Fourth trip : South Korea Part 1

  Hello everyone! Welcome back to Miami is traveling. J

South Korea, 9-15 Jan 2016

Expense

Plane ticket 10500 Baht

Subway ticket including bus to Incheon Airport 1500 Baht

Food and beverage approximately 3000 Baht

Tour to DMZ 2700 Baht

Others including buses to Gyeongju, Daegu and Anyang 5300 Baht

Total 23000 Baht

Day 1, 9 Jan 2016
Time: 06.00 a.m. - 07.00 p.m.

 Route: Don Mueang International Airport --> Incheon International Airport, Korea
 --> Daewha Station --> Mark’s Apartment

My flight was departed at 7.20 a.m. so I had to be at the airport around 6.00 a.m. Everything went so great and I finally arrived at Incheon International Airport, Korea at 3.00 p.m. local time but then problem came. I've heard before that Korean Immigration is very hard to pass, most of people were sending back to Thailand and finally here I am, with the immigrant officer. There are many what if questions in my mind, I was so nervous. First What if they send me back to Thailand? What if information that I put on the paper is incorrect or it's not the same that the immigrant office has. Will they send me home? 3 hours with this immigrant process was freaking me out. The immigrant asked me so many questions, for example what my occupation is, why I come here and where I want to visit in Seoul. I strongly believed if I tell them the truth that I come here for traveling not working, they will understand. Finally they let me go at 5.30 p.m. and it's dark outside and I meant it. First thing I suggested you to do when you arrived Korea is buying T-Money card. As you know, public transportation requires this card ( you can buy it by using money and buy ticket at the machine but using T-Money can safe 10% each time )  Find the way back to Mark's Home is not too hard, first of all I took a bus 3300 from Incheon International Airport  to Daewha Station and then took a bus 057 which come every 10 minutes to his apartment area.

Mark cooked an amazing spaghetti meatballs! His home is also amazing and I met with cute Thai girl P'Pink, she is so nice, she gave me so many advises and also I'm so happy to be here with these kind people. You may wondering who is Mark and why I stay with him. I used Coachsurfing; you can try it, and Mark sent me messages, we talked about 1 month and I decided to stay with him. It’s my first time to stay with stranger especially in other country but I have a positive feeling that Mark is a good man, I can trust him and I was right. South Korea is greeting me with -6 Celsius woo what a fantastic day! J

Day 2, 10 Jan 2016

Time: 06.30 a.m. – 08.30 p.m.

Route: Daehwa station --> Gyeongbokgung Palace --> National Palace Museum
--> The Blue house --> National Folk Museum of Korea --> Bukchon Village
--> Changgyeonggung Palace --> Secret Garden --> Changdeokgung Palace 
--> Monument of Wongaksa temple --> Palagakjeong Pavilion --> Heuninjimun
--> Cheong Gye Cheon --> Myeongdong Market --> Dongdaemun Design Plaza (DDP) 
--> Daehwa Station

I can say that today is such an official day in Korea because I went to many famous places in Seoul. The first place is decided to go to Gyeongbokgung Palace, it took 40 mins by subway from where I stayed, but the place is very near Gyeongbokgung station. I bought a combination ticket which cost 10000 won about 9 $ I think that if want to visit many palaces, the combination ticket would be a great choice. Each palace may cost around 3000 won 3$ but each palaces will also have gardens and you also have to buy another ticket if you want to entrance. This palace is a like a main place in Korea and it’s very big. It would be great if you know some history about Korea dynasty and I suggested you to go with a free tour guide. They have free tour guide but you have to check what time the tour will start. This palace is so big that they has 2 museums inside! The first one National Palace Museum and the second one is National Folk Museum of Korea, both of them are free. One of the good things I’ve learnt in Korea is we don’t need to pay for museum. This is the best thing so far. If we walk through Gyeongbokgung Palace will find The Blue house or the President's residence but what I can see is the far far way Blue house. You can get a chance to see the Blue house inside but you have to book it through the government website at least 2 weeks before. After explored and appreciated how beautiful the Gyeongbokgung Palace is. 

It’s time to move to another place. The next place is Bukchon Village, I actually dropped by the way to Changgyeonggung Palace. By the way Bukchon Village is where you can enjoy food. Not only Korean food but also Western food and one of the most popular food there is Churros. I can say that the way to Changgyeonggung Palace is not that hard. The fact that each palaces is close to each other and you can also change from place to place by walking. However, if you are tired, you can also take subway “Anguk Station” but I walked to there. I used map.me application in order to find a way from Gyeongbokgung Palace  to Changgyeonggung Palace. During my journey there was one Korean man came and asked me where I want to go. He said that he is a policeman and he shows his ID card, at first I was so afraid but he is so nice even though he cannot speak English but we can communicate! When I arrived at Changgyeonggung Palace, this man also went inside with me and he told me some history about this place by using body language. It feels so great when I can understand about the palace’s history and also have a new friend to walk with. There is one big garden in Changgyeonggung Palace and this place called Secret Garden. The truth is that Secret Garden 2/3 of the area of Changgyeonggung Palace. I got a chance to explore Secret Garden with English guide, so I can understand what is it for. Plus, if you did not buy a combination ticket you have to pay for an entrance ticket which cost about 3000 won or 3 $ but for combination ticket, it’s free. The tour took 1 hour and a half. 

Then I went to Changdeokgung Palace. This palace is actually inside Changgyeonggung Palace. Ok I think that I am a little bit confusing with the palace name now. I had a chance to walk around Changdeokgung Palace about 30 minutes and I found out that this palace has one long building which has shown on the photo. I walked around and I went to a pine garden. 

 I decided to go to Jongmyo Shrine but unfortunately, I got lost so I didn’t have a chance to there. Plan has changed, after checking the map, I realized that Cheong Gye Cheon is very near where I was so I walked to that place but on the way to Cheong Gye Cheon, I accidentally found Monument of Wongaksa temple, Palagakjeong Pavilion, Heuninjimun. These 3 places are at the same park. I stayed there for an hour and then it’s to move on. 

Cheong Gye Cheon is the place that my Korea’s travel book recommended me to go! They said there are many shops along the stream. I can see some ducks swim J I arrived at Cheong Gye Cheon around 6 pm. So many shops were closed already. I walked for 20 minutes with a beautiful view along the stream and a nice weather. 

Then I arrived at Myeongdong Market. This place is very fashionable because it is the main place for tourists who interested in fashion, souvenirs, food and people. I can literally say that I want to spend a whole day at Myeondong Market for sure. After that, just across the big street I accidentally found Dongdaemun Design Plaza (DDP). It is a must for me. The DDP is like UFO in my opinion. It is very big and amazing. I was wondering how people can build this amazing construction! The high light there are design plaza. This place allow any designers who need inspiration or friend or food or anything that you want but you at a normal people like me can also explore this place or maybe take a cup of tea there also! Another place is LED Flowers. This is OMG. I found this places through my friends and I do really want to go there too and finally here I am. In front of LED flowers.