Fall in South Korea
In Oct 2013, I traveled to South Korea with my sister. We wanted to take a guided tour from a travel agency, but that got cancelled due to miscommunication. Looking back, that was actually a good thing because we wouldn't have done so many things on this trip if we had taken that tour.
If you're traveling without a tour and do not speak Korean, I recommend you get a general idea of how you will travel between places before you reach. For free translation service at any time (24 hours and 7 days a week), call the Tourist Information Hotline 1330 [We did not use this service though so can't comment on how good it is].
We rented an Olleh WiBro Pocket Wifi device so we would have Wifi coverage in most of the areas we were traveling to. We reserved one here and then picked it up at the Olleh airport counter. Then we used the Google Translate app on our phones to converse with locals where no one spoke English.We found that in Seoul usually the younger generation would speak English but in Jeju it was difficult finding anyone who did.
Here is our itinerary in a nutshell -
Day 1 - Arrive in Seoul, take bus to Sokcho
Day 2 - Sunrise Point, Beach, Mount Seoraksan, bus at night back to Seoul
Day 3 - Gyeongbokgung Palace, Nami Island
Day 4 - JSA & DMZ tour, flight to Jeju
Day 5 - Jeongbang Falls, Sangumburi Crater, Manjanggul Lava Tubes, Seongsan sunrise peak, Seopjikoji Day 6 - Oedolgae, Yakcheonsa Temple, Jusangjeolli Cliffs, Trick Art Museum, Cheonjiyeon Falls, Seonim-gyo Bridge, Suweolbong (to see the sunset)
Day 7 - Seogwipo Submarine, Nanta Show
Day 8 - Flight back to Seoul, shopping at the airport, return to Singapore
Day 1 - Seoul to Sokcho
We took the subway from the Airport to Gangbyeon Station. If you find the subway system confusing use this link to figure out the route. It took us some time to find the Dong Bus Terminal when we got out of the station because we had to find someone who spoke English, to point us in the right direction. You can use this blog as a guide to reach Sokcho. Buses ply half hourly between Seoul and Sokcho. The bus ride took around 3.5 hours. By the time we reached Sokcho, the sun was setting. We stayed at Goodstay Ritzcal Hotel in Sokcho. The staff did not know much English so we used Google translate to converse with them. They were friendly and tried to help as much as possible.
Taken from our taxi on the way to the hotel |
Day 2 - Sokcho and Seoraksan
SOKCHO
We left early the next morning to catch the sunrise at Sunrise Point. Unfortunately it was cloudy. Most shops/restaurants were closed at this point so we had to wait before getting breakfast.
Sunrise at Sunrise Point |
Windy and beautiful Sokcho Beach! |
It was the best non-Bibimbap meal yet! |
If you're going to mount Seoraksan and especially on a weekend, get there REALLY early and buy the cable car tickets. We got there around 9.30 am. The earliest cable car tickets available were for 2.45 pm!! I'm guessing travel agencies buy the morning ones out early because there seemed to be a lot of tour groups there.
The park itself is gorgeous and has some awesome hiking trails and courses. But we were short on time and our main goal was to see fall colours (without hiking to the top of the mountain), so we waited till our turn came to board the cable car. In the meantime we visited the Sinheungsa Temple and walked around the beautiful park landscape.
The giant Buddha at Sinheungsa |
Sinheungsa Temple |
Beautiful paintings on the temple roof |
Walking around Mt Seoraksan National Park |
Fall colours at Mt. Seoraksan! |
Gwongeumseong Fortress |
It is fairly steep. Ropes to-hold-on-to are available at the most difficult part of the climb. |
Customised vegetarian noodles! |
Day 3 - Gyeongbokgung Palace & Nami Island
Since we had limited time in Seoul, we picked one palace to visit. Gyeongbokgung Palace has a free "Royal clothing Experience" and we got there just in time before it closed. We had 5 minutes to pose in the royal clothes. :D
Royally dressed! Gyeongbokgung Palace |
Changing of Royal Guard, Gyeongbokgung Palace |
Day 4 - JSA & DMZ Tour
The pavement-height line in front of the soldiers is the border. The white building is in North Korea. You could cut the tension in the air with a knife here! |
Before you can enter the JSA area you need to sign a release saying you will not hold S. Korea or USA responsible if you get into any trouble and you're going in at your own risk.
In hindsight the only thing worth our time was the JSA tour. Skip the DMZ tour, especially if you're short on time.