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Marvelous Korea

Aug 27 2007 | Views 2701 | Comments (38)

When my manager told me that my next assignment will be in South Korea for the next 6 months I was q... Expand

When my manager told me that my next assignment will be in South Korea for the next 6 months I was quick to do a Google study. I was going to Republic of Korea, with an area of around 99,373sq km and a population of around 48,000,000. Seoul, the capital city had hosted the 1986 Asian Games and the 1988 Summer Olympics. Language was a problem as officially only Korean is spoken, and religion wise, though Christianity and Buddhism are followed; most of them are non believers. Nevertheless the work profile and the magic of the foreign land beckoned me.

On landing at the Seoul Kimpo International airport in the late evening, we quickly advanced our watches by 3.5 hours (Time zone is GMT +9). The weekends for the next 6 months were dedicated to exploring the enchanting place which is a fine blend of cultural heritage and technology. Since Suwon (where we were stationed) is one of the safest cities in the world, venturing out in the late evening was perfectly safe.

The country is close knit by bus services and well planned subway trains. Forts and palaces around the city are a common sight. One of my early visits was to the Hwaseong Fortress in Suwon which is one of an outstanding example of early modern military architecture. One tower which you can spot from almost all parts of Seoul is the SeoulTower. Ride the Namsan cable car up the mountain, and a small walk up brings you to the 777ft tower having four observation desks & restaurants with a full view of Seoul as the backdrop.

View at Suwon Fort

People here are very friendly and they go out of they way to help you out. They give lot of respect to Indians and talk about our country as a land of Indira Gandhi & Mahatma Gandhi & proudly say Namaste to us. They are health conscious and Taekwondo is very popular martial arts from a very young age. Though the culture has been a lot influenced by the western countries, they still maintain their traditional touch.

We went to the various recreational complexes SeoulGrandPark, Lotte World etc. One day is too less a time to explore all the rides and fun attractions of these parks. MagicLand, Skating rings, Korean folk museum are all part of these parks. It is decorated all around the year with carnivals marking the festival of the season. Dont forget to enjoy the Gyrodrop where you would be taken up slowly 70+metres above to relish the scenery and then dropped down in 2-3 seconds. I literally saw my whole life in a flash in those 2 seconds. Winter time opens up numerous ski-ing resorts with beautiful steep mountains filled with snow. I had experienced the first snow fall of my life here it was indeed an unforgettable moment. Try having an ice-cream when it snows. Its an amazing experience. Temperature ranges from -20 to +30 degree Celsius.

Skeing at Yangji Pine Resort

DMZ De-Militarized Zone is situated in the border of North and South Korea. The 4 kilometers wide strip of land straddling the 151 mile long Military Demarcation Line, the DMZ is the worlds most heavily fortified border. We brought our passports as this region is forbidden for people of certain countries. This untouched land (with lot of hidden land-mines) is definitely a dangerously beautiful area. The memories of the soldiers who have died in the wars have been brought to life in the War Memorial at Korea. It is perhaps one of the biggest war museums in the world which displays the history of Korean War and a variety of war crafts and artifacts used over the years.

The interest to peep into the history of Korea took us to the Suwon folk village. This is more like a theme park with the architecture of a 19th century Korean village. We can witness old artisans working on traditional labors such as weaving, pottery, farming etc. Its a real huge place with a big food market & folks shows (like a traditional wedding ceremony) at frequent intervals.

Scene from Namdaemun market

Spring time brings with it the beautiful cherry blossom blooms. The roads will be decorated with the flowers from these trees. As the dry trees makes way for the lush greens; as the super cold winters moves to welcome the onset of spring, the time becomes perfect to for hiking and mountain trekking. GwangyyoMountains are very close to Suwon. This was my first trek and was practically dead tired by the time we came back home. But it was awesome to be out in the fresh air enjoying each others company and visiting natural Korea. Koreans were completely into hiking with hats & poles and gloves and matching outfits. SoraksanMountains is a couple of hours from Seoul in bus. After having a Korean breakfast of Bibimbap (boiled rice with vegetables served with Kimchee (radish pickle)), we literally dragged ourselves up the mountains. But the view of the Ulsan-bawi rocks from the top made us quickly forget the exhaustion. A dip at the fresh mountain waters did miracles to the scorching heat of the sun which was starting to build up.

Treck at Soraksan Mountains

A boat cruise along the Han River is one of the best ways to view Seoul's river front areas. The cruise in the late evenings gives a beautiful view of the colorfully lit bridges. A number of beaches form the border of the country - Clear water, curious rock formations and a natural white beach makes Anmyeon beautiful. It is also a wonderful spot to have fresh crabs, shrimps and octopus (Yes, Octopus! This is one of the delicacies of Korea). Tourism takesa big part of economy of the spectacular Jeju Island, also known as the "Island of the Gods" due to its perfect climate and natural scenery. A small flight to this island can help you relax from the hectic schedules at office. Horse riding, hunting, fishing, mountain climbing, cave explorations, waterfalls the list of activities here is endless.

63 Building

An unforgettable memory of my life in Korea is the hours spend in shopping. My roommates and I used to wander in the streets of Namdaemun, Itaewon, Dongdaemun, and Yeoksam, shopping till we dropped. We girls bargained in broken English and Korean to get a better deal. While the Techno-mart building is 10 storey commercial annex with a 6-storey basement; Yongsan Electronics Mall complex is divided into multiple malls. The Coex Mall is perhaps the largest underground mall in Asia itself. The multi-cinema complex and the world class aquarium in the Coex Mall are certainly worth seeing. Shopping at these malls can buy you anything for your house, car or office. Money is dealt only with a minimum range of thousands as the currency was Korean won conversion being approximately 1000wons = 1USD. There are a number of Indian restaurants in these areas Chicken Tandoori is one of the hot favorites for the Koreans. As the 6 months grew to a close, our official work was also completed and it was time to come back to India from the marvelous land called

South Korea

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How to Get There: Singapore Airlines (or SilkAir) provides almost daily flights from many parts of India to SeoulAirport. Round-way trip charges will be around Rs50K

Best Places to eat: There are a number of Indian/Western/Korean restaurants in Itaewon area. Vegetarians must be careful to say Yache which means vegetarian (Eggs and sea foods can also be termed vegetarian).

Best Time to Visit: Autumn (Sept-Oct-Nov) will be the best time to visit as the nature displays multitude of colors and the temperature is just perfect. Try to avoid the deep winters (Dec-Jan)

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PS: Check Out more snaps from the land of Korea (which you have read now) in my Photo album Korea

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Comments (38)

Bindia George posted 10 mnths ago

Hi Gautam,

Visa

Visa has to be got from Korean Embassy at Mumbai…

Flight

You can take Korean Air/Singapore Airlines/Thai (Korean Air is cheaper)

Korean Air is from Mumbai. Direct flight from Mumbai to Incheon.

Singapore Airlines is from all major cities, but expensive as compared to Thai / Korean.

Incheon Airport is the international Airport where you will be landing

Transit to Seoul

You might be interested in staying at Seoul…( but it will be expensive)

You have to take the Limousine Bus from Platform 5A, 5B to Seoul

Accommodation

Hotels at Seoul will be expensive.

But staying at motels wont be advisable as it might not be safe – though it might look very good from outside.

You can also stay in our home town, Suwon…. This will be cheaper….

A good hotel in the Suwon, near the guest house I used to stay is Dongsan Hotel…Decent one….This is just opposite to HotelCastle where Airport Limousine Bus drops.

Think it is around 40000 Wons for single room (not sure)

If you have more money in your pockets; there are other posh hotels like Grand Hyatt, JW Marriott Seoul Lotte Hotel etc in Seoul..

You can check out Korean Food and the Indian Restaurants like ..Asian Live, Taj Mahal, Ganga etc at Seoul

Places to Visit

Near Seoul

Palaces,

Theme Parks,

Cultural complexes such as 63 building,Coex Mall,

Mountains,

Museums,

Electronic markets such as yongsan.

Traditional Goods markets like Namdemun