This year,
my course mates and I wanted to make our graduation trip special. Instead of
travelling locally, as was the case for the past few
semester breaks, we decided to travel a little farther away. South Korea appeared
to be very appealing to us, due to the attractive promotional deals from Air
Asia X, besides offering us a different cultural experience in Asia. Visiting
South Korea had always been on my bucket list, not because of the Korean wave, also
known as hallyu that hit the shores of
Malaysia, despite being a former fanatic of Choi Siwon, back in the days when
Super Junior dominated the K-pop industry. My
perspective about the country has widened; I have grown to be more appreciative
of the many other facets about South Korea. For one, I really admire South Korea’s unique cultural
identity, where the country’s population is homogeneous,
which points to a common language, culture, and tradition. In
recent years, their own unique culture has been impacting
other cultures worldwide, as we can see the South Korean pop culture
influencing many industries across the
globe, such as fashion and cosmetics, to name a few. This has indeed made K-pop a global force.
In this
post, I will be writing about the overview of our 10D 9N stay in South Korea. Chronologically,
we spent three days in Busan, two days in Jeju, and five days in Seoul. I
will delve into the details of each locale in the
upcoming blog entries.
Gwangalli Beach
Transportation
Our plans
for the graduation trip started with the amazing deals
spotted on Air Asia’s website last year. After much consideration, we booked
our flights (KL-Busan & Seoul-KL) from 12th August to 21st
August 2016. The flight tickets were much cheaper during summer, despite there
usually being a surge of tourists in South Korea
during that season. Most of them were locals.
Well, Koreans seem to love the sun, unlike us. We also decided to travel to
Jeju Island, as a South Korean trip would not seem to be complete without this
popular vacation spot. Travelling to Jeju-do from the mainland by flight is the
most easy, fuss-free, and convenient way, especially for foreign tourists
who are not familiar with the directions and the surroundings, as advised by my
Korean friend from Busan. Apparently, getting to Jeju-do by ferry is quite a
hassle as the distance to the jetty is pretty far from Busan city, despite
being the cheapest mode of transport to the island. Luckily for us, we managed to
book our flights with an affordable price (Busan-Jeju & Jeju-Seoul) from
Eastar Jet Airlines.
Getting
around in Busan and Seoul by public transport was very much convenient, to my
surprise. I was pleasantly surprised, probably
because of my natural lack of faith in the efficiency and
punctuality of the public transport back in Malaysia. Seoul, of course provided a more
convenient mode of transport compared to South Korea’s second largest city,
Busan. In Busan, the places of interest are pretty far from each other, and longer hours of
travelling are needed. We took both subways and buses, and mostly, interchanged
subway lines were required. The buses were reasonably fast, as I do not recall
waiting for more than 15 minutes. We used the T-money card, a
transportation card that can be used to pay fares for subways, buses, and some
city cabs/ taxis in Korea. There are actually many types of
transportation cards available, and you can
read more about them here.
The T-money card can be reloaded and refunded if there is balance. For
getting around in Busan, you might want to consider the Busan City Tour buses if you are
very much interested to go to places like museums and historical sites.
In Seoul,
be prepared for a lot of walking and climbing many flights of stairs! Their
subway station is huge, and a lot of walking is required even
during transferring subway lines. And there was even a travellator in the
subway station. I thought those only existed in airports.
In Jeju, we
booked a driving guided tour provided by Yeha Guesthouse, as that was the
easiest way to get around in Jeju, unless you want to experience driving
around to explore the island freely. For this
guided tour, you can choose to have your
guide speak in Mandarin or English, and on a side note, the
Mandarin speaking tour offers a cheaper rate. The great thing is, you
can come up with your own itinerary and let your tour guide know which places
you would like to visit. You may even plan your itinerary with the suggestions
given by the tour guide.
Accommodation
Throughout
our journey in Korea, we stayed in 4 different hotels. We looked up many hotels
and guesthouses in many accommodation service platforms that were
offering their best rates.
For our
lodging in Busan, we stayed at Goodstay Queen Motel in Seogu for two nights. We
picked the traditional Korean ondoi room, which accommodated all six of us. Staying
in this motel is bang for your buck, and it was
the most inexpensive stay we had in South Korea. It was
quite convenient to go to a few attractions (Songdo beach, Gamcheon Cultural
Village, Jagalchi market) as there was a bus stop nearby, considering that most
places we visited were quite far apart from each other.
Goodstay Queen Motel
Address: 11, 82 Bun-gil, Chungmudae-ro, Seo-gu,
Jung-gu, Busan, South Korea
We
stayed at different hotels- the
first one (Kkodak Kkodak) was
in Seogwipo and
for the next one (Hostel Lyndon),
in Jeju city.
The
latter hotel
is near to the airport (this made it easier for our next
flight to Seoul). On our first night in Jeju, we stayed at Kkodak Kkodak
Guesthouse in Seogwipo. The place was comfy and not as posh as you imagine it
to be, but with a
decent price for one night and a
free breakfast (toast & jam), it was already more than enough.
Kkodak Kkodak Guesthouse
Address: Seogwi-dong, Seogwipo City,
Jeju-do, South Korea
We checked
in at Hostel Lyndon for our stay on the second night on Jeju island. And I must say, this was the best stay I had ever
experienced throughout the trip! Located in Jeju city, this hostel provided a very cosy and homely atmosphere, which gave us a warm welcome. In addition, it also offers privileges
such as happy hour (free drinks for a limited time), free breakfast, free
printing services, and even free international calls for a limited time! This
tourist-friendly hostel also has a common room that was creatively decorated
with the messages of its previous residents, and a world map pinboard showing former
visitors from all around the world.
Hostel Lyndon
Address:
278 Seogwang-ro,
Jeju-si, Jeju-do, South Korea
We spent the following nights at YaKorea Hostel
Dongdaemun in Seoul. Located nearby the Cheonggu subway station, this hostel enabled us to get around in Seoul
conveniently. The rooms were clean and comfy, and the staff were helpful and
friendly in aiding us throughout our stay.
YaKorea Hostel
Address: Sindang 5(o)-dong, Jung-gu, Seoul, South Korea
Expenses
Below is a brief summary of the basic expenses we spent individually.
This excludes shopping expenses. All values are in approximation and the initial conversion
rate was 1000 won ~ RM 3.54. Note that the prices could be
different now, as the current conversion rate is 1000 won ~RM 3.60.
Flight tickets KLIA2-Busan & Seoul to KLIA2: RM 550
Flight tickets from Busan to Jeju & Jeju to Seoul: RM 365
Jeju tour: 80 000 won (~ RM 283.20)
Transport in Busan &Seoul: 58 000 won (~RM 205.32)
Food: 105 000 won for 10 days (~RM371.70)
Admission fees: 42 000 won (~RM148.68)
Miscellaneous: 30 000 won (~RM106.20)
Busan accommodation: RM 95 for 2 nights
Jeju accommodations: Kkodak kkodak Guesthouse 16 571 won (~RM58.66)
Hostel Lyndon 22 857 won (~ RM 80.91)
Seoul accommodation (5 nights): 75 000 won (~RM 265.50)
Total RM 2530.17
Preparation prior to the trip
Based on my experience, it is always better to conduct multiple researches
on the details (reviews, directions, and admission fees) of the places that
you desire to visit. It does save a lot of time while on
your
trip. However, things do not usually go with the plan and our journey was not
as simple as we expected. For instance, google maps did not really work (it
worked occasionally though) for short distances (which only requires walking)
in
Korea. Despite feeling tired searching for the place on foot, I
did find it adventurous in getting lost and also found excitement in asking the locals
for directions.
It has always been my nature to be very organised and prepared, especially
when it comes to important events. Unless you love spontaneity and would like
to have random adventures, you may just go ahead without
worrying too much.
Prior to the trip, do sign up as a member at the Korea Tourism
Organisation Malaysia website and get hold of a booklet that
contains discount coupons for your trip to South Korea. You
may also download additional shopping vouchers (though most of them could not
be used due to the change of policy) at the website.
Lastly, now that it is summer, bring sun block that has the highest SPF
possible. Unless, you want to have a nice tan, which I have and I’m proud of it :)
Itinerary
Day 1
Flew to Busan-Jagalchi Market- Haeundae Beach-Obanjang
Korean BBQ-Shinsegae Department Store
Haeundae Beach
Day 2
Gamcheon Cultural Village- BIFF Square-Yongdusan Park- Gwangalli Beach
Gamcheon Cultural Village
Gwangalli Beach
Day 3
Flew to Jeju- Jeju Loveland- O´sulloc Tea
Museum-Cheonjeyeon Falls & Seonimgyo Bridge- Jusangjeolli Cliff
Tea Plantation @ O'sulloc Tea Museum
Jusangjeolli Cliff
Day 4
Jeju Folk Village-Seopjikoji- Seongsan Ilchulbong- Manjanggul Cave-Kimnyeong Maze
Park
Jeju Folk Village
Seopjikoji
Manjanggul Lava Tube
Day 5
Flew to Seoul-Ehwa Womans University & fashion street
-Hongdae- Lotte Mart at Seoul Station
Ehwa Womans University
Day 6
Bukchon
Hanok Village-Gyeongbokgung Palace-Insadong- Cheonggyecheon Stream
Gyeongbokgung Palace
Day
7
Myeongdong-Namsam
Tower
Namsan Tower
Night view of Seoul
Day
8
Nami
Island-Petite France-Han River
Nami Island
Day
9
LINE
Friends Store & Café in Gangnam- Express Bus Terminal Underground Shopping
Centre- Dongdaemun Design Plaza
LED roses @Dongdaemun Design Plaza
Day
10
Returned to Malaysia from Seoul
this post makes me wanna visit Busan! such a great place to be in!
ReplyDeleteNeed to go one day. thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteNeed to experience Seoul one day. As I prepare, I already look for Seoul vacation rentals here in eGetinnz.
ReplyDelete