This is a re-post from RobotKaBa? Posted Nov 13, 2010
A country that hosted the Summer Olympics in 1988, Formula One in 2010 and a population most of which doesn’t have any religious preference. They do have a rich following for local television, music and film and even exports these to other countries and thus call it the Korean wave.
Taunted by the wave, I with two of my close friends decided to cut ourselves some slack and journey to South Korea on a backpacking trip. We stayed for about seven days and six nights, purchased a discounted cebu pacific flight, applied for a visit visa and joined a backpacker tour (courtesy of travelfactor) to handle our hotel reservation and itinerary. Here is a primer of what to expect when it’s your turn!
Transportation – going around Seoul is really easy using public transportation, a $25 allowance for transportation around Seoul would be enough for the whole week stay. Taxis are taxis they do have their own rate so I won’t dwell into that and won’t suggest you use one unless you’re drunk. The greatest part of it is the T-Money card, a single prepaid card that you can use in all public transportation and even in convenience stores. The card includes a 50% discount on bus fares if you do ride the train before boarding a bus. Do provide yourselves with cash at times because some city and provincial bus doesn’t support the T-Money card.
Hostel – being in a tight budget a hostel would do, it would cost under $50 a night. Wi-Fi isn’t a problem in Seoul so most of the hostels, motels or hotels offer them for free. Most part of Seoul is a FREE Wi-Fi zone, so you won’t get lost if you have your handy Wi-Fi device with you. We stayed at Seoul Hostel, the hostellers were friendly and accommodating, it does have a clean bathroom and a comfortable sleeping area, for me that would do since we are just transients. We visited a friend staying in Fraser Place near our hostel, that place rocked but comes along with a hefty price.
Food – now this is a no brainer, you would need to try everything that comes your way, our orders have its ups and downs but mostly they were ups. The thing that makes it really tasty is the experience of how to eat it and the additional level of difficulty ordering it. I’ll showcase some of our meals by means of pictures. Do scroll along now.
Gyeongbokgung Palace – a large palace located north of Seoul, a palace that deserves its description as grand. Its land area is vast, the gates, halls, quarters, gardens are really astonishingly detailed. I won’t be surprise if you end up using most of your camera’s battery here. Around the outer area of this palace are museums and monuments that you can visit. Allot at least half a day or more to venture the palace and its outer skirts.
Changdeokgung Palace – if you’ve seen one palace it’s like you’ve seen them all. It’s a smaller version Gyeongbokgung if you ask me. Like I said, just visit one and you need not to visit another, so go visit Gyeongbokgung instead.
N Seoul Tower – a place to see the night lights of Seoul from way up a high tower. It is also the location for the Korean drama version of Boys over Flower. A place where lovers are most welcome to leave their wishes or whatever in a form of a note inscribed in a pad lock. Getting here would be via bus and a long stroll over a 30 degree slope heading towards the tower’s base. Going down is faster I assume; one slip and you may find yourself at the bottom of the road in just a few seconds.
Myeongdong shopping district – would cater to everything you might need for your shopping pleasure. Each road showcases its own specialty of merchandise. Side Street vendors are also present offering various clothing and street foods. The place is a haven for shopaholics but I prefer to go around Insadong which is nearer our place.
Insadong – closest thing to “Divisoria”, I tried every street food that I think I can tolerate. Products are more of the souvenir type, things that you can buy cheap and give away easily.
1st shop of Coffee Prince – the location of the drama is within Seoul so it can easily be found via following directions that can be researched on the net. Being there would only be meaningful if you’ve watched the drama. If you didn’t it’s just your plain old coffee shop with overpriced pastries and drinks. The cheesecake is good though.
DMZ – The demilitarized zone, together with the Soju (Korean alcohol) loving, Kimchi (fermented dish) dancing backpackers, we took the morning DMZ tour to see a glimpse of North Korea. The DMZ trip is expensive so we only took the half day trip. There were a lot of restrictions and security checks, you’d even need your passport to enter the area. The tour guide tends to build the tension that it’s not a safe place to be in, always reminding us that we should observe the rules and always listen to his instructions. In a nutshell we visited a park, a tunnel, a viewing deck and a hopeful train station going to North Korea. I didn’t enjoy the tour that much, so I’m not encouraging you to take it. An afternoon tour is also available wherein you’ll enter JSA and experience a much higher tension. I have no good pictures in DMZ because most of the good stuff was not permitted to be captured in film.
Chonggyecheon River – If you got nothing to do for an evening I suggest you go and find this stream and have a nice walk with a friend or a love one. Enjoy each building’s lights as you pass by one after another. The pathway is nicely paved and you can cross the stream if stone platforms are present. Couples do linger around which adds flavor to the sights and ambience of the flowing stream.
Nami Isand – a Koreanobela location for Endless love. Getting there was an experience itself, being there was breath taking, getting back is a different story. If you’ve seen the koreanobela you’ll understand why I wanted to go there. Getting in a tour would cost you more but it would offer a lot of convenience. A tour can be availed in their Seoul office in Insadong, but I ask you “Where is the fun in that?” We did commute; the train station was just a few stations away from our hostel. The provincial train ride was full so we either stood or sat on the floor for over an hour to get to Gapyeong. After which we took a taxi to the port and took a ferry to Nami. Getting back is way harder, the bus to the train station is not that frequent and it’s hard to get a taxi. So we walked for about a kilometer to the next bus station and luckily ran into a bus. From the bus terminal we walked again to get to Gapyeong train station. We stood in the train for an hour or so again only difference was we have these smile pasted on our faces. Now that is what we call an adventure.
Everland Theme Park – it’s quite huge, but if you’re not into theme parks and such then don’t go, do skip this part. Miss the largest wooden strutted roller coaster ride for all I care.
Heungryunsa temple – we were supposed to go to Shindo Island to visit the location of the Korean drama Full house. But due to strong winds the ferry trips were cancelled and all our hopes went down the drain. We looked for an alternate site to waste time while waiting for our flight and ended up joining a temple tour only a few kilometers away showcasing the Incheon Bridge. The bridge was a sight to see itself and the temple’s location had a nice view of the city proper.
Soju nights – nightly bonding moments with new found friends. Preferably done in the hostel’s common room, continued in either our room or another if the hostel’s curfew is reached.
Remember South Korea was a country once called the poorest in Asia in the 1960s, look at it now! “Sulong Pilipinas kaya rin naten yan!”
I’m sharing our itinerary to help you plan your future visit.
Day 1 – Arrival late evening and the group’s very first SOJU night.
Day 2 – A visit to Gyeongbokgung Palace, Changdeokgung Palace, N Seoul Tower and Myeongdong Shopping district. SOJU night!
Day 3 – Wonderful day at the Everland Theme Park, SOJU night!
Day 4 – Half day DMZ trip, shopping at Insadong and an evening stroll at Chonggyecheon River.
Day 5 – Tiring but fruitful Nami Island trip, visited a former PTC employee friend and accompanied him to a night market in Jung-go, you guessed it it’s SOJU night!
Day 6 – Toured around Seoul, visited the 1st shop of Coffee prince, went back to Gyeongbokgung palace, Took pictures of King Sjong’s memorial, got lost in Seoul for over an hour, found ourselves in Insadong.
Day 7 – Checked-out, travel to Incheon airport, leave bags at lockers, venture to Full house drama location (due to strong winds, this was an epic fail), got an Incheon’s Buddhist temple tour instead, late evening fight back to Manila.
As promised here is a collage of what the trip is all about, food!
Pictures described from left to right then top to bottom:
1 That’s a $1 pancake (Pajeon) I’m holding, there are a lot of various street foods that you can try besides this so do experiment on some, it usually cost around $1-$2 per order. Try a Gimbap (it’s like a Japanese maki) or a Hotteok (sweet pancake).
2 A Korean barbeque setup, you can order a Samgyeopsal (bacon) or Galbi (ribs) to grill, usually cost around $10-$12 per order. This is a small restaurant we went to, the egg and kimchi on the side of the grill adds flavor to the grilled meat.
3 Mc Donald’s very own Bulgogi (shredded beef) burger meal! It cost around $5 I think.
4 Coffee Prince’s iced coffee and cheesecake a whopping $13 pastry and drink.
5 Another Korean barbeque restaurant, a much appealing and cleaner setup located at Myeong Dong Shopping district. Cost the same though.
6 The next three photos are of a single order that cost only $8. Yeah, that small restaurant was a good find. We did have trouble ordering though since no one can understand us. But it was worth all the effort. I don’t know what it is called so I’ll just call it the spicy “menudo” (I believe it’s a Jjigae).
7 An octopus dish, trust me don’t order this if you don’t like spicy foods.
8 I think this is a Bungeoppang that is shaped oddly. I didn’t try this at all.
9 A Korean noodle soup, forgot what it’s called.
10 Chicken skewers bought at DMZ, cost around $2 a stick but believe me it is a long stick.
11 A local instant noodle spiced one or two levels up.
12 A beef rib served in a hot plate, this cost around $20.
13 Visited Red Mango and it basically cost the same here.
14 Now this is the usual setup of a Korean barbeque party meal, order one dish and they would come in with their usual friends called Banchan (numerous numbers of side dishes). Finish one and they would replenish it, you’d usually be served with a lot of kimchi plates. Best meal I had that day.
15 Next is how you’d eat a grilled meat, cover it up with veggies, put any kind of Banchan on top, wrap it up and swallow.
16 The bread like picture was a big mistake on my part because I thought it was sugar based but turned out to be a “kababayan” type pastry with a whole boiled egg in the middle, so much for dessert.
17 A commonly great tasting corndog bought at “Everland” theme park.
18 Korean Spam! It was de-li-ci-ous!
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