Travel Journal
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Jeju Island (South Korea): 2nd Day of Visit
Today, we continue our visit with a rental car (see our article on car rental here) Gwangchigi Beach Our first destination is Gwangchigi Beach, the beach isn’t swimmable, but from this beach you can see Seongsan Ilchulbong in the distance Well, it’s not as nice as if we had a drone 😀 Seongsan Ilchulbong is a volcanic cone formed by eruptions on a shallow seabed about 5,000 years ago, and the shape of the volcano can be clearly seen from above Seongsan Ilchulbong A few minutes by car later, we arrive at Seongsan Ilchulbong, a Unesco classified site Apparently the sunrise here is very nice. I’m not sure about the…
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Up to 6 days of transit in China? No need for a visa!
On our way back to France after 7 months in Asia, we organize our return to stay a few days in Beijing, China. For several years now, the French have not needed visas if they stay less than 72 hours, a principle that was doubled in December 2017. You can now stay up to 6 days (144 hours). Make sure you know the terms and conditions (not all Chinese airports offer this visa exemption and you must leave from the same airport as the one you arrived at). Here are a few tips for easy enjoyment. Prepare your documents: tickets and hotel reservations At the Chinese immigration, the officer will…
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Jeju Island (South Korea): 1st day of visit
After a month and a half in Seoul, here we are in Jeju for a week! Over a week, there are a lot of days where we work, so you will see on the blog only 3 travel diaries, corresponding to the 3 days where we actually visit 😀 Let’s get started Part 1: Travel Diary Part 2: Practical Tips Part 1: Travel Diary Jeju, késako, and why do we have to go there? South Korea is very strong in marketing and Jeju is one of the well-publicized destinations abroad. It is an island in the very south of the country, home to many (old) volcanoes, marketed as the Hawaii…
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Travel Diary Seoul (South Korea) #8: B2B Market, Palais Royal, Notre-Dame de Paris, Barbecues
In this last travel diary in Seoul, a lot of things happen in the evening because our last days in Seoul are also the days when we have to work during the day 😀 In Seoul, it seems that there are as many types of barbecue as there are restaurants. We went again to the Hongdae district to test the barbecue skewers we spotted last time. The restaurant is very small and well decorated (there are plenty of lanterns), it is well equipped and we have a small machine that turns the skewers for us. When the skewer is well cooked, you have to put it on the grill high…
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Travel Diary Seoul (South Korea) #7: Marinated raw crab, Gilsangsa Temple, Suyeonsanbang, shopping in Myeong-dong
Today, we find M., a French-speaking Korean girlfriend we met thanks to our long time friend J. (we were talking about it here). I appreciate his company more and more, because we discover a lot of things in common Mr.’s husband is Korean, too. Based in Paris, he has been an entrepreneur and tour guide since 2002. He designs personalized trips in France and Europe for small groups of Koreans (up to 8 people). He has a spacious vehicle, he drives and accompanies clients at the same time. If you ever have Korean friends looking for a Korean guide in Europe, passionate about history, gastronomy and French culture, contact him…
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DMZ Tour: at the border between North and South Korea
In 1953, after 3 years of war and 3 million casualties, North and South Korea agreed to a ceasefire. Officially, the two countries have been at war since then, but the fighting has stopped The two countries have defined a border. On either side of this border, a 2-kilometer zone is demilitarized, known as the DMZ (Demilitarized Zone) So there is a 4km wide area almost ghostly, which has become a paradise of biodiversity in which protected species thrive The paradox is that beyond these 4 kilometers, we find the zone with the highest concentration of military forces on the planet. Approximately 1 million soldiers (700,000 North Korean soldiers, 400,000…
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Travel Diary Seoul (South Korea) #6: War Memorial Hall of Korea, Barbecue, Lenses and Shopping
Hello, today I’m making you discover the nuggets and experiences we had in Seoul, which I haven’t told you about in the previous travel diaries It doesn’t follow any logic, all these discoveries are distributed in different areas of Seoul. Let’s get started! War memorial hall of korea Our airbnb is located between Yongsan station and Itaewon, not far from the US military base. It is also in this area that the War Memorial Hall of Korea is located (free entrance) We went there, attracted especially by the planes, vehicles and boats outside The interior is huge, just to go from one room to another, it took us 2 hours.…
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Travel Diary Seoul (South Korea) #5: Lotte World, tickets, flagship attractions, magic pass
In Seoul, there is neither Disneyland nor Universal Studio, but two other amusement parks that I have never heard of: Lotte World and Everland. Since Everland is further from Seoul with (almost) a roller coaster, we chose to go to Lotte World instead, which has the advantage of being in Seoul itself and having a fairy-tale side like I like it The park is located in the heart of the Lotte shopping center. Lotte is a huge Korean group, which has a lot of shopping malls, a Lotteria fast food chain… and they are even expanding in Southeast Asia. As a result, the amusement park also has mall fake air…
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How to attend a baseball game in Seoul (South Korea)?
After soccer in Argentina, American soccer in the Czech Republic, Thai boxing matches and sumo training in Japan, baseball in South Korea was discovered Little known in France, baseball is the most popular sport in South Korea. It’s by seeing regular TV broadcasts that I thought I should try it How can I find out the dates of the matches? Baseball not being the most physical sport there is, there are games almost every day! For the calendar, visit http://ticket.interpark.com/Contents/Sports Teams are easily distinguishable with logos but use Google Translate to find out in which stadium the match is taking place I’ve chosen a game on Saturday, telling myself that…
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Travel Diary Seoul (South Korea) #4: Seoul with friends
I didn’t think you could see so many familiar faces in Seoul (which isn’t the number one tourist destination in Asia), but here it is, who looks alike comes together 😀 my friends also love Seoul! We are fortunate to be in Seoul at the same time as J., who has lived and studied in Seoul and is fluent in Korean. As a result, he made us feel less guilty about a lot of things: like our difficulty to find good restaurants, or despite our insistence, the dishes are always served super spicy… He explained to us that not only was Seoul less interesting gastronomically than the south of Korea,…
