Travel Journal
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Travel Diary Seoul (South Korea) #3: Changdeokgung Palace, Insadong, Noryangjin Fish Market, Hongdae, Namsan Tower, Seoul City Tour Bus
Better vs. last time Before writing you a huge travel diary, we just wanted to update you on something: As we felt completely lost in Seoul (see our article Lost in Translation: Seoul version), we reviewed our way of visiting Seoul and realized that our guides and resources were simply not adapted. Before coming to Seoul, I used to spend hours watching the vlogs of Korean-American women. So of course, they are used to eating soups full of chilli pepper, so what they consider “too good” isn’t good at all for me. In addition, we made the mistake of following a guide that I bought in Vietnam, it is written…
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Opinions on Dragon Hill Spa Seoul (South Korea): Jjimjilbang, Massage and Face Care
Dragon Hill spa is a well known jjimjilbang among tourists in Seoul. It is also the biggest in Seoul and as it is right next to our house, it is obviously there that we relax once a week For more practical tips and addresses of jjimjilbang and spas in Seoul, go to the end of the article What is a jjimjilbang In Korean, bang means room. There are so many words ending in bang but which designate spaces where one comes between friends and family, that thisn’tion has broadened and we even talk about the “bang culture”: it is true that Koreans often do things between friends or family. Going…
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Travel Diary Seoul (South Korea) #2: Namdaemun Market, Namsangol Hanok Village and Gangnam
Despite the rain, we decide to go out and explore some uncovered places in Seoul. Follow us! Namdaemun Market It is a well-known market, open 24 hours a day. Usually there are stands in the middle of the road but today I think there are none because of the rain (?!). Anyway, this market is so big that it seems impossible to visit everything in one day JB immediately spots a small alley where all the saleswomen sell bibimbap and cold noodles. In spite of my insistence on the importance of a non-spicy dish, she still puts a spoonful of chilli pepper on me 🙁 Well, the cold noodles (left)…
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Lost in Translation: Seoul version (South Korea)
Since our arrival in Seoul, we seem to be homesick… not for France, but for Japan 🙂 As South Korea and Japan are the two most developed countries in Asia, we tend to compare the two, whereas we should ABSOLUTELY not compare them like that In any case, I think that after perfection in Japan, you should not expect to have another country as perfect, even if South Korea tends to follow the Japanese model It’s hard to return to the normal world after Japan However, we think that fortunately we visit South Korea after Japan. If we had to return to Paris just after Japan, the contrast would have…
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Seoul (South Korea) #1: Discovery of Myeongdong & Lotus Lantern Festival
South Korea, along with Japan, are the two most eagerly awaited destinations of the year. After a month and a half of wonder in Japan, we take the plane, direction Seoul, where we will stay 40 days Part 1: Travel Diary Part 2: Practical Tips Part 1: Travel Diary Our arrival We arrive at the Incheon airport, which is so big that it takes us a long time to go and see all the SIM card stores and the different distributors. Finally, we decide to buy a 30 days SIM card at CU (a convenience store) and given the catastrophic rates offered by money exchanges, to withdraw money at KEB…
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Digital Nomad: Results after 1.5 months in Japan (Osaka, Kansai, Tokyo)
That’s it, we just spent 1 month and a half in Japan, 1 month in Osaka and 2 weeks in Tokyo. It’s time to take stock of this incredible experience. This is the very first time we come to Japan. The reason why we have never been there before is that we want our stay to be really special. So, when we were on a permanent contract, 2 weeks seemed too short; and when we were on an 11-month world tour, the budget for a stopover in Japan seemed too big. So coming here as digital nomads is really the best option for us. Japan allows us to make many…
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Travel diary Tokyo (Japan) #3: Tokyo DisneySea, the most beautiful Disney park in the world
The world tour is an excellent excuse to visit all the Disney parks in the world. We missed this opportunity in Hong Kong, but there is no question of missing this time in Tokyo. Part 1: Travel Diary Part 2: Practical Tips Part 1: Travel Diary After our round trip to Mount Fuji and long hours on the bus back to Tokyo in the middle of Golden Week, JB is less and less motivated to go to a crowded place, but I convince him to go there after Golden Week and more during the week. So it’s to please me that he buys the tickets online, has them printed in…
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Travel diary Tokyo (Japan) #2: Ueno, Akihabara, Tour of Tokyo, Shibuya and Shinjuku
Read our first travel diary in Tokyo here UENO Today, I visit alone the National Museum of Tokyo, where you can find a beautiful collection of swords, prints, paintings … Japanese from several centuries ago Indeed, for 600 yen, one can admire many priceless objects. For example these hair accessories of an unequalled finesse Samurai helmets, swords etc Kimonos of extreme beauty. To have patterns like this, the craftsmen had to spend an eternity on them I was expecting a richer collection (I didn’t see many prints, which is what I came for), but I was told afterwards that often in Japanese museums, the permanent collections weren’t that rich (you…
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A day at Mount Fuji (Japan): Travel diary
Our stay in Japan has two objectives: to look at the cherry blossoms, and to see Mount Fuji. The first being reached perfectly well in Kyoto, here we are in front of the picturesque, gigantic Mount Fuji We will first present the travel diary, then you will find all the practical information in our 2nd article here (how to get there, the best spots to take nice pictures) Travel Notebook The weather has not been good since our arrival in Tokyo, so we have to look carefully at the weather forecast before going to Mount Fuji. Because like Christ in Rio, the top of Mount Fuji is often in the…
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Travel diary Tokyo (Japan) #1: Nihonbashi, Ginza, Odaiba
Here we are, at last, in Tokyo! After a month spent in Osaka, we are relieved to finally change our airbnb because ours in Osaka starts to get drunk (it’s too small and badly arranged), very noisy because of the works and the bad insulation and even Internet doesn’t work anymore It is therefore with surprise and relief that we discover our superb Airbnb in Tokyo, a 15 minute walk from Tokyo train station Part 1: Travel Diary Note: Since Tokyo is very large and we frequently move from one neighborhood to another, we prefer to group places of interest by zone/neighborhood in our travel diaries, not in chronological order.…
