My final thoughts on Seoul- First, why Seoul? When I first decided to visit Asia, I had a tough time coming up with one city that would provide both and exotic feel, but also one that was not intimidating to me. I looked to Hong Kong, Tokyo, Bangkok, and Beijing for that, but I failed to find the inspiration and comfort I was looking for in those destinations. I don’t know why, they just didn’t fit the equation. Last year, I had two friends visit Korea separately, Clay and Pino. Both of whom said it was a fantastic place and fully recommended it. So, I did some research and consulted Pino a lot before arriving at Seoul as the right choice for me. Here’s my rational- 1- It’s not on many American’s radar as a place to vacation. That alone made it immediately interesting to me. The same was true for Istanbul last year, and now it’s listed as Trip Advisor’s number one destination for 2014. Maybe I’m just ahead of the curve. 2- I love Korean food and have a familiarity with Korean culture thanks to my mother’s coworkers in years past. 3- It didn’t seem like a budget buster like Japan would be. I could live cheaply in Hong Kong and Bangkok, but the flights weren’t priced right or lining up schedule wise for me. 4- The mileage redemption for Seoul was exactly the right amount of miles and perfect for the dates I needed. It was as though fate wanted me to visit Korea. Thus, it all came together. I used miles for tickets, found a reasonably priced Airbnb apartment in the heart of Insadong, and the time off was approved. Yes, I was on my way to the far east for the first time in my life. Summary- My first impression of any city is it’s airport. Somehow you can get a general feel of what a place will be like just by seeing it’s main transportation hub. Incheon was perhaps the best airport I have ever been to. Modern, free wifi, easy navigatation, wide/uncrowded terminals, short immigration lines, and all signs posted in several languages. It was extremely clean and efficient for the kind of traffic that passes through there on a daily basis. I can easily say that ICN is one of the best. Now take all of what I just said about ICN and apply it to Seoul. It almost all fits perfectly. Seoul is an astonishingly clean city of 15 million. Especially considering I could never find a garbage can when I needed one. Nobody tosses their trash on the walk or in the streets. Even in the older neighborhoods, rats must starve for lack of garbage to dig though. It was definitely something most cities should envy. One of my biggest worries was going to be the language barrier, especially when it came to food. Well there was enough street food to keep me filled without ever going to a restaurant, but I was on vacation and wanted a few nice restaurant meals also. My fears were completely unjustified. Every place I visited had menus with pictures. All I had to do was point. For the most part this was a successful strategy. I had nothing too crazy arrive at my table unexpectedly. Another point of anxiety with restaurants came when I wanted to table grill my food. Seems it’s not cost effective to serve just one person that big of a spread. My resolution was to just pay for two and eat like a pig (it is my Korean zodiac symbol after all). Thus, I paid more than I would have liked, but I had some amazing meals with this strategy. I was far enough ahead of my budget that it didn’t matter. I also discovered that one can travel very cheaply in Korea. Not unlike Istanbul, I found myself constantly under my daily budget of $100 dollars. A budget that is meant to cover food and entrance fees for each day’s activities (I’d rather over budget, than run out of money). Now, a $100 a day in Spain was almost too tight, but not in Seoul. Entrance fees to palaces and other attractions were never more than 3000 Won, or about three American dollars. Breakfast and lunch ran about 4000-8000W and Dinner about 12000-18000 (add 3000 if I had a beer with dinner). So my daily burn was less than half of what I prepared for. It could have been even less, but I wasnt really monitoring my money once I realized how inexpensive things were going to be. Despite some serious overspending at the markets and on unforeseen expenses like my new hat, I am arrived at home $600 in the green! So what would I say to someone considering a trip to Asia? Id’ tell them not to overlook Seoul. From the trendy metropolitan feel and skyscrapers of Gangnam, to the historic vibrant alleyways of Insadong, I can’t imagine you going wrong in Seoul. I never felt unsafe, never felt like I could or would be pick pocketed (I was constantly on guard and warned about this this in Spain and Istanbul), all transactions were honest (change was always correct, a problem I dealt with in Mexico and Istanbul), and despite the size of the city, it never felt congested or crowded. Sure there were moments, but mostly I was astonished at how empty some of the subway stations were. I’d tell a prospective traveller that navigation is no different than any city with a subway, It’s almost impossible to get lost if you just pay attention to the very easy to read signs in the stations and on the streets. Lastly, I’d tell them that even though it’s not perfect, it’s the closest I have seen in any major world city I’ve visited. Once you get over the challenge of being different, you will start to blend in and find Seoul very comfortable. To summarize, I can describe Seoul in one word…WOW!
Posted on: Wed, 23 Apr 2014 18:03:17 +0000
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