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On Wednesday we checked out at Ibis Styles Ambassador Myeongdong and left for Seoul Station where we were going to catch the KTX High speed train to Jeonju. We booked the ticket the day before so we arrived right on time. When we got to the station we only bought some food. Withdrew some cash for spending along the way and sweated our asses off, because its 30 degrees and really really humid! I bought some kimbap from the CVS at the station and of course Chilsung Cider, which is in every way superior to 7Up.

This blog we also visit Gwangju, which is one of the cities some people advised us not to visit. We still went, for the reason that we want to experience a Korean city like this as well.

Boarding the KTX, at first we couldn’t find a place to put the giant suitcase I took to Korea. However, the cart next to ours had extra storage available so the day was saved. The ride to Jeonju takes about 1,5 hours. I was surprised to see so many new real estate developments along the route. Sometimes whole forests of high rise residential buildings being built. At some places, new buildings are already finished. Yet, still newer construction in the way! Arriving at Jeonju Station we immediately noticed that although it was still 30 degrees, it was more the laser beams from the sky kind of heat instead of the humidity in Seoul, where it felt like getting steamed alive. We checked where to take the bus and found that the bus stop has a hat. Yes. A Hat. We waited while all the others there took busses and after about 20 minutes our bus showed up. We put our suitcases on the baggage racks and on the way we drove a good 30 minutes through Jeonju. The city had a lot of low/medium rise buildings and in the distance some high rise. Its quite a car centric place, there is a lot of waiting for cars involved. Later we noticed that off the main streets the city become a lot more walkable. After half an our on the bus we got to our stop at Kama Hotel.

There were already people for us at the front desk even though we were a bit early. We got a card key without problem and went to our room. The double room was amazing, with two beds, a tv, a steam thing that looks like a fridge, but it is not. There was a very fancy bathroom, with the most aggressive sounding toilet ever, the flush is like a dragon roaring. The bathroom also has a rain shower. Our neighbor hotels in the area are mostly love hotels which adds to the cute atmosphere. After catching our breath at the hotel we went out to eat dinner. We walked for about 30 minutes along the road the bus had traveled, back towards the city center and found a place along the way called ‘Cafe Slok’, which we both found hilarious… but we couldn’t figure out the revolving door they have…

Along the same road were bus stops that look like traditional gates. There was also a similar gate with traffic lights there! While exploring we stumbled upon a place to eat, almost all the restaurant were empty. So we had some Jeonju bibimbap at a small completely empty restaurant. After we were full we explored for a bit found and came across an area with hanok and then a bit later the old City Gate! From there its only a little bit til the square and we were in hanok village without even realizing it. All the big sights were closing, so we just walked around the main street and took pictures. We ate some icecream at and empty Café and then walked back to the hotel.

The next day we set out for Hanok Village and finally realized we had already been there. We saw some larger sights in the city, got grilled by the sun, and walked a bit… We ate a beansprout soup with rice and kimchi-jeon. I had some lemonade, and we decided to walk back to the hotel along the local stream, to refresh and return later to the hanok village in the evening to eat some snacks/streetfood.

When we returned late that evening it was really quiet, most placed has closed and only a few placed looked crowded. But post places were already doing a last call within 10 minutes, there wasn’t a whole lot of choice of streetfoods either. In the end we searched and found a place to eat in the bar district… some fries, fried shrimps, a friend cheese souffle… it was an experience.

Jeonju is definetely one of my favorite places we visited, it’s gorgeous. Lots to see. The city is green and walkable and it feels so pleasant to be there with the limited highrise. This city feels very livable.  From there we left to the Hotel and closed off our last day in Jeonju. The next day we left for the Gwangju, we took an express bus which was relatively convenient. From the Bus Terminal in Gwangju it took a little while to get to Yaja Hotel. It was similar in a lot of ways to our Jeonju hotel. There we relaxed a little and then went out for dinner, cause it was already late. We settled on a Korean BBQ and had some samgyeopsal, galbi, kimchi jjigae. We were helped by a lady, but we had a bit of trouble understanding her questions, so the manager came over to help. He said he spoke English and helped grill the meat a bit… later he asked were we were from, and after we told him we were Dutch he asked if we also spoke German… turns out his English wasn’t so good, but he spoke German because he studied in cologne for 4 years.

From that moment on I spoke with him several times in German and it was so funny to be speaking German in South Korea hahaha. Its shameful in a way, cause I feel like I ought to know more Korean, but this was so much fun! He said this was the most fun he had had in a long time and even didn’t add my drinks to the bill

After this we went to the hotel and the next day we went to Memorial Park in Gwangju. On the way there we were getting more sunburn, so we quickly bought sunscreen. This city is so car centric, the roads are 5 by 5 lanes! Such wide roads! Waiting to cross takes forever! There are a bunch of pedestrian bridges as well, by it feels like the car is king in Gwangju.

After we went to the memorial park we went to eat somewhere in the centre, had lunch and even ate bingsu there at a chain we ate at before in 2012 in Seoul(but none of those remain). There was also a pretty stream where we walked for a bit to cool down and afterwards we went back to the hotel to refresh. Not before we spotted some of the most unique buildings in Gwangju!

That evening we wanted to see some markets and we had found a couple that would be open late on Saturday, but one after the other were disappointing as the vast majority of places were closed and no one else was there. Sadea did buy a waffle so she didn’t leave empty handed. We went back to the hotel and tomorrow we will travel to Mokpo by KTX.

#jeonju

[bertbetripping]

Little Bonus. Both at Namsan, 10 years apart. Hopefully the next time will be sooner than that.

[bertbetripping]

SEOUL

Our first stop on our trip is Seoul. Oh my lord, it is so hot here. It is incredibly hot, and what seems to kick our asses the most is the humidity. It’s that feeling as if you’re getting steamed over a long period of time.

We booked out stay for the first days in Seoul over at Ibis Styles Ambassador Myeondong, located in… you guessed it Myeondong! I have many memories of my first visit to Seoul and we also visited Myeongdong that time. This time around the place felt different.

Upon arrival at Seoul we needed to get a PCR test and then we left Incheon airport for the hotel. We arrived there in the evening and then wanted to get some food at about 21:15. When we walked through the area we noticed its so quiet everywhere. Streets aren’t empty, but theyre definitely not crowded by any means. Not like 2012 in the slightest. Many places close around 22:00, where I have this memory of 2012 where places opened deep into the night.After looking for a place, we settles on somewhere that sells commons foods, bibimbap, teokkbokki, mandu and naengmyeon. The place was decently full, but upstairs had multiple tables free. The food was a bit plain and expensive, but like Sadea said ‘atleast we didn’t settle for easy McDonalds’. As we finished we got the result from our PCR test that we were negative. After this we walked and found out that Korea also has anti-vax people. Who are also very religious it seems.

The next day we started by walking to Myeondong Cathedral, a pretty church that really stands out in the area. Lots of buildings in Myeongdong are multiple floors or commercial stuff. Shops, restaurants and such. Around the cathedral are some other Christian sighs, like a cave of Mary and a chapel. We however decided on walking to Seoul Station.

While walking along this really bit road we saw a lot of the city, there was a temple that in hindsight a day later turned out to have been something interesting. It was a temple and hanok village, however we kept on walking the road to… Dongdaemun. Yes, I had guided us the opposite direction and we ended up in Dongdaemun. So we took the chance to take a look around the design center. I’d seen this place online before however it was much less shiny in person… We didn’t stop for any exhibition because our time in town is limited and was still hella humid.

We visited the Gate, bought some drinks and snacks… we bought new masks cause we were running out. Yes, in South Korea there is still masking. If understood correctly you mask inside and in crowded places where you cannot keep distance. So the later can also apply to outside.

After Dongdaemun we took a metro to one of the palaces called Gyeongbeokgung because it was the last day of Chuseok we had free admission as did hundreds of others visiting, many of them wearing rented hanbok. It was really crowded at the Palace grounds as well as at the plaza in front of the main gate. After this we retuned to Myeongdong, there we ate at Kimbap Cheonguk. This place we also went to with my friend Heelim in 2012. In fact she is the one who introduced this place to us! Its still as amazing as back then! Good food and cheap! Best combination ever!

After we left the sun had set and we left for Hongdae. This place was packed with people! A lot of young people. In 2012 we stayed at a Guesthouse in Hongdae, but it is no longer there. Hongdae has changed A LOT. 10 years ago I recall there being lots of small businesses. Now the whole street is lines with sleek looking stores and larger brands. 

We left and went to Sinchon, not far away. This place has a similar vibe to Hongdae of 2012. We walked around a bit and sat at a square where there were two guys busking or well it looked like noraebang for an audience. Sinchon also was not crowded aside from Hongdae the place felt empty really.

the next day we left early and went to buy and umbrella, because the forecast had mentioned rain and we saw people with umbrellas. We then found our way to Namsan and hiked up to the tower. This did not go as smoothly as in 2012, there was a lot of sweating an complaining involved from my side. Mind you, its still - on day 3 – humid as heck. Along the way there were quite a few elderly people passing us by, as always. Yet we made it, at the top of Namsan it was again very quiet, no crowds anywhere. So we went up the tower as well and looked around for a bit… It was cute, but pricy and honestly I think the views from downstairs are just as nice.

We had some dinner, I had a Samgyeopsal Set and Sadea had something spicy. The food tasted fresh, it was good and not expensive at all considering we were on top of Namsan. When we finished we took a cable cart down, because we are not THAT sporty. Although Sadea did suggest walking down a few times. We did succumb and paid to get off Namsan. In hindsight we saw a lot of people hiking down Namsan, with their iced coffee in-hand. No sweat to be seen. Likely cause they were smart and did our hike in reverse. At the time of that realization we were already back at the hotel and did our laundry. When it finished we at the top floor of the hotel and at waaay too expensive Haemool Pajeon and some cheese with pizza and ruccula. Like honestly that things as more cheese than anything else.

When then made out escape of the rooftop bar/restaurant with view on Namsan and beers costing 13.000 won. We went to buy our ticket at Seoul Station for our traintrip tomorrow to Jeonju. Then we continued to check out Sadea’s former house and internship. It’s on the southside of the city and the area is much more livable than the touristy areas. Stating the obvious probably, but as a tourist you probably would never go to a place like this. The area was walkable, there was a bicycle road it was really nice! From there we went to Hangang the river running through seoul and we sat there for a bit to reminisce. There was a breeze and it was bearable to be there. However as soon as we crossed the bridge it was humid again. We took some empty metro’s to the hotel and the next blog will be Jeonju.

[bertbetripping]

Korea 2022 - Prep ‘n stuff

Tomorrow is the day! On the 10th of September me and Sadea will fly to Korea for 3 weeks! On here I will share some ways we have planned our trip, encouraged by friends and colleagues who said this might be helpful to them and others. Sadea might also blog over here; sadeainkorea.blogspot.com and I too had a blog in 2012 in Dutch; meneerbert.waarbenjij.nu In 2012 we both visited South Korea together with our friend Samantha. We had several penpals from South Korea at that point, so we planned to meet them that summer. We were also big fans of Korean pop. Initially we had planned to see the television music shows, but in the end we decide against it and instead focus on enjoying Seoul, Daegu and Busan. Now 10 years later we are visiting South Korea again. We are planning a daring trip, visiting 8-10 cities in 3 weeks’ time. So we made a schedule and everything, which we hope will work for us and I’ll record here on my blog what the actual experience was. Cause, you know, we’re by no means experts.

Planning For this trip we first planned the cities we’re visiting. We checked the public transport for them and drew it out on a map and created a spread sheet with a rough estimate of when we want to go where. As well as marking things as a ‘stay’ or a ‘day trip’. As you can tell, Jeju did not make it onto our schedule this time. We planned some less traveled places for tourism, such as Jeonju, Gwangju, Mokpo, Yeosu, Jinju and Pohang. The map is made in google’s MyMaps, it is available here. 

Above is the schedule in which we eventually added the time of all the hotel check-ins and check-outs. The days of the week and dates and the map overview. Before that we obvious had to find our hotels. For this we both made lists of hotels we liked on booking.com, agoda.com, some discount website that was available via Thuisbezorgd. We saw we had discount at booking.com via our creditcards as well! Then we met and decided on all the hotels and booked them.

Unlike 2012 we booked mostly hotels this time around. Sometimes separate rooms, but mostly rooms with twin beds. Sadea added which had breakfast inclused and which didn’t. All the costs are totalled at the bottom of the spreadsheet and we settled the differences that we paid.  On the same page we made an estimate of most other costs we might make. Busses, train, sights, attractions and food.

You can browse the spreadsheet and all its tabs over here. Planning like this is not for everyone and its not needed, but it gived me peace of mind I’ve everything planned out. The first tab the spreadsheet opens on is emergency info, which is also for family so they know what time we are at which place. 

Important on that page is that we’re gathered the addresses in Korean so that when we need help finding our accomodation, people have an easier time understanding the adresses.  It also has a packing list, a food list and a places to visit list. The latter I used very little, because I like to mark things on Google Maps. Only to find out that we cant use Google Maps because it doesnt provide directions in Korea. So I’ve transferred most of my marked locations to Naver Maps.

My most favorite thing about naver maps is that it has streetview that’s 100x better than 

I’ve gone though some travel guides and blogs and marked the things I like on the map. For some cities I’m reading this blog called Colonial Korea and it’s been an eye-opener. I hope it will give me more appreciation for cities people have been saying are not worth our time. So far we’re just looking forward to all the food haha. Tomorrow is our flight.  Like sadea would say ‘awwww yeaaaaaa’.