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Seoul- A quick stopover

  • Writer: Tara Larkai
    Tara Larkai
  • May 8, 2016
  • 4 min read

What happens when you mix Taiwan with Hong Kong? Well you would probably get a beautiful country like South Korea. Some may disagree but having visited Taiwan and Hong Kong, the city of Seoul has a high tech atmosphere like Hong Kong as well as a rich diverse culture like Taiwan. But that is not all that South Korea has to offer. Its charm is made of mountainous views, beautiful islands, temples and unique landmarks and not to mention their great food that will satisfy any foodie’s taste buds.

Despite all this, South Korea is not frequented by tourist like other Asian countries are, such as Thailand, Hong Kong and Philippines. Perhaps, it has something to do with their bordering country? I only got to see a little of South Korea but I can truly say that it is worth a visit so if it’s not on your bucket list, maybe you should consider it.

I am not sure how big they have been on tourism in the past but it seems like they are putting out all the stops to get more people to visit. Asiana airlines had one of those good flight deals that couldn’t be passed up so Chloe, myself and Jackson couldn’t resist but purchase a ticket to Manila with a stopover in South Korea. The deal was from JFK to Manila for less than $500. Great right? Asiana also takes it a step further by offering free shuttle rides to JFK from neighboring states. But of course we did not find out until we had made that 2-hour drive from Philadelphia to JFK, paid for 8-day parking at one of the airport parking spots and paid ridiculous tolls. These are things that you cannot find on google. This sets Asiana apart from other airlines. Although, it’s hard to tell what other airlines offer these kinds of perks but I will certainly be looking into it every time I have to fly from a different airport.

With a 15-hour layover in Incheon, we couldn’t pass up the opportunity to see what Seoul was all about. The only disappointing part of it all was that we could not find any useful information online before our visit. Incheon airport offers free Transit tours to parts of South Korea. This is unheard of. We had no idea until we arrived but we already had hotel reservations and a detailed itinerary planned by a great friend for our short time in Seoul.

Another thing, we found out the hard way was how far Incheon is from Seoul. It’s about an hour and a half to 2 hours to Seoul depending on traffic. A taxi to Seoul will set you back about $50 to $60. That is what we did but what we did not know or look into was the bus to the city. There are lots of buses to other parts of South Korea for only $10. We were told to take a bus by one of the airport attendants but we thought it would be more like a city bus with plenty of stops so it would take forever. It’s quite the opposite. The buses are more like big tour buses with AC and very comfortable. The only stops they make are in the city at various hotels and landmarks. S.Korea is not as cheap as other Asian countries so this is the most economical way to get to Seoul.

We landed at 4:30 pm and after check-in to the hotel, it was around 8 pm and our flight to Manila was 8 am the next morning. We did not have much time to do everything on our list. We visited the Gyeongbokgung palace which was of course closed but we were able to take pictures in front of it.

We hired a taxi to drive us around and gave us a mini tour of the city. We got to see the night vibe of Seoul which was beautiful with bright lights and tall buildings. We ended our night at Myeongdong shopping district. Myeongdong is probably one of the busiest shopping areas in Seoul that hosts rows and rows of cosmetic and clothing shops as well as street food hawkers at night. You will find the same shops several times as you walk through the market. We saw at least 3 H & M shops in different sections of the district. I am sure you know Korea is known for good cosmetics so the cosmetic shops there can be overwhelming. I did not even know where to look. There is plenty to choose from so for the makeup junkie, you are in for a treat. Our favorite part was the food...we were able to sample a variety of Korean dishes, all of which were yummy. This is a must do when in Seoul. It’s not a typical night market that stays open all night. They do close at 11pm which of course we did not know. We were suckered into getting a massage at one of the massage parlors in Myeongdong thinking that we could resume our food tour immediately after but to our surprise majority of the hawkers were closed when we returned after 11pm. Bummer!

Getting a taxi back to the hotel was as difficult as the time when we couldn’t find a taxi in Guadeloupe. Not because there was a lack of them but they wouldn’t stop. Not sure if it was because it was late and they were rushing home or because they just didn’t want to stop for us. After 30 minutes of hopelessness, a private taxi stopped for us but of course he charged us 3 times the amount because he knew we would not find another taxi to take us. It was all part of the adventures after all.

If I were to do another stopover in Incheon, I would take advantage of the airport transit tour instead. One of their tours covers the palace, Myeongdong and other famous landmarks. Incheon airport also offer free transit lounges to shower and sleep eliminating the need for a hotel. We could have saved a lot of money by doing this.

Well that's all for our Seoul tales. Stay tuned for our very interesting Filipino tales.

Happy Travelling.

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Over 3 years ago, I was invited by my cousin to tour Taipei, Hong Kong and Macau. This trip completely changed my life and made me realize the small space in the world that I occupy and have been on a global journey to see the world ever since. I started this blog to share my travel experiences and stories with people and hopefully inspire them to travel.  I love visiting understated countries and cities because in my experience they end up being hidden gems.  I have visited 32  countries and 42 US states. 

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