Busan and Seoul, South Korea Autumn Holidays: 5 days Itinerary

I am finally going to write up our itinarary during our South Korean holiday. I'm sure this will give an idea how much we spent on our stay. Because we went there almost end of November which is sort of autumn and winter season, I suppose prices could get a bit different during other seasons.

Hope this helps!

Click on the photo below for the itinerary and expenses table!

Notes:
1. Most of my shopping expenses are not included. Stuff like pasalubong and personal effects :)
2. We didn't have any expenses for accommodation because we basically did it the Couchsurfing way
3. The expenses for food, transpo and miscellaneous is just a rough approximation. These includes a min of 10000 KRW for transpo per day, 10000 KRW for every meal and 2000 KRW for Misc.

Cheonggyecheon Stream

After the half day tour of DMZ and lunch at Myeongdong, our group decided to walk around the city.

Our first stop is the Cheonggyecheon Stream of C Stream for short. According to our friend Wikipedia:

"is an 8.4 km long, modern public recreation space in downtown Seoul, South Korea. The massive urban renewal project is on the site of a stream that flowed before the rapid post-war economic development required it to be covered by transportation infrastructure. The $900 million project initially attracted much public criticism but, after opening in 2005, has become popular among city residents and tourists." 

It's a very nice sight in the middle of the bustling city. The weather is so fit for a relaxing walk along the stream. There are different things to see. There's an art exhibit, a street performer, lover, friends, children to watch and entertain you. We had fun taking photos and posing as well.

They say it's also nice to see this stream at night. I suppose there was a light show being held here as I noticed some poster about it.

The C-Stream is just a few walking distance from Myeongdong Area. You can follow thru the map if you have the Seoul Guide. At the end of the stream there is a tourist information area. They are very helpful and there wealthy of info guides you can get for free. There's also postcards! Free!

Korail and my first time ride on a Bullet Train

Like many others I'm one of those dreaming of getting that experience of riding a bullet train. Finally, that dream is no longer just a wish.

Going back from Seoul to Busan, we decided to take the Korail or bullet train.

We got our tickets quick and easy by booking the night before thru their website. It's very convenient you just need to check the schedules and pay thru credit card. I didn't even have to print as we didn't have a printer available, so I just took note of the confirmation number.

To book and check for the Korail train schedules, here's the website. http://www.korail.com/. More information are also available in the website.

The one way ticket from Seoul to Busan costed us 46,700 won. It was a discounted fare if you book online instead of buying right from the ticket counter.

So on our third day in Seoul, we went for a morning walk with our host in the nearby market to do some shopping and sight seeing as well. After that, we headed and took our quick lunch before leaving and going back to Busan.

Like what I have been saying, the three days in Seoul is just not enough, we all want to stay longer! It was sad to leave Seoul knowing we haven't seen everything yet.

Anyway, so our train leave at around 3pm we left around 1:30pm to give us enough time for travel. There's a bus from our host's place that stops directly at the Korail terminal.

The train seats are quite spacious. I loved it except that we are seated opposite the train's direction. It might have felt weird but we didn't notice because of the smooth ride. There are also food offered during the duration of our travel. I got coffee and bread for myself.

I also had the chance to take some nap on the way.

Overall, the bullet train was a comfortable ride. It's the quickest way to travel from Seoul to Busan unless you are not too concerned bout the price. :)

The trip back to Busan took only 2 and a half hours. We're back to lovely Busan and we are staying again with our the same hosts the first time we arrived! Can't wait to explore more of Busan!

Failed attempt at finding Myeongdong Exit 2

Part of the adventure in every travel experience is getting lost. While it does take an amount of wasted time, I'm sure our experience at getting lost may still be one of the most fun experiences of our Korean trip. And here's why Myeongdong Exit 2 has been etched deeply in our hearts. ;-)

After heading to the G-Palace on our first day out in Seoul, we decided we will head to the N-Seoul Tower. We have a guide book lent to us by our host. We need to find Myeongdong Exit 2. That's where we need to catch the bus to N-Seoul Tower. We had a couple of hits and miss finding the right way to Myeongdong Exit 2. When we were at the exit we then waited for the bus number to catch but we can't seem to find any of the buses we are supposed to board. We kind of lost our hope and thought to have some dinner first and just continue again with our quest.

We had a wonderful dinner at some random Korean resto. I had one of my favorite bibimbap.

After dinner, we decided to walk on further and maybe just check out other stuff around. We accidentally dropped by the Dongdaemun Market. We decided to head to N-Seoul tower the next day and walked through the market to shop for stuff to take back home.

It was a very lively market and there's all sorts of stuff to buy. We just got a bit of hard time haggling. But all is good, I got good stuff for souvenirs such as keychains, pens and chopsticks. Most of the stuff that I got sell for 10,000 won.

After getting tired of the walking we also went for night snacks at the food stalls in the area. We may have failed at finding the way to N-Seoul Tower, but hey it wasn't a bad day at all.

Gyeongbokgung Palace

The first stop in our Seoul-searching day is the Gyeongbokgung Palace.

We took the train and stopped at Gyeongbokgung station.

 

Gyeongbokgung, also known as Gyeongbokgung Palace or Gyeongbok Palace, is a royal palace located in northern Seoul, South Korea. First constructed in 1394 and reconstructed in 1867, it was the main and largest palace of the Five Grand Palaces built by the Joseon Dynasty. The name of the palace, Gyeongbokgung, translates in English as "Palace of Shining Happiness."
Nearly destroyed by the Japanese government in the early 20th century, the walled palace complex is slowly being restored to its original form prior to destruction. As of 2009, roughly 40 percent of the original number of palace buildings still stand or are reconstructed. - from Wikipedia 

We had a great time taking photos at the G-Palace. Plus we were in time to catch the changing of guards which happens every hour. There were a lot of tourist as well so yeah, it was a challenge to get a photo without them at the background. We didn't try to go inside the palace since it's already about to close in an hour. We just then sufficed ourselves with the views outside and...photo op with the Korean guards and police!

It was awesome to see right in the middle of bustling city, a temple such as this. I'm quite mesmerized that it is well maintained and tourist friendly and accessible - very near the train station.

We walked across to find more wonderful sights to see and yes to celebrate our freedom to be camera happy!

Seoul Searching

South Korea is such a big surprise for me. I thought I would only be interested because I just wanted to try skiing. But I was totally wrong. I liked it more than the skiing - which I actually didn't get to try.

Anyway, there's so much to see in Busan, let alone Seoul. So I made a promise to go back to make sure I cover all of the places we missed. Promise!

On our first day in Seoul, we basically just decided to head to the city and visit the temple and perhaps wherever our feet could take us. Although I had sketched a plan, we didn't follow it since we got up quite late and well, we just want to take our time. Haha. But yeah, we could have covered more if we stick to it.

We went around Kim's Club, which is a nice grocery full of nice find. We should have shopped here before we went back to Busan.

Before we head to the tour, we decided to grab breakfast at a nearby food court before heading out to the city.

I just have to get my quick coffee fix!

Free Shuttle from Busan to Seoul

A few weeks after I have booked our ticket, we started to research about our plans for the trip and got the information about their free shuttle. This is a great help for us since we don't want to spend too much on transpo.

So we checked the website and it was very easy to reserve a seat. There's a catch though. You may reserve but the seat will not be confirmed until two weeks before your trip and passengers are actually chosen by drawing lots. A few months passed and lucky enough we got the confirmation.

For more information on the free shuttle and other treats from South Korea's Visit Korea Year, go to the following site: Free Shuttle - VISIT Korea Year

After our quick tour around Busan on our first day, we head to Seomyon to grab a quick lunch at the mall's food court.

 

After that fulfilling lunch we walked to Lotte World Hotel's lobby to wait for the shuttle bus. We waited a few minutes and the bus arrived. It was time to leave Busan for a while.

I'd say the getting the shuttle bus was very convenient. It was our quick chance at getting some rest after a day of wandering in Busan.

We had one stop over to get some food and toilet-break. After around five hours we then arrived in a rather colder Seoul.

From central Seoul, we need to get to the train and head to our host's place.

 

We got to meet another CS'er named, Paul, near Cheolsan station. He brought us to a nice Korean place to have dinner.

It was a great night. We had fun with the Soju game. We also tried some shooting game and the 3D ride.

After dinner we head to his place to take some rest. We definitely can't wait for the next day to explore Seoul.

The Surprise that is South Korea

The first and foremost reason I wanted to go to South Korea is to catch the winter season! I suppose it is the closest country I could get to to fulfill this wish. It's been a long time dream to finally see, feel and experience winter and snow. When I learned that South Korea is also one of Cebu Pacific's destination, I promised myself I'd find a way to book a promo fare when I get that chance.

And the chance came last February of 2011. Cebu Pacific offered 70% off on limited international destinations. What's cool is that, I'm not travelling alone and I got a bunch of travel hippies with me from CS Manila. It was another long wait, I tell you. But as I always say, the wait is definitely worth it!

Ok, so we booked and I realised we've booked it a few days early for their winter season. Anyhow, it didn't break my excitement. South Korea is still South Korea and I'm heading there with or without snow!

The big trip happened on the 23rd of November. We arrived in Busan and then to headed to Seoul too.

Well, it took a while to put up and prepare everything.

Firstly, we need the visa. It is good that South Korea do not charge fee for Filipinos applying for tourist visa. You only need to pass the required documents, wait for a few days and then claim it at the embassy. Easy! I'll get a separate post about the visa application for you curious kiddos! But the best bet of course is to head to their website for latest information.

As I mentioned, I travelled with my CS friends. And yes we all decided, we went CouchSurfing in Busan and Seoul. This is my second time CouchSurfing overseas. It's definitely a great experience.

In summary, we almost spent 2 days in Busan and 3 days in Seoul. BUT, it wasn't really enough! I have made another promise to myself I will go back! :)

Follow through the next posts for the details of my trip in Busan and Seoul.

Last one for today

 photo credit: http://www.greenisland.com.sg/holidays/images/korea_oz_01.jpg

I am definitely thinking again of planing to travel to South Korea! Gosh I can't help it...

I remember and thank God, I got me some miles I can redeem to get free flight tickets and guess what probably before the year ends, I could just be lucky enough to put up the required miles to set me on foot to Seoul and experience snow this December! OMG

I could be dreaming but no I'm not...when I say I will go...then I will...by hook or by crook LOL

I've actually been looking up hotels to stay in Seoul. That's how excited I am. And I'm so full of life when I think about traveling again. Maybe it's the feeling of finding out something I don't know or experiencing getting lost that makes me so addicted to traveling. But what do I do. I feel excited when I think about going somewhere. I feel giddy when I look at hotels, comparing the rates, finding out it's cheaper than the other hotels, seeing beautiful photos of places I've never been to, reading reviews about good and bad travel experiences. I'm thinking maybe I was a tourist guide on my past life!

Anyway, enough of this. I'm now concentrating on making sure I got enough of those miles to make me go to SK!

And if that happens, wow, my 2010 is such a blast to having been in 2 int'l destinations! Thailand and South Korea...

Thank you Lord. I'm so blessed. =)