Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Cornfed]

Where are the places people normally go in the summer? Is there anywhere that isn't hellishly hot and humid? Are there any organised tour groups to be recommended?

[myamata]

http://wikitravel.org/en/South_Korea

Sokcho or seju-do

[moosehead]

Royal Asiatic Society hosts all kinds of tours in K year round.

very nice people and yes, it's in E

www.raskb.com

[smitchlovesfunk]

adventure korea looks quite good but i've not been on any trips with them yet.
http://www.adventurekorea.com/
somewhere on the site is also a little artical about 12 of the best beaches to go to which is quite interesting.

[CP]

1. There is NO reason to do any organized tours in South Korea. Everything is easily done by yourself and much cheaper.

2. Avoid places you think would be popular in summer - beaches, islands. resort areas etc. Everywhere is hot and humid here in the summer.

3. As people don't know you on here or know what you like to do it's hard to suggest a place for you to go.

[Bibbitybop]

[CP]

Your response:

I disagree. Some trips are not easily planned, especially if you don't speak Korean and reservations are involved, or you are unfamiliar with the area and don't want to wander after you get off the train, bus, etc.

No offense, but you must not travel much on your own and prefer tours. Correct me if I'm wrong but I thought the idea of travel was to experience unfamiliar places, wander, explore, meet people, etc. The things you worry about is what travel is. If language was a problem most people wouldn't be able to travel at all. Before you go: check a website or guide book etc. Common sense. What trips in Korea do you think are difficult? I've been through most of South Korea, by myself. The plan is this: Decide where you want to go, go to bus/train station, get a ticket, arrive, find a cheap motel, then explore. What's hard? Same as any other place in the world.
For groups - I don't travel in groups but if I did I wouldn't do a tour. People can't be trusted and are unreliable. I would just tell everyone meet at the bus/train station at a certain time. If they are there cool, if not you go without them, as they weren't that interested in going anyway if they can't make it on time. No money lost, no time lost,



Your second response:

So the OP should just stay at home? Bollocks! Even if the beaches are crowded, swimming in the summer is better than the winter. You just have to find the right beaches or areas that aren't too popular.

READ CAREFULLY - I NEVER said stay home. I said avoid certain places. There are other things to do that are not so popular with Koreans at peak times. Koreans all do things seasonally. For example, if they are at the mountains in the fall head to the coast, beaches are empty and they are still ok for swimming at the end of summer, early fall. In winter, they stay in - go anywhere. In summer they flock to beaches, go to the countryside, rural towns etc or a bigger city that you haven't been too. But I do agree with one thing, finding a less popular beach is possible and ideal in summer.

[sojourner1]

Gyeongju is nice in the Summer. Go to Bulkguksa and then hike the cobble stone path up to Seokorum Grotto located on the right before the entrance to Bulkguksa. This is quite a challenging hike involving many large sets of stairs, but it's one beautiful hike that will leave you breathless.

Gangwondo is very popular in the Summer. Who ever said Koreans don't camp and fish like westerners? This is where they go. There are many streams and rivers and don't worry about laws and regulations as there really aren't any nor any anxieties surrounding trespassing as they won't tell you to get out nor pull a gun on you here. They tend to be the most friendliest and neutral behaving Koreans in Gangwondo. I haven't noticed any staring and negative vibes at all like I did in Changwon, Daegu, and Seoul. It's the place to feel comfortable and relaxed.

If not living in Seoul, take a shopping and sightseeing trip to Seoul and enjoy all the western food and drink in Itaewon. Go tour the 5 grand palaces that have been reconstructed to look something like their former glory before being destroyed in the war. The stone foundations and documents detailing what these places looked like were remaining so they are able to show us what old Korea looked like. Go to Insadong for arts and crafts.

There's many other things I haven't seen such as Hainsa temple and Palgongson national park that must be nice to tour as well as tons of places in Gangwondo and Gyeongsangbukdo.

As for some place that's not hellishly hot, supposedly there's this place that looks like a rocky deep chasm where cold air rushes out of a cave that Koreans visit during the Summer. If I remember correctly it's in the southern part of the country not far from Milyang.

I'd say the weather is the real reason why we don't get out to tour Korea as much as we intended as like my 1st year, my 2nd year is turning out to be very gray, cloudy, and extremely rainy so far. The weather and climate is indeed disappointing most of the time as Summers are not sunny and most weekends bring gloomy weather with a few nice days during the work week, but May and September tend to be the nice weather months for photo shooting quality weather.

[warren pease]

ztravelbug.com

really nice people!

[Bibbitybop]

CP:

[CP]

Cool that you have gotten around. A lot of foreigners here see very little of Korea, which is a shame really. Pretty much my entire travelling has involved taking the bus. Public Transportation here is cheap, convenient, easy and goes everywhere. Even if a person can't speak basic Korean they would likely have some phrasebook to help them.

Yes, I understand that for North Korea of course you have to do a tour. Have you done Kaesong? I am going to do it but most likely with a Korean tour group rather than with Adventure Korea. I haven't been to Ulleongdo - every time I'm interested it just doesn't work out for some reason. The few day tours I've done in other countries were only because it was more or less the only option available that was realistic. Trekking in jungles, to rural countryside etc.

However, everyone has their own way of doing things. Was just saying it's easy enough to travel around on one's own without having to do a tour here.