Hakindang Hanok Guest House (학인당)
Last week I took an impromptu but much-needed holiday to South Korea. While I hadn’t expected to return to Korea this year the time and price were right so I decided to go for it and took a midnight flight from Hong Kong to Seoul arriving 5am in driving rain. Not the best start perhaps but from there on in things went decidedly uphill… Read more
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.