Korean Job Discussion Forums

[taobenli]

I have a friend coming to visit me in Korea in September, and it's a bit of a long visit (3 weeks). She wants to see Korea with me (which is of course most comfortable for me since I know Korean best of the three languages and live here). So we'll do that first and then move on to Japan, her other priority after Korea. (I lived in Japan for a year but way in the south, and have forgotten most of my Japanese- though I'm sure I would start remembering pretty quickly if I was back). She would like to see Tokyo and Kyoto and perhaps Hiroshima or Nagasaki (Hiroshima would probably make most sense location-wise, no?). I got a JR Pass on my last visit to Japan and that was convenient.

Lastly, we'd like to visit an area in China, and perhaps Hong Kong (which I know is part of China now, but I still don't think of it that way). If China seemed too overwhelming we could go to Taiwan instead, but it doesn't seem as exciting (though I liked it a lot when I visited). I'd like to avoid Beijing and Shanghai, but everywhere else is game...

So basically one week in good old comfortable Korea, one week in painfully expensive Japan, and a week in China (where it's hard to decide from all the choices of places to go). I'd like to try to keep costs down, and I have to admit I have a certain amount of dread about the Japan part of the trip- both because I don't really have the money to spend and because I don't find those well-traveled parts of Japan all that exciting anymore. (I have half a mind to set her loose in Japan herself and just join for the other two parts, because 3 weeks is also awfully long for me to spend away from my research). For China there are a lot of areas where I would love to spend a week- but it's just so hard to choose.

Can anyone suggest an itinerary? Anything fun that you've tried or have heard of others trying? Thanks!

[bbb0777]

Have you been to all the most famous Japanese places? (Tokyo/Osaka/Kyoto)? If so - and since it's horribly expensive, why not just skip Japan? Maybe she can skip it too. It would seem quite a burden to pay so much to visit places you've already been.

Instead, maybe first show them the highlights of S. Korea, which is all you're really obligated to do anyway:

Seoul, Busan (maybe take the KTX one way for the novelty). Possibly Gwangju. Possibly the DMZ. Possibly take a package day-tour to a terraced tea plantation (I thought it was much more fun that expected). After that - meh, S. Korea is a great and comfortable country - but not so great for tourism to tell the truth.

Next - spend the majority of your travel time going somewhere new to both of you - China & Hong Kong. Fly down to Hong Kong. Take the boat to Macau while you're there. Then perhaps dart around mainland China via one-way flights. Beijing is the best as-a-tourist city I've ever been to (I've been to 19 countries thus far). Shanghai is OK - and worth it just to see the oh-so famous Shanghai.

If there's extra time after that...research and find out what else you want to see in China...offhand I'd think Xi'an (teracotta warriors) and Guilin (unique geography) would be next - but it's debatable.

She would have seen:

Hong Kong
Beijing
Shanghai
Seoul
+ Other places in S. Korea and China she's never heard of...

Seems pretty good...

[taobenli]

Well, she's set on going to Japan, I think, even though I would rather skip it this time. I could just set her loose in Japan for a few days (especially as my Japanese is so poor at the moment that I don't think it would really help us). But she's a close friend I've known for a long time and would feel kind of bad about doing that. If I did decide to go, I wonder if it would make sense to take the ferry Pusan-Fukuoka and then go up to Nagasaki (one of the places she was interested in seeing). I much prefer the Kyushu area to Honshu (lived in Kagoshima before). The only downside to this is that she won't get to really experience a bustling, big Japanese city like Tokyo- is there another Japanese city that's big enough and fun in that area? (With a rail pass I guess we could see a few areas, but how much time do we want to spend on the train?)

Flying to Hong Kong and then going out to Macau sounds great. My Chinese is much better than my Japanese and will get us farther, and it'd be great to go to Guilin. I've spent some time in China and before, living in Beijing and visiting Shanghai, Suzhou/Hangzhou, Xi'an, Guizhou and Yunnan. I'd also be interested to see the Shandong peninsula across from Korea- Qingdao, etc.

Keep the recommendations coming- planning trips isn't my favorite activity (going on them is!) and I need all the help I can get!

[Mosley]

Given the range of locales and distances you hope to cover in 3 weeks, I daresay you could be looking at pretty light wallets/purses by the time it's all over. One week in Japan alone is a cash-sucking proposition. Unless your Japanese is good, finding minshuku, guest houses, etc., is not always quick & convenient. A CHEAP business hotel room is 40 bucks a night. I guess you already know that. Personally, the only part of Japan that I found marginally cheaper than the norm was Okinawa...but that was over a decade ago.

HK & Macao are definitely great places to visit but bear in mind that they approach Japan in terms of priceyness. Maybe HK still has the Chungking Mansions rooms for rent? A really ratty room in Macao will still set you back 30 bucks a night.

If money starts to get tight, it might be worthwhile to skip HK/Macao and instead fly into Guangzhou(from Japan?) and spend a day/night there on Shamien Island. Then head to Guilin for about 3 days. You've been to China before so I'm sure you already know this but: you should get a PRC visa BEFORE you arrive, to save a real hassle(and time & money)at immigration. I found that out the hard way.

[Mosley]

*Bump*

I'd just like to ask the OP, if he/she wants to share, how the trip went...moneywise, timewise, visawise, etc.