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jdog2050
Joined: 17 Dec 2006
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 Posted: Sun Jan 03, 2010 6:04 pm Post subject: Seoul is the third most hated city (lonely planet poll) |
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http://www.rjkoehler.com/2010/01/02/seoul-third-most-hated-city-in-the-world/
Via RJkoehler.com
Well, it's a little hard to argue with the basic spirit of the poll, but at the same time, the people I've had come out here to visit or are visiting friends, have all really liked Seoul. I think it's more to do with having someone here to show you around.
Mind you, this is from Lonely Planet...a travel guide that I'm slowly learning to really dislike the more that I travel. |
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runthegauntlet
Joined: 02 Dec 2007
Location: the southlands.
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| Posted: Sun Jan 03, 2010 6:14 pm Post subject: |
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As it's been discussed before...ah... whatever. Anyone with even a modicum of reading comprehension and common sense can see the myriad of absurdities associated with both your title, your link and the original LP 'poll".
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definitely maybe
Joined: 16 Feb 2008
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| Posted: Sun Jan 03, 2010 7:01 pm Post subject: |
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| I've told everyone who has come to visit me here that Seoul is more about what you are doing, not what you are seeing. It's the food, the lights, the soju, etc. Toss in trips to the DMZ and Hwaseong, not to mention a few of the palaces and museums, and it makes for a nice trip. People also love comparing the in demand apartments here to public housing in Co-op City outside of NYC! |
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Sadebugo1
Joined: 11 May 2003
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| Posted: Mon Jan 04, 2010 5:14 am Post subject: Re: Seoul is the third most hated city (lonely planet poll) |
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| jdog2050 wrote: |
http://www.rjkoehler.com/2010/01/02/seoul-third-most-hated-city-in-the-world/
Via RJkoehler.com
Well, it's a little hard to argue with the basic spirit of the poll, but at the same time, the people I've had come out here to visit or are visiting friends, have all really liked Seoul. I think it's more to do with having someone here to show you around.
Mind you, this is from Lonely Planet...a travel guide that I'm slowly learning to really dislike the more that I travel. |
I would think it's rank would have been lower if the majority of pollees had actually lived/worked there. It may be different now, but it used to be a real adventure to get from the airport to one's hotel. But, to give credit where credit is due, it's the number one city in Korea, IMHO!
Sadebugo
| desert_traveller wrote: |
i just browsed through a few topics, thinking about where i can inject a few pearls of wisdom
i have just identified a sort of forum user. i shall call them the 'tell me what i want to hear' type. they ask questions, but not for information, but for confirmation of what they think. if you say what they want to hear, you are a great guy. if you dont, you are a forum abuser
whats my point here? my point is, i think these people will have the hardest time in saudi arabia
or are we all like that? |
This happens on the Korea forums all the time. Having worked in both Korea and Saudi, my opinion is that Korea is much tougher due to contract violations, difficult lifestyle, etc. When a newbie queries about going there for the first time, I always try to give them the 'real' situation. Most posters on that forum agree with me, but several go into attack mode If I dare criticize the country. It's okay if you genuinely like a place and disagree with the poster, but when you attack someone for presenting their opinion, I almost believe it's some kind of coping mechanism to make your life more tolerable there.
Sadebugo
http://travldawrld.blogspot.com/ |
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PatrickGHBusan
Joined: 24 Jun 2008
Location: Busan (1997-2008) Canada 2008 -
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| Posted: Mon Jan 04, 2010 5:59 am Post subject: |
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| I share the growing dislike for Lonely Planet as well...for numerous destinations. |
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ueo119
Joined: 23 Jun 2008
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| Posted: Mon Jan 04, 2010 1:43 pm Post subject: |
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Poor Korea  |
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runthegauntlet
Joined: 02 Dec 2007
Location: the southlands.
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| Posted: Mon Jan 04, 2010 5:21 pm Post subject: Re: Seoul is the third most hated city (lonely planet poll) |
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| Sadebugo1 wrote: |
I would think it's rank would have been lower if the majority of pollees had actually lived/worked there. It may be different now, but it used to be a real adventure to get from the airport to one's hotel. But, to give credit where credit is due, it's the number one city in Korea, IMHO!
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For someone who doesn't live in Korea and hasn't in, what... A DECADE?!.... you spend an inordinate amount of time on this forum doing nothing but putting your snide remarks in as many threads as you can.
Telling, no? Seriously, move on. |
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runthegauntlet
Joined: 02 Dec 2007
Location: the southlands.
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| Posted: Mon Jan 04, 2010 5:36 pm Post subject: Re: Seoul is the third most hated city (lonely planet poll) |
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| Sadebugo1 wrote: |
This happens on the Korea forums all the time. Having worked in both Korea and Saudi, my opinion is that Korea is much tougher due to contract violations, difficult lifestyle, etc. When a newbie queries about going there for the first time, I always try to give them the 'real' situation. Most posters on that forum agree with me, but several go into attack mode If I dare criticize the country. It's okay if you genuinely like a place and disagree with the poster, but when you attack someone for presenting their opinion, I almost believe it's some kind of coping mechanism to make your life more tolerable there.
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Sade, ALL you do is lambaste Korea. We get it, you had a bad time. That does NOT mean everyone else does or has. All you do is paint Korea with a 'I was miserable so everyone else must be miserable' brush.
Anytime anyone makes a positive comment about Korea on another forum you immediately jump in with your "real opinion". Your use of the phrase 'attack mode' is ridiculously ironic seeing as how that's all you do is attack someone's positive view of Korea.
Yes, yes, it's a 'coping mechanism to make life more tolerable here'. That's the coup de grace, buddy. You, the person that hasn't worked in Korea in a while but spends so much time on Korean and International boards blasting Korea.... As I said, you're the manifestation of the "I was miserable so everyone else must be, too" ideal.
Pathetic. Now, there's your 'attack'. Or was it the truth? |
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eamo
Joined: 08 Mar 2003
Location: Shepherd's Bush, 1964.
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| Posted: Mon Jan 04, 2010 5:54 pm Post subject: |
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I find that the people who visit Seoul and are shown around by knowledgeable friends actually do have a good time.
If you just come to Seoul and do the tourist trail as laid out by the Korean tourist board....then, yeah. It can be bland......I find the Korean tourist board to be pretty clueless about what is actually interesting about Seoul and the rest of Korea. |
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Morgen
Joined: 02 Jul 2008
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| Posted: Mon Jan 04, 2010 6:17 pm Post subject: |
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| Seoul is kind of the reverse of the old "It's a nice place to visit but I wouldn't want to live there" chestnut. I think it kind of sucks to visit unless you're seeing friends or know your spots, but with some local knowledge you can enjoy the really interesting or amusing activities or places, which are thrown into even sharper contrast with the blandness of Korean life in general. If I was coming from Paris or Buenos Aires there's nothing Seoul could ever do to impress me, but from a local perspective, the general monotony and grayness makes those favorite spots even more pleasurable. I hope to come back to Asia in my travels but I'll never come to Korea as a tourist. |
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Old Gil
Joined: 26 Sep 2009
Location: Got out! olleh!
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| Posted: Mon Jan 04, 2010 7:00 pm Post subject: |
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Having lived in Seoul I would come back because I'd know where to go. But it's a big thumbs down as a tourist destination. The ham fisted Korean style of "hey isn't everything Korean great!?!?!" is a big turn off to anybody who's a seasoned traveler.
My parents were here for a week and they watched Arirang for about 5 minutes leading them to come to the conclusion that Koreans have a huge inferiority complex, based on all the comparisons to Japan and China. In fact it is just the ajeossis that kibosh any subtle or non-inuslar ideas from their underlings and give this skewed image to the world. I'd put good money that these ridiculous 'Running Onseong' - style slogans are the result of some old man's idea of what constitutes 'excited English'.
Until these guys are out of positions of power in the major government organs Korea will continue to resemble their middle age insecurities rather than reflect a youth culture that is drastically different from the older generations' neuroses. |
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DeMayonnaise
Joined: 02 Nov 2008
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| Posted: Tue Jan 05, 2010 3:50 am Post subject: |
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I'd have to agree. It's a decent place to live, but as a tourist, WTF is there to do here?
The DMZ...wow, that's cool
Don't give me wrong, I like living in Korea. But if I had to make a list of cities I'd want to spend a week in, Seoul would probably be second to last (ahead of Manila). |
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PatrickGHBusan
Joined: 24 Jun 2008
Location: Busan (1997-2008) Canada 2008 -
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| Posted: Tue Jan 05, 2010 10:24 am Post subject: |
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Seoul does have some interesting museums, some decent dining out, insandong, the palaces, some cool open air markets....
It is also a good jump off point to numerous nearby places worth a visit...seoraksan, Gyungju.....
It is not as culturally attractive as say Tokyo or Paris of course but it is not as well known either.
Anyways, my folks loved that city...but then again we were their guides so that helps a bunch. |
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Hyeon Een
Joined: 24 Jun 2005
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| Posted: Tue Jan 05, 2010 10:52 am Post subject: |
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| PatrickGHBusan wrote: |
Seoul does have some interesting museums, some decent dining out, insandong, the palaces, some cool open air markets....
It is also a good jump off point to numerous nearby places worth a visit...seoraksan, Gyungju.....
It is not as culturally attractive as say Tokyo or Paris of course but it is not as well known either.
Anyways, my folks loved that city...but then again we were their guides so that helps a bunch. |
As I live in central Seoul now I quite often run into tourists. Furthermore I act as an occasional tour guide for visitors from Universities in the west.
On the whole, I've got to say, tourists here tend to have a great time. It really is a 'culture shock' country, but in a good way. It's pretty safe on the whole and there are some decent things to look at. Most of the appeal however is in the simple things like the overabundance of neon lights and eating a samgyeopsal meal. The palaces are soso, the cities are boring, but the EXPERIENCE of being in an Asian country which is so damn un-western is pretty fascinating for most tourists.
In terms of backpackers: How off the beaten track can you get? You can find the backpacker staple of banana pancakes in Mongolia or Uzbekistan or backwater Thailand, but you'll be hard pressed to find it here. Korea is the most 'remote' developed country there is, and it's a hell of a lot more unexplored than pretty much anywhere outside of modern day Darfur. Tourists, in some form, are in EVERY country in the world. But there are far fewer of them here than almost any other place you could name. If you go to small town Laos you'll find a hostel and a club sandwichIn small town Korea? No. Why? Because it's not developed as a tourist destination yet.
There's a lot going for this country, and it will be on the tourist run one day, but the KTO has been run by idiot adjossis with no clue for too damn long. Even the Japanese tourists, who are pretty local, come here on package tours rather than indulging in independent travel.
Its sad that it's only been 'discovered' by recent grads from Canada and the US who are here to pay off student loans, but I expect to see an ever increasing number of mainland European tourists visiting as time goes by. Maybe one day the student-loan-guys will discover some of the more beautiful areas of the country and break out of the Rocky Mountain Tavern or Geckos or their local town equivalent in the future.
If they shut down Arirang TV and let Charm Lee do his thing this country might become a more major tourist destination.
Of course, I'll hate it when it does =) |
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jvalmer
Joined: 06 Jun 2003
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| Posted: Tue Jan 05, 2010 11:14 am Post subject: |
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I'll have to agree that Korea isn't the most attractive tourist destination. But, I think it's better that Korea didn't need to rely on tourist dollars to develop. Although it would be nice now if they had more tourists, but in the end I don't think it really matters. I think secretly, the government doesn't really care much, hence the constant hiring of incompetent people to run tourism campaigns.
Much to the chagrin of Koreans, if they really want to increase the number of tourists, they should emphasis DMZ tours, especially the one in Gangwon. I thought that part of the DMZ was way more interesting than the one north of Seoul. Also, that old Kim Il-Sung summer home that he stayed at before the Korean War, I passed by it. My Korean CT said that it wasn't interesting, but I would have wanted to see it either way, just because it's different. And how often can you say you touched the summer home of a former communist dictator? |
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