Hotels in Gyeongju

In case this helps someone else, let me belatedly report on my
experiences last year. Gyeongju is roughly speaking the Kyoto of
Korea. It's in the only part of the country that wasn't massively damaged in the Korean War (though the Japanese did some harm in earlier periods).

The Kolon hotel was ok--like a slightly rundown Holiday Inn in the
USA. I booked it through www.ratestogo.com forabout $70/night. You
can get there from the bus station by number 10 or 11 bus, or by taxi
(15,000 won).

The hotel is just a few steps from the Bulguksa Temple, which is a
very interesting and attractive site. There are plenty of modest
restaurants opposite the temple. The buffet breakfast in the hotel
was poor value.

The young and fit can hike 1.5 miles and 1,000ft up from the hotel to
the Seokguram Grotto, but I took a taxi for 15,000 won each way. It's
many miles by road. You still have to walk about half a mile on a
level gravel trail to get to the actual grotto. The statue is good,
set in an ampitheatre with surrounding bas reliefs. They've built a
temple around it and sealed it off with glass and you are not supposed
to take photos inside. There was a Buddhist ceremony going on inside
when I was there, which made it more interesting.

For seeing the sites in town, I stayed at the Sa Rang Chae guesthouse,
which I booked by email at shilla7@chol.com for about $25/night. This
is a very nice but modest guesthouse: sleep on a futon on the floor,
fix your own food in a communal kitchen (they provide eggs and bread
and stuff for breakfast). The owner speaks good English and is very
helpful. It's in walking distance to all the main sites: the Tumuli
(burial mounds), Cheomseongdae (ancient astonomical observatory),
Anapji pond, and the museum. You can walk to the bus or train
stations, but you'll probably want to take a taxi if you are hauling
your bags (about 2,000 won).