[GPGT] First S.Korea Trip Report (Seoul Jeju Vivaldi Park)

deodorant

Arch-Supremacy Member
Joined
Jun 4, 2011
Messages
11,830
Reaction score
1,223
Day 8. Itaewon area
I guess Day 8 wasn't really full day Itaewon, rather it was 1/4 day only lol. We basically only went down from Vivaldi Park after lunch, and then headed to our accommodation in Seoul to check in, before going back out to Itaewon to look see look see.

I made some tailor-made shirts at Hamilton Shirts (because it's the touristy thing to do).

LVyPM4K.jpg


... then we did some window shopping

THtUhYY.jpg
i29A0BT.jpg
DCBCkns.jpg


... then we ate some more bbq (but angmoh bbq this time ...)

SjO1YbR.jpg
twL68K7.jpg
sr1gPnq.jpg


(sorry for the sucky photos, I guess mobile cameras generally suck in low light.
 

deodorant

Arch-Supremacy Member
Joined
Jun 4, 2011
Messages
11,830
Reaction score
1,223
Day 9. DMZ tour (no JSA) and fish market jiak king crab.
So on Day 9 we signed up for full day JSA (the blue tents where NK and SK meet to have talks) + DMZ tour. But on the morning of the tour itself the tour guide found out that the JSA was closed because of military drills. So bopian, switch to a half day DMZ (without JSA) tour only.

Tour departed from Seoul city quite early. As you can see, lots of angmoh (and some indonesians)

WVZ1Wf8.jpg


Our tour guide was pretty good IMO, good english, interesting accent, nice amount history and trivia.

0jUzy3g.jpg


First stop: Imjingak. Actually we weren't scheduled to stop here, but apparently it's a must stop for the tour guide to buy entrance tickets or whatever.

2xGgPF1.jpg


Anyway since we forgot to eat breakfast ... popped into a convenience store to buy hot chocolates and bread ...

pnZ4xih.jpg
OUNVOAY.jpg


... and then head up to the roof of the building to have a look at the 'bridge of freedom'
(like everything in this area is named after freedom or reunification or something along those lines)

ox2x9Hn.jpg


(these photos all are printscreens from compact cam video, paiseh for lack of quality)
 

deodorant

Arch-Supremacy Member
Joined
Jun 4, 2011
Messages
11,830
Reaction score
1,223
The first stop of the DMZ tour was the 3rd infiltration tunnel!

effULNF.jpg


Basically, NK dug (at least) 4 tunnels underground from the border with the aim to come out close to Seoul and so therefore launch a surprise attack or something. This 3rd tunnel supposedly can move 30,000 troops and artillery per hour, but I don't know how they came up with that number cos the tunnel is really small.

Anyway before going into the tunnel we have to stop by some museum with some sort of "meh" relics of war, and also some mock-ups of the DMZ area + JSA area:

3XmGw0B.jpg
ygXmQuG.jpg


Then we have to go watch a short 5-10 minute documentary about the NK/SK war (historically) and how SK hopes earnestly for reunification

fsaVDT6.jpg


Then tour guide gives us a briefing / explanation of the tunnel.

wHiwcXy.jpg


Basically they dug an interception tunnel (big one with tunnel boring machine) down to the 3rd tunnel (73m below surface, roughly a ~20 storey apartment?) so that tourists can walk down easily.

8GQOnBI.jpg


Now I don't know if it was language barrier or whatever but I apparently wasn't allowed to bring in any camera or telephone, so no photos of my own. So I stole borrowed this photo from theseoulguide.com to illustrate.

It's a really small tunnel and it's annoying to walk because at 6'0" I basically had to hunchback the entire ~265m to the end of the tunnel (wear it's sealed up with concrete) and then back again.

PvGEozY.jpg
 

Bowowmiao

Member
Joined
Dec 30, 2017
Messages
130
Reaction score
52
Nice. Came back to see your updates. Haha.
Did u guys go on any other day tours. Like those to Nami Island, railway track bike ride etc?

Where did u book thand DMZ tour from?
 

deodorant

Arch-Supremacy Member
Joined
Jun 4, 2011
Messages
11,830
Reaction score
1,223
Nice. Came back to see your updates. Haha.
Did u guys go on any other day tours. Like those to Nami Island, railway track bike ride etc?
Hmmmm, no, we only did this DMZ tour cos it's compulsory to go via tour agency. For Nami Island we DIY'ed cos wanted the freedom to pick our own schedule and timing.
 

voiceoflove

Supremacy Member
Joined
Dec 9, 2006
Messages
7,410
Reaction score
0
For Jeju, I did a video! For your viewing pleasure:



(Yes, I know the editing is inconsistent and some of the photos / videos color grading is terrible, but I have no talent for these kinds of things and lazy to re-edit / re-export)

(Note: The ads on this video are not mine, it's cos I used some copyrighted song then the song owner monetized it)

Mind sharing the iten for 2 day in jeju ?
and the accommodation u stayed
i too has a drone, does 2 battery last for the trip ?
 
Last edited:

whuttt

Supremacy Member
Joined
May 4, 2016
Messages
5,162
Reaction score
1,971
which airline did you fly from Incheon to Jeju? I heard some of the budget airline's fleet are very old and shaky.
 

deodorant

Arch-Supremacy Member
Joined
Jun 4, 2011
Messages
11,830
Reaction score
1,223
Mind sharing the iten for 2 day in jeju ?
and the accommodation u stayed
i too has a drone, does 2 battery last for the trip ?
which airline did you fly from Incheon to Jeju? I heard some of the budget airline's fleet are very old and shaky.
2 batteries IMO not quite enough for a full day of sightseeing. I have 3 batteries and it seemed just nice.

accommodation: airbnb https://www.airbnb.com.sg/rooms/15106422
but frankly I don't really think that it was all that great (other than the "free" breakfast and really friendly dog).

Airline i flew T'way, I have no idea about the other airlines but T'way was a pretty new plane, the seats fairly comfortable, clean, etc, no complaints.

Itinerary:
Day 1 fly seoul to jeju
- pick up rental car
- early brunch @ jeju town (black pork)
- seongsan ilchulbong
- jeongbang falls
- check in airbnb
- seogwipo market dinner and walk around
- sleep

Day 2
- cheonjeyeon falls
- daepo jusangjoli cliff
- seafood hotpot lunch
- sanbanggulsa grotto
- sanbangsang hot springs (sucks, don't bother)
- osulloc cafe + green tea shopping
- fly back to seoul
 

voiceoflove

Supremacy Member
Joined
Dec 9, 2006
Messages
7,410
Reaction score
0
2 batteries IMO not quite enough for a full day of sightseeing. I have 3 batteries and it seemed just nice.

accommodation: airbnb https://www.airbnb.com.sg/rooms/15106422
but frankly I don't really think that it was all that great (other than the "free" breakfast and really friendly dog).

Airline i flew T'way, I have no idea about the other airlines but T'way was a pretty new plane, the seats fairly comfortable, clean, etc, no complaints.

Itinerary:
Day 1 fly seoul to jeju
- pick up rental car
- early brunch @ jeju town (black pork)
- seongsan ilchulbong
- jeongbang falls
- check in airbnb
- seogwipo market dinner and walk around
- sleep

Day 2
- cheonjeyeon falls
- daepo jusangjoli cliff
- seafood hotpot lunch
- sanbanggulsa grotto
- sanbangsang hot springs (sucks, don't bother)
- osulloc cafe + green tea shopping
- fly back to seoul

The airbnb you stayed is south of the island and quite far from the airport,
how long do you need to drive to the airbnb.
Do you think staying on the north of the island (near the airport) or staying somewhere in the south is better?

I made a reservation on car rental with AJ , wonder which car rental service you used?
 

fzhfzh

Arch-Supremacy Member
Joined
May 27, 2008
Messages
11,599
Reaction score
1,017
Jeju apparently grows lots of these Oranges called "Hallabong" (한라봉) but all the tourist places sell the orange juice at chop carrot prices (around krw4000-5000)

It’s not that chop carrot. Hallabong itself is pretty expensive. It’s also called dekopong in Japan. It’s only grown in jeju and certain parts of japan. One Hallabong already cost around 3-4000 krw.
 

deodorant

Arch-Supremacy Member
Joined
Jun 4, 2011
Messages
11,830
Reaction score
1,223
The airbnb you stayed is south of the island and quite far from the airport,
how long do you need to drive to the airbnb.
Do you think staying on the north of the island (near the airport) or staying somewhere in the south is better?
I made a reservation on car rental with AJ , wonder which car rental service you used?
I guess most of the tourist / scenic attractions which we wanted to see were around the southern area of the island, so it made more sense for us to go north - east - south (stay overnight) - south - back north.

Seogwipo to Jeju City normally takes around 45mins by car, but do note that for us when we drove back at around 6pm, there was rush hour traffic and it took around 1.5hr.

It’s not that chop carrot. Hallabong itself is pretty expensive. It’s also called dekopong in Japan. It’s only grown in jeju and certain parts of japan. One Hallabong already cost around 3-4000 krw.
Ooh I see, I just converted mentally and thought it was really expensive and just assumed it was chop carrot cos at tourist place.
 
Important Forum Advisory Note
This forum is moderated by volunteer moderators who will react only to members' feedback on posts. Moderators are not employees or representatives of HWZ. Forum members and moderators are responsible for their own posts.

Please refer to our Community Guidelines and Standards, Terms of Service and Member T&Cs for more information.
Top