4 Weeks in South Korea (Thoughts)
We spent most of October in South Korea, and it was WONDERFUL!
https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...9200c8c1b.jpeg Bulguksa Temple near Gyeongju Here's our itinerary, and some general observations. Seoul 5 nights (more at end) Suwon 2 nights Jeonju 2 nights Yeosu 2 nights (was booked as 3) Goheung 1 night Gwangju 2 nights Jeju Island 4 nights (self-drive) Busan 4 nights Gyeongju 3 nights Seoul 2 nights In my trip plan I had (deliberately) put in a lot more than we'd likely do, so we would have options to choose from. There's loads we didn't get to visit, and we loved our trip so we'll definitely be back again to see more.
I am not posting a trip report here but I posted 3-4 updates to my Instagram every day throughout the trip, with detailed captions, so that's probably closest to a report www.instagram.com/Kaveyf And you can also search Instagram for #kaveyeatskorea Click Recent to see the images in date order (most recent first) to get an in-order feel for the trip. And lastly, a huge thanks to kja whose original trip report gave me the best starting point to my own research and planning! |
hi Kavey, thanks for this. I have been thinking about going to Korea and maybe this will help with where to start. I do have to learn more about Korean food. How does the taxi system work? Book by phone/online, wave them down on the street (yes in NYV, not so much in Tokyo), taxi stands on the street (or, like i did in Japan: find a nice hotel for waiting taxis)?
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Sounds like a great trip, Kavey -- except, of course, for the food poisoning. Yikes!
Unlike you, I really hadn't known Korean food before my trip; like you, I adore it -- so many incredibly flavorful dishes! I also agree that the amount of public art in Korea is impressive. Thanks for sharing your observations!. I'm very glad my trip report provided a good starting point for the adventure you and Pete shared. |
Originally Posted by mrwunrfl
(Post 17416025)
hi Kavey, thanks for this. I have been thinking about going to Korea and maybe this will help with where to start. I do have to learn more about Korean food. How does the taxi system work? Book by phone/online, wave them down on the street (yes in NYV, not so much in Tokyo), taxi stands on the street (or, like i did in Japan: find a nice hotel for waiting taxis)?
We didn't have any trouble with taxis, but we only used them in Seoul and Busan. We did flag one down without problem in Seoul but mostly we used the Kakao Taxi app to order one. You will need a Korean phone number to use this app, so we had pre-ordered a phone SIM but with no allowance to make calls, it was just to have the number and be able to receive calls. We had data on it as well which made using the phone for Sat Nav easier, though we also had a WiFi dongle to easily access Wifi on our other devices. You can also ask hotels and restaurants to book one for you, they'll likely do it with Kakao taxi or a similar app. Taxis are pretty cheap! There are different types, orange ones are standard but there are also deluxe taxis and foreigner taxis (where the driver speaks English). We only used the standard ones. In Seoul and Busan we used buses, metro and shanks pony! But for the rest of the itinerary we had a car, so didn't need to use taxis much to get around sights. |
Originally Posted by kja
(Post 17416125)
Sounds like a great trip, Kavey -- except, of course, for the food poisoning. Yikes!
Originally Posted by kja
(Post 17416125)
Unlike you, I really hadn't known Korean food before my trip; like you, I adore it -- so many incredibly flavorful dishes!
Originally Posted by kja
(Post 17416125)
I also agree that the amount of public art in Korea is impressive.
Originally Posted by kja
(Post 17416125)
Thanks for sharing your observations!. I'm very glad my trip report provided a good starting point for the adventure you and Pete shared.
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Thanks for posting! Sounds like you had a truly wonderful experience and you were primed to enjoy it to the fullest. I didn't have any firm bed problems in Korea (nothing like China,) What are your impressions of the food in Korea vs Korean food available to you at home? Any other impressions you'd like to share on this forum? Surprises? Delights?
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Originally Posted by Kavey
(Post 17416129)
I feel bad that I didn't manage to get to any of the museums and only one folk village at Nagan, but we truly had a wonderful trip!
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Originally Posted by shelemm
(Post 17416312)
Thanks for posting! Sounds like you had a truly wonderful experience and you were primed to enjoy it to the fullest. I didn't have any firm bed problems in Korea (nothing like China,) What are your impressions of the food in Korea vs Korean food available to you at home? Any other impressions you'd like to share on this forum? Surprises? Delights?
The dishes I had already had in New Malden were very similar indeed, the restaurants there run by immigrants from South Korea and with strong Korean customer base. But there were many more dishes for us to discover, which was a joy. Food is a huge part of travel for me. If you want to see just the food content on insta the # I used is #KaveyEatsKoreaFood Lots of delights, particular favourite places, probably best to read those in the captions I wrote to the instagram posts as I wrote those every day with it all fresh in my memory. I loved visiting temple sites, loved food markets (again, this is a favourite activity of mine), loved the views self-driving. :love: |
Originally Posted by kja
(Post 17416327)
Don't feel bad for making the trip what you and Pete wanted it to be! Wouldn't life be boring if we all decided to do the same things? Boring and crowded. :-( It sounds like you and Pete made choices that made for a memorable journey. Kudos!
Where is next for you? I'm currently dithering between a return to Taiwan (we only did 5 nights so want to see more), a return to Japan (3 trips thus far but soooo much more to see), Costa Rica (would be first trip), and Malaysia (again, first trip). |
Originally Posted by Kavey
(Post 17416333)
Aah, good to know China is much firmer again. We have what's considered a pretty firm bed at home but yeah, struggled with many of the ones in South Korea.
The dishes I had already had in New Malden were very similar indeed, the restaurants there run by immigrants from South Korea and with strong Korean customer base. But there were many more dishes for us to discover, which was a joy. Food is a huge part of travel for me. If you want to see just the food content on insta the # I used is #KaveyEatsKoreaFood Lots of delights, particular favourite places, probably best to read those in the captions I wrote to the instagram posts as I wrote those every day with it all fresh in my memory. I loved visiting temple sites, loved food markets (again, this is a favourite activity of mine), loved the views self-driving. :love: |
”…Instagram for #kaveyeatskorea
Click Recent to see the images in date order (most recent first) to get an in-order feel for the trip.” sorry, I don’t see where/how to click recent? Very interested to see the southern posts, including Jeju! |
It may be that you can only sort you have an account and are logged in.
However, another way to get the southern posts would be to search individually for these hashtags. #kaveyEatsGyeongju #KaveyEatsBusan #KaveyEatsJeju #kaveyeatsgwangju #kaveyeatsyeosu There are a few from Suncheon, Goheung, and Boseong that wouldn't be included in those but are in the main tag. p.s. We lost a day in Jeju and 2 days in Busan when I got ill. |
Originally Posted by Kavey
(Post 17416128)
We didn't have any trouble with taxis, but we only used them in Seoul and Busan.
We did flag one down without problem in Seoul but mostly we used the Kakao Taxi app to order one. You will need a Korean phone number to use this app, so we had pre-ordered a phone SIM but with no allowance to make calls, it was just to have the number and be able to receive calls. . |
looks like you really got to explore the country. You probably could have finished gyeongju in 1 day instead of 3 , and spent more time in Busan. Sorry to hear that you got food poisoning!
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I especially like your photo of the Baekje Buddhism Birthplace. What in interesting, and unique site!
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Originally Posted by aaronoh4205
(Post 17425138)
looks like you really got to explore the country. You probably could have finished gyeongju in 1 day instead of 3 , and spent more time in Busan. Sorry to hear that you got food poisoning!
Of course, we lost much of our time in Busan to my being sick but I think the itinerary would have been spot on had I not been ill. |
Originally Posted by Kavey
(Post 17418775)
Quick follow up, I think (?) you CAN use Kakao Taxi without a Korean number, but you'll then need to select the option to pay the driver in the car, which can be cash or CC I think.
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Originally Posted by shelemm
(Post 17431929)
I especially like your photo of the Baekje Buddhism Birthplace. What in interesting, and unique site!
I resized all my photos last night so I'll be sharing those here over next day or three. |
Originally Posted by nyse
(Post 17417076)
”…Instagram for #kaveyeatskorea
Click Recent to see the images in date order (most recent first) to get an in-order feel for the trip.” sorry, I don’t see where/how to click recent? Very interested to see the southern posts, including Jeju! |
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