Mt Gwanggyosan

Gwanggyosan (582 m) is a small mountain in Gyeonggi Province, South Korea. It lies on the border of Suwon and Yongin, though the wider range extends north and so also borders Uiwang, Gwacheon, Seoul and Seongnam. The summit offers views across Suwon, Yongin and Bundang. The mountain is commonly hiked from Gwanggyo Reservoir in Suwon. [Source from Wikipedia].

Gwanggyosan is the closest mountain to Suwon, to fulfill your hiking ambitions. You can get buses from Suwon station to the base of Gwanggyosan mountain. The summit time from the base is around 3 hours, can be faster if you are an experienced hiker. The way to the mountain is also very picturesque, with meadows , streams and glimpses of huts. The top of the mountain offer breath taking views of the surrounding Yongin, Suwon cities. The elevation is around constant 20-35 degrees and makes for a good climb. There are some risky corners, jagged rocks but it is well worth the climb. Plenty of Koreans hikers climb every week, and if you wish to you can team up some random hikers always. The sure footedness of these Korean hikers amazes me, even at a elevation of 60 degrees they are able to climb easily without any external support. There are three hiking routes as per the official website and my friend and I took the longest hiking route and it truly tired us out!, dress light and always carry enough water to keep you hydrated throughout the way. In between the hikes, you may encounters tombs and sudden path leading to no where which makes the hike more exotic! If your lucky you will also run into into cream sellers, buy one and relax, watching the scenery. Spring time is the best and avoid rainy times at all costs as the path is very slippery in some places. After all your hardwork, you will be rewarded with a poster card picture perfect view of the Gwanggyosan reservoir. Time suddenly comes to a standstill. Savour the beautiful view and move ahead. An approximate walk of 20 mins will bring you back to the main road.
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For more information read : Mt Gwanggyosan

Verdict

• Ease of transportation: 3/5
• Value for money: 4/5
• Recommended group size: 4 or more

Some pictures below:

Seoul Grand Park

Seoul Grand park rates as one of the best in my list in terms of value for money. It is one of best theme parks I have seen to date. The park has a botanical park, zoo, dolphin show, 4D theatre, a lake, a aerial rope way across the park. Spare half a day for this wonderful place. One can have a beautiful view of the Mt. Cheonggyesan from the park. The travel is easy with direct train to the Seoul Grand Park Station (Seoul Subway Line 4), Exit #2. There are tonnes of convenience stores, restaurants spread across the park. Maps across the park displaying routes make it easy for any visitor

The zoo is one of the best i have seen to date. The number of animal species is astounding!. The enclosures are huge and the animals seem well fed. I was however disappointed with enclosure for the Siberian tigers, too small for such a large animal. Some of the surprise animals you would get to see are the Watusi cattle, ocelots,white rhino etc. The botanical garden bountiful of flowers and looks like a carpet of flowers. Luckily it was spring when we visited the place and the place looked at its best. Unfortunately the dolphin show was over when we arrived at the place, hence its preferable to finish the dolphin show first and proceed. Take the aerial ropeway at the end of your tour, you will love the aerial view of the park. It perfects fits like a dessert at the end of dinner. For more information read : Seoul Grand Park

Verdict

• Ease of transportation: 4/5
• Value for money: 4/5
• Recommended group size: 6 or more

Some pictures below:

Gangnam and Hangang river, Seoul.

The Hangang river is one of the major rivers in South Korea. Passing through the centre of Soul city, it is a major attraction center for Seoulites. You can take a stroll, rent a cycle and enjoy the cool breeze beside the banks of the river. However ever if you want to enjoy a ride on a ferry and view the beautiful surroundings take the Han river cruise. The Han river cruise is available at three places Jamsil, Yeouido and Ttukseom. Jamsil and Yeouido are stations on the subway lines are a easy reach. However unlike other places of visit the Han river cruise is not just outside the exit of subway stations. You have to take a bus or taxi and reach the docks. We took the train to Yeouido and a taxi to Yeouido dock.

As the cruise does not take more than 3 hours including travel time, it is best to combine it with one more place. We included Gangnam in the plan. Gangnam is the financial centre of Seoul, you can see the high rise buildings the elite of the Seoulites zooming in high end luxury cars, Harley bikes. More about the cruise, the Han river cruise is one of the best ways to view the scenery across the banks of Han river, as it gets dark the lights from the high rise buildings give a outstanding view of the city. The duration of the cruise is an hour and time passes pretty soon. If your keen you could spot some of the well known landmarks such as the 63 building, Namsan Seoul tower. Overall a good place to spend an evening. For more information read Hangang Cruise

Verdict

• Ease of transportation: 3/5
• Value for money: 3/5
• Recommended group size: 4 or more

COEX Mall, Samseong

COEX mall is at Samseong and you will have to change a couple of lines (based on subway map) to reach there. I remember we changed three lines. Be sure to keep atleast 6 hours to cover the mall, as the mall is super huge and covering all of them is insanely impossible in 6 hours. COEX Mall is an integrated shopping, culture, education, and leisure complex in the heart of Seoul. The mall houses multiple duty free stores and the regular ones. It is one of the major attractions near Seoul city. It is not hard to spot this mall as Subway line 2, Samseong Station, exits 5 & 6, lead the way to COEX Mall. Going by the design and spaciousness the mall is truly world class.

The major attraction apart from the multitude of shopping outlets, theatres, is the multi floor aquarium. Although the ticket is placed at higher side (17500 Won), the aquarium is worth a visit. One can expect to see the rare types of sharks, dugong, giant crabs, jelly fish and many more. There is even a fish tank where you can place your hand and tiny doctor fish are going to nibble the dead skin away, which is quite tickling. Overall a worthwhile visit if you cover the aquarium too. For more information read COEX Mall

• Ease of transportation: 3/5
• Value for money: 3/5
• Recommended group size: 5 or more

Some of the pictures

Korean Folk Village

Korean folk village was the first trip I made after I landed in S.Korea. There is a direct bus from Suwon station to Korean folk village (bus no 37), although we took the bus from Suwon tourist information centre nearby to Suwon station. Korean folk village has buses making trips to and from Suwon tourist information centre. The last bus from Korean folk village back to Suwon tourist information centre is at 5:30 pm. The travel time is roughly 60 minutes. Korean folk village is in Yongin city, a different city and you can view the Korean country side, highways on your travel. The entry fees is 15,000 won, which i felt was pretty high compared to what it offers. It is a fun trip if you have a big group, with just one or two it can turn entirely boring. The area is very vast and takes at-least 3 to 4 hours to cover. Make sure you have packed up up something to eat and drink before you set out.



. Korean folk village is modeled on a natural environment with traditional houses, various household goods, cattle and life in the villages in Korea from different regions.provide visitors with a broad understanding of Korean food, clothing, and housing style of the past. About twenty workshops, various handicrafts such as pottery, baskets, winnows, bamboo wares, wooden wares, paper, brass wares, knots, fans, musical instruments, iron wares and embroidery, the customs and lifestyles of the past generations have been carefully preserved. If the modeled folk town may not seem to hold your interests, you will certain enjoy the Korean folk play experience, a bunch of horse riders with their impeccable performance will leave you spell bound. They display impressive feats of acrobatics and horse riding, archery. The other show is Korean folk dance which is not exuberant as the previous one, but a good watch. Drums, dance and an colorful display of dance will keep you engrossed for a while. The place is very scenic, especially if you time your visit in the months of April and May. There are plenty of corners for a good group snapshot. Food and beverage is available on payment basis. Overall its a good visit if you have a group of at least 5 people. There are handicraft shops where you can purchase souvenirs. In comparison to Insadong market this place is mildly expensive.

Verdict:

• Ease of transportation: 4/5
• Value for money: 2/5
• Recommended group size: 5 or more

For more information refer. Korean folk village Some pictures below

My Stay @ Suwon

I currently staying at Suwon, South Korea. Suwon is one among the few cities which has negligible crime, and considered one of the safest cities in the world. It is a beautiful, clean and less populous. The facilities available to citizens are great and in my opinion, life is relatively easier for the common man. The citizens are disciplined and near law abiding. Public transportation system, safety facilities, public infrastructure are truly commendable. The people are friendly, helpful and industrious. Suwon, prides over the Hwaseong fortress, which it maintains as a cultural symbol. Samsung one of the behemoths has a extremely large campus here and the campus seems to be more of city than just a campus of a MNC. Seoul is just an hour by the subway train and may be 30 mins by the super fast KTX. I've enjoyed every bit of my stay in Suwon and I am sure it will not disappoint anybody from any country. A few snaps of the Suwon city.

The apartment where I stay

Neatly layed out roads in Suwon city

One amazing thing here in Korea, is the separate cycling track, beside the footpath. Cyclist need not risk their lives cycling on the road.

This ship is actually a restaurant !

Bustling with lights

Travel Tips

I will list down a few tips that will help travel make your travel in Korea easier. I don't claim to be a travel expert, not by any stretch of imagination at least. However based on my experience on travel to at least 12 different locations in Korea, I found these handy.

Tip 1. Purchase a travel card Ex. T Money POP card, the basic card costs 2500W (to be interpreted as 2500 won). You can charge for a minimum of 1000W and any amount upward, usually for a day's trip for distance of 30 km and back, by subway / buses, it will not exceed 6000W. So 10000W should be an ideal recharge amount. You can purchase the card in any departmental store. The card also applies in taxi's, however very used often in subways and public bus. The charge is not always a straight forward distance calculation, certain parameters like, time difference between first and second journey, distance difference between fist hop and second hop etc, play a role in fare calculation. A couple of trips should enlighten anybody about the tricks of the trade.

Tip 2. South Korea is very well connected by trains and the subway system is excellent. Any expat would find travel easy with the subway map. The subway map can be download to your phones or you can obtain a free copy at the tourism information center in any city. The subway system is based on line numbers, a close look at the map will help you reach any city by changing trains at appropriate line changing stations. Must have thing.

Tip 3. A little bit of google for possible routes, line exits, alternative travel options, distance and duration always help in planning your trip better. There are upteen websites which provide such information, in my opinion, the offical korea travel website Travel Korea is more reliable and updated.

Tip 4. All it takes is knowledge of a few handy Korean words to make it a successful trip along with all the planning. Do keep some words handy, you can find them in the links I shared in my previous posts. It always helps to know the name of the destination in terms of local language, as commoners may not be aware of the place by plain English reference names.

Finally, the key ingredient would be your enthusiasm to travel. You can get all the resources you want, but the lack of enthusiasm, cannot be equated for any amount of planning or resources. Korea is a beautiful country, the people are helpful and friendly, and transportation system is excellent. It cannot get better than this. Go out, get some sunshine !

Some more pics

Few links that can help explore South Korea and understand the culture

For someone staying for a longer duration its helpful understand Korean culture, and get an idea of the way of life here. These websites have done an excellent job in providing plethora of information. Take time out to refer these websites they certainly help.

Korean culture, daily life and other details an expat would find helpful Korean culture

Adventure, travel in Korea Adventure

Learning Korean language Korean language   Korean grammer basics   Korean word list

Learning Korean in 15 minutes :) Quick Learn

Some random pictures taken in Korea

From the land of Kimchi

From the land of Kimchi is an attempt to help or point out favorable tourist destinations in and around Suwon, Geonggi do. Although land of Kimchi refers to South Korea in entirety, I will be covering few places in South Korea such as Suwon, Seoul, Yongin, Osan and may be some more if I happen to make it possible. This blog is written from the view of a outsiders perspective and I being from Bangalore, India will try to draw some similarities or differences in life style in the later part of the blog. This trip to South Korea came as a pleasant surprise and it turned out to be better than I expected and not a single day has been a day of regret. There are several websites which provide ample information about tourist destinations and which ease the life of expats living here. I will list them too. I intended to preserve my memories through writing and pictures and this blog will help me achieve the same. I work for SISO and stayed at New Suwon India, Royal India guest house. I arrived at South Korea on 18th March, stepped out of the airport and it was cold !, truly cold ! for someone from Bangalore where the min to max varies from 14c - 35c, 4 degrees is cold ! So that was my first experience at SK, and from there begins a series of experiences.

Some pics of me/my room during my stay in Korea