Gyeongju spreads out to the coast, including a long trail along the way with a view of the ocean. My friend really wanted to go for a nice scenic hike so we headed to Eupcheon Mural village via the 150 bus (which took about 2 hours from downtown) on Chuseok and then followed the trail south to the Columnar Joint Zone of Yangnam.
It was a little hot but the hike was easy though a little crowded as it wound around the coast of the East Sea. There were several pensions along the way, and a couple cafes. We stopped at one for a bit of a break from the heat. There was also a Caffe Bene along the way that was open, but we went for the unfamiliar one blasting music from musicals, like Les Miserable and Wicked in English interspersed with some Korean.
Coffee Mono was comfortable with places for us to charge our phones, wifi, air conditioning, and lots of seating. It also had a great view of the sea. I got a green tea smoothie and we just enjoyed the afternoon before continuing on the trail.
There were plenty of nice lookout points along the way before we reached the columnar joint zone which is a unique natural formation. Due to construction going on nearby we had to duck through bushes to see, it was thankfully pointed out to us by a family.
