah masa tu. Busan somehow sangat sejuk pula that night. Orang dalam train pun sungguh bertoleransi. Whenever we stood up to give our seat to the elderly they told us to just sit down. Maybe muka kami tahap penat gaban, campur lagi beg saiz gajah kan. Terharu!

Lepas check-in & letak bag; terus kami zoom pi Jagalchi Market. By foot jak sebab hostel kami memang situated at one of the alley right in front of the market. 

Kami just beli 2 ekor ikan bakar, pastu Ahjussi bagi service few pieces of isi ikan. Rezeki bertimpa di kala lapar Alhamdulillah. Balik bilik, masak nasi. Lepas mandi, kami mencekik. 6 bungkus nasi himpit mini (aku keluarkan beras dari pelestik hence jadilah nasi instead of nasi himpit) lesap dalam sekelip mata. Sejuk² makan nasi panas + ikan bakar super yummy; memang asyik! Sudah kenyang, layan tv & online kejap (wifi di Busan adalah super duper laju!) pastu kami pun zzZzzZZz. 

The next morning kami plan untuk join Busan Tour Bus. Kena bangun awal supaya ndak bazir masa. Yang tu nanti aku cerita. Next entry gitu. Till then, annyeong.

eryantierdabdulkarim

South Korea Day 7: From Seoul Station to Singyeongju KTX Station

Assalamualaikum. 안녕!

Wah kemajuan. Boleh update few entries in just few days apart. Adakah banyak sangat free time Bie oii. 

Sebenarnya sedang rindu South Korea. Poyo gila. Tapi itu hakikat. Since yesterday, kawan² di facebook sibuklah upload gambar related to that country. Hatta hanya sebotol minuman pun boleh menggamit rindu, apalagi kalau gambar views & the places. A friend just came back last week, and another friend is currently there. Kenapa perlu bercoti tanpa aku? Sob.

Demi ubat rindu, marilah continue update. At least ada benda untuk diingat. Phew, intro bikin muntah. 

Pagi tu kami bangun super awal. Aku sempat masak untuk breakfast & bekal for lunch. At first we planned to take the subway. Tapi sebab kemalasan mau hangkut bag & jalan kaki di awal pagi buta, marilah tahan teksi. Not to mention transit untuk tukar line subway. Hazab di awal pagi marilah kita elakkan. 

Furthermore, the Hostel Eonni told us the night before area hostel tu memang banyak teksi. And so we took a taxi to Seoul Station. Bukan jauh pun, the fare also quite cheap. Cost us only 5,000₩.

Tembolok di awal pagi. Since we arrived a bit early, teruslah lapar bila nampak Dunkin Donut. Cheese bagel adalah favourite gue. Erm, anything yang ada cheese memang aku baham. Abaikan breakfast yang sudah aku telan di hostel. 

Bound for Singyeongju KTX Station. Take note that Singyeongju & Gyeongju are two different station. The first station is a new station located near the city of Gyeongju & serves only the KTX line (high speed trains). While the latter serves only local trains & located in the city of Gyeongju. 

More info about purchasing the KTX ticket here. 

Janji tau jenis train, train no, departure time. Memang senang.
Contoh: Our train is KTX, Train No. 115, Departure at 0800h. 

Takut lapar while on the go? Sila lah tapau, varieties of food boleh take away. Tepuk dada tanya selera. Halal or tidak, aku ndak jamin. And aku bukan recommend, it's simply to inform IF ada yang ndak sempat breakfast & wonder adakah restoran/cafe/kiosk yang jual take away food. 

Macam baru jak sampai Seoul Station dari Busan. And it's already time to leave Seoul? 

For the ticket from Seoul, aku telah menjadi bijak. Aku ada book seat so ndak lah kami kena berdiri di standing coach like what we did during the en route from Busan. Read here.

We slept all the way to Gyeongju. Ngantuk gaban sebab pagi tu bangun terlebih awal. Luckily aku terjaga 1 stesyen before Singyeongju. Else, mari beli tiket baru. 

Loving this concept. Mula masuk tu aku pelik kenapakah perlu air sekuning itu. Kejadian orang ndak flush ka. Bila nampak advertisement tu barulah faham. 

Kami stop kejap dalam stesyen tu. Masih mamai, and kami perlu masa untuk jadi waras. Duduk lepak nearly 20 minutes sambil menikmati spaghetti goreng yang aku masak dari hostel pagi tu. Sejuk gila tapau kami tapi bedal jaklah. Janji perut ndak kosong. Jadual hari tu pun padat we definitely need energy untuk berjalan. 

View sebaik keluar dari main entrance Singyeongju Station.

Just outside the station, ada bus stop.  One can take bus #50, #60, #61, #70, #203 or #700 to reach Gyeongju Bus Terminal (Express & Intercity Bus). It is best to hop off at the bus terminal as the tourist information is just across the road from the terminal. Kutiplah segala map & guidebooks. Eonni yang jaga kaunter tu pun boleh converse quite well in English. 

Gyeongju Gosok Teominal a.k.a Gyeongju Express Terminal. Sila turun at the bus stop berdepan bangunan ni. Or just kasitau driver like we did. So bila sampai terminal, the driver will let u know. No worries, Ahjussi tu insha Allah ndak lupa untuk bagitau that u've reached ur destination. Tourist information (refer pic below) will be on the left side of the this building, opposite the road.

Masuk dalam bas terminal, terus jumpa locker. Ouh bahagia rasa ndak payah hangkut backpacks meronda Gyeongju. The big locker cost 500₩ but it only accept coins. So kalau ndak da coins, sila tukar di kaunter tiket. Counter Ahjumma sedia menukar. 

Boleh juga sewa basikal or scooter untuk round 'pekan' Gyeongju ni. Scooter aku memang ndak da bakat untuk bawa. Ingat mau sewa basikal tapi cousin aku pula 'kaki bangku'. Fine, aku ndak tau istilah apa kalau ndak reti mengayuh. Jadi marilah kita meronda via bus.

In case kelaparan, boleh singgah cafe depan bus terminal ni. Kami ada masuk tapi masa tu bun & bread yang ada ndak memenuhi citarasa. 

Bus schedule at the bus stop where we first alighted from Singyeongju Station. First destination kami adalah Bulguksa Temple. Lintas jalan & wait for the bus #10, #11 or #700. All buses cost 1,500₩.

For your information, boleh jak naik bus #700 from Singyeongju Station & hop off at Bulguksa Temple. But we purposely singgah bus terminal to purchase our bus ticket back to Busan that evening. And also mau menyimpan beg dalam locker. 

I don't remember how long it took to reach Bulguksa Temple from Gyeongju city. But I do remember yang aku sempat membuta! Sebab bas tu berhenti², pula tu ramai naik turun. Jadinya aku curi masa untuk charge energy walaupun tidur ayam. Nasiblah bila sampai each stop, driver tu akan announce. IF I'm not mistaken, Bulguksa is the last stop. 

Kunun mau gambar Bulguksa ni sebiji macam dalam pamphlet. Yang rooftop covered with snow. Nan hado snow masa kami sampai. Ndak apalah, janji sudah sampai.

Ouh by the way, turun dari bas bukan terus jumpa temple ni ah. Kami exercise kaki lagi sebelum sampai. Exercise yang memang betul² menguji stamina kaki. Di kala sejuk. menapak bukit. Yang bukan main alang curam dia. Uhuk. 

Untuk cerita Bulguksa, kita sambung next entry. Yang satu ni pun berhari sebenarnya aku habiskan. Mula tu macam eh banyaknya free time...pastu tiba² melencong layan Kdrama lah, Kpop lah, stalk Oppas lah yadda yadda. Dua orang kawan baru balik dari Seoul (yang sorang masih sana masa aku start taip entry ni, hence the intro), sorang sempat singgah Jeju. Memang bikin panas hati. 

eryantierdabdulkarim