Sa Rang Chae
After a busy couple of days in Seoul I took a train south to the historic city of Gyeongju on Tuesday. Arriving early afternoon the skies looked particularly ominous and sure enough it began to rain just as I arrived at the guest house which would be my home the night. Whilst the weather wasn’t up to much the guest house was pleasantly surprising – consisting of a cluster of traditional style buildings around a central courtyard Sa Rang Chae is extremely cheap (£10-15 per night) and has a very laid-back atmosphere.
The rooms are also of a traditional style with thin walls, paper backed doors, and blankets to sleep on (not for those with bad backs!). There are also self-catering facilities so that evening I managed to find a supermarket and cooked up a half-decent stir fry which was eaten under the parasol with the heavens pouring forth all around 
If you’re on a tight budget and would like to experience something a little different then I would definitely recommend it. Be sure to pick up a map of Gyeongju when you arrive as it’s easy to get lost when venturing off the main roads – there’s a tourist information centre at the train station which has them in English.
Next time… what to see in Gyeongju.
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Thanks to this post about Sa Rang Chae, I was able to find this excellent place to stay (without my Lonely Planet). No one in Gyeongju directed me to this guest house. I would not have found it if someone had no posted it on the web. It is one on the best place I stayed in in Korea (very traditional, very cheap, very friendly, very special). I felt like in a comics about traditional Korea. GMS
Glad you managed to find it OK
I completely agree with you, it was one of the nicest places I stayed in Korea, even if only for 1 night. Certainly a hidden gem.
hello,
my friends and i are trying to escape the busyness of Seoul for the weekend and we’ve stumbled across this place several times on the web. unfortunately, i can’t anymore information about it on the web–address, phone number, cost, etc. could you possibly give me some more information? we’re bussing in from Seoul around 3am, so we were hoping to book ahead of time.
thanks!
Hi Mary, you should be able to find all the info you need here:
http://www.kjstay.com/
It’s a really nice place to stay – just make sure you print the map before you go as it’s a little tricky to find:
http://www.kjstay.com/content_eng/map_pop.html
Hope you enjoy your time in Gyeongju!