Korean Job Discussion Forums

[No_hite_pls]

It looks like the wife and I are going to get two weeks off in July. We want to spend less than 5 million won on a trip (including airfare). We would love to go to India but we are afraid of the Monsoon rains and heat. We think Russia (St. Petersburg, and Moscow) would be great in July but we are worried about the cost.

Another option is Australia but we feel as if Australia is just too similar to U.S. or Canada.

Does anyone have links to cheap safe tours in Russia, or anywhere else for that matter?

[soviet_man]

Russia is good choice for sure.

In the past 2 years hostelling in Moscow has really taken off.

www.sweetmoscow.com
www.godzillashostel.com
www.napoleonhostel.com

All of the above are good.

They will arrange visa and registration for you (basically they will email you an invitation, you print it and take it to the Russian embassy with payment, passport, 2 photos, application form).

When you arrive in Russia, they register you when you arrive at the hostel + can book any train tickets or domestic flights for you for a small cost.

The arrival of youth hostels has simplified the visa system big time. Before 2005, they did not exist and virtually every foreigner who went to Russia ended up having hassles with the militzia about any number of visa issues. Now it is slowly getting better.

But buy your own international flight tickets (Aeroflot or Korean Air each fly a couple times per week).

So you could spend 1 week in Moscow and perhaps do a few side trips (St Petersberg would take a few days and be good) and 2 hour domestic flights within Russia are cheap (such as Sochi/Mineralnye Vody).

You could comfortably do this for 2 million won per person.

===========================

The Australia option is actually not too far fetched either. If you ferry from Pusan to Fukuoka and then go to Osaka by train you can fly on jetstar.com to Australia (low cost airline) for very cheap prices (well under US $800 return). Worth investigating if you are keen to go.

[redhed]

cebupacific.com has been having insane sales from incheon to Cebu/Manila..........thing 140,000 roundtrip including taxes! I think paying peanuts for you ticket would allow you to write your own check as far as vacationing in the phillipines with 5 million to spend. (granted you may have to deal with the heat/rain)