Ondol Motel

In Korea, ondol-style heated floors has become a luxury I've thoroughly enjoyed. The Bronze Age tradition started in North Korea and continues now in restaurants, my apartment and motel rooms like the one I shared with my friend Carol on our Gyeongju trip. Many Koreans still sleep and eat on the floor, so it makes perfect sense that it's heated. (Gas or electric heat replace firewood, rice patty straw and dung for heat fuel now)

Carol and I lucked out, as this room is designed for four people. As you can see, it's pretty low maintenance for the motel owners, as we just spread out our provided bedding on the floor as needed.

Gyeongju Bike Trip

I went south -- to Gyeongju, Korea's ancient seat of government -- in search of adventure, history and cherry blossoms. All was accomplished except the later, which was replaced with an unmistakably saddle-sore bum that only 10 hours on a bike can award. The 4.5-hour bus ride to the coastal city gifted my friends and me with blue skies, sunshine and open space, a welcome antithesis from Seoul's gray, crowded streets. We threaded through Gyeongu's rural neighborhoods and rice fields, enjoying the Easter weekend and company. I didn't realize how much I missed the smell of fresh earth and cow dung until we found some farms, too.

Gyeongju means, "congratulatory district" and is one of the biggest tourism sites in South Korea with several UNESCO heritage sites. In the Silla and Unified Silla periods, the city was the center of court and cultural life through the end of the ninth century. After that time, the area was pounded multiple times by the Mongols and Japanese -- but that's the basic idea of all Korean history.

Below us in front of a famous astronomy tower.