Travel experiences across the world
This was my last day in Busan, my last day in Korea -but not quite my last day on holiday, because I’m stopping in Tokyo for a couple of days before I head back to Europe! So, today was mostly about tying up loose ends. With another gloriously sunny morning outside, temperatures rising to a… Continue reading Beomeosa, Seomyeon, Samgwangsa
I feel like I spent all day on a bus! Prepare to be RIVETED by all the flavors of public transport in Busan. This morning I took it extra easy, because I’ve realized I simply don’t have that many things to do here. All the accounts I’d read online were very vocal about three days… Continue reading Haeundae, Haedong Yonggungsa, Shinsegae
What a strange, forgotten sensation, to walk outside and simply… not be cold! At this rate I’m going to be overdressed! For my first day in Busan, I decided to start with an iconic sight: Gamcheon Village! Originally, Gamcheon started as a slum of houses for post-war refugees, draped along the slopes of a hill.… Continue reading Gamcheon Village, BIFF Square, Haebyeon Beach
Today was not a particularly productive day! I had to make the trip to Busan, and I already saw everything there is to see in Gyeongju and then some, so my initial plan was to make the trip early. I was about to text my Airbnb host to ask if maybe I could check in… Continue reading Bus to Busan
Today’s morning plan was another out-of-town excursion: this one to Yangdong Folk Village, a Joseon-era village north of Gyeongju that is famous for its preserved thatched-roof houses. There are a bunch of buses that connect the Gyeongju bus terminal with Yangdong, but I discovered in shock that their frequency is… once every three hours! I… Continue reading Yangdong Folk Village, Cheomseongdae Observatory, Woljeonggyo Bridge
I took things slow this morning! Partly because there are fewer things to see and do in Gyeongju than in Seoul (I realize that’s true of most places!) so I feel less pressure to get stuff done, but also partly because a damned mosquito kept waking me up all through the night and I wasn’t… Continue reading Bulguksa, National Museum of Gyeongju
I’ve been so lucky with the weather so far, if you don’t count the unseasonably cold temperatures: it’s been sunny every day, until this morning, when it was rainy in Seoul just as I was getting ready to leave. There are a number of ways to cross South Korea, including various regional trains and buses;… Continue reading KTX to Gyeongju, Daereungwon Tombs
Today is my last day in Seoul, so I wanted to make sure I tied up any loose ends: I don’t want to leave regretting not finishing my to-see list! Thankfully, because I’ve been organizing my trip by areas, most of the places I had left were roughly in the same corner of Seoul. I… Continue reading Itaewon, Dongdaemun, Gangnam
Today I decided to go to Suwon, site of an 18th century fortress, to the south of Seoul. Despite the considerable distance (I think about 35 km?), it is in fact reachable by subway. Things got immediately confusing because subway line 1, as it happens, has eight different platforms, and none of them listed the… Continue reading Suwon, National Museum of Korea, N Seoul Tower
As I was saying, today I got up terribly early due to the jetlag, so I was able to see the smoggy sunrise from my apartment. The weather app listed a frightful -4°C, although by the time I left a few hours later the temperature listed a comparatively balmy 1°C! I’m getting a lot of… Continue reading Mangwon Market, Cheonggyecheon, Myeongdong
