Hi everyone from somewhere between Alaska and Vancouver!!! I never thought I could write a blog post at 37002 feet altitude!!! I had little time to post again before returning to Costa Rica so now I’m writing from the plane on my way back…
By the time I arrived at Japan, the trip to South Korea was not something I had in mind, but when I found out that it was possible to extend my Japanese visa if I was out of Japan a couple of days and then returned, I started to make some calculations and contacts and South Korea was the best place to travel. I hurried to plan the trip before my Japanese tourist visa period was over…
I have to thank Hao Chung because he introduced me to a lot of his friends in South Korea. This was the link for meeting Elisha who was my salvation when I was searching for a hostel and how to get there from Incheon Airport(the most modern airport I’ve ever been!). Elisha was also my guide during my first days in Seoul!! Thanks a lot Elisha!!!! :)
About preparations for my trip, I have to thank Ken Amposah and Tomoko Ukaji, they helped me with the flight ticket from Tokyo/Seoul and back in the most appropriate dates with the lower prices!!! Nice!!! Here are Hao, Ken and Tomoko!!!
I decided to stay 10 days in South Korea for 2 reasons, I wanted to travel around Seoul as much as I could and also I wanted to be sure that, by the time of my return to Japan I wouldn’t have any problems with the visa. So I took a plane on May 8 from Narita and in approximately 2 hours we landed on Incheon, this is my very first picture in South Korea, this place was also my bed that night because I had to sleep at the airport…
Next day around 9 in the morning I met with Elisha and we departed to Mr. Kim’s hostel (a place that would change forever my ideas about how to travel!). This was the cheapest place we could find where the price was only $16 per night!! To our surprise the hostel was located in a very nice area, near the Seoul Tower and here I could met another travelers with whom I spent some time around Seoul and talked about interesting topics! Here are some photos from the hostel where I met Joe from England (he was travelling around Asia as a backpacker and no specific plan!), Mr Kim (the hostel’s owner, super nice guy) and Tony (from South Korea, very nice person and he was living some time in the hostel). Also there’s the room where I stayed with 7 more people…
The first days in Korea I went sightseeing with Joe and during one of our conversations he talked about the site CouchSurfing which was very important when I got back to Japan and also I learned a new and more interesting way of travelling! This site is a travelers social network where you get in contact with people who could host you or offer some tourist guidance (not cost at all!). This was very helpful in Tokyo where I could met new places and people thanks to the site!!! Some places I visited with Elisha and Joe on the first days in Seoul…
Another interesting spot I visited with Elisha was the Seoul Fish Market. Here are some shots from the place and a video. It is a strange experience to watch so many rare species that you can eat…
After the market we visited Seoul’s most centric place, a huge plaza which is near the government buildings and there’s an underground Korean history museum, very interesting place! Here I took some photos and also this video…
The first days in Seoul where great! I took the decision to walk around (instead of riding the train) to the most popular spots and also to know the city better so I had 4 to 7 hour walks everyday which where very fun and tiresome! Some places I visited and the funny dancing Snoopy…
There’s a lot to talk about Korea and I didn’t wanted to create just one huge post so next time I will write about the final days in Korea, more interesting people I met, other tourist places I visited, some facts about Korean food, my first Karaoke night in Asia and most important of all: my return to Japan!!! :D
Thanks for reading!! :D Hope you are doing great!!! :D
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