Korean Job Discussion Forums

[hanguker]

Could someone help me with some travel ideas? My parents are visiting mid-August. They'll be here for 3 weeks. They are mobile, but are limited (i.e. no climbing, frequent rest stops). I'm a little worried about the heat, too, but this is the only time they can visit.

I am living in Busan. I'm planning a trip to Seoul (shopping, DMZ, ???) and Fukuoka, Japan. I'm going to guide them around Busan myself, I guess. We'll visit Haeundae beach, BEXCO, cable car, international market, seafood market, etc.

I'm thinking guided tours in Seoul and Japan...maybe other places. Maybe a trip to Cheju...but that will be getting a bit expensive after Seoul and Japan.

Does anybody have any good ideas? I want them to experience Korean culture, enjoy some haggling in the open markets, and just have a good experience in Asia. They've never been out of N.America.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

[seoulis]

Hi hanguker

Hopefully the weather will have cooled by mid-August, though it could go either way. I'm not a fan of guided tours, but I'm sure there are some quality ones out there. I would suggest Insadong, Namdaemun (may be little testing) and Namsan. Here is some info on Insadong: http://english.visitseoul.net/visit2007en/activities/selfexplorationtour/selfexplorationtour.jsp?cid=35&sid=584

Explore the site as there are links to tours, other activities, areas, etc.

Eating and drinking should be a key part of their visit! Gives them a chance to rest and get indoors (hopefully) to an air-conditioned space, whilst sampling the local foods.

Hope they enjoy their time in Seoul.

[Mr Crowley]

I would LOVE for my parents to come here for a visit. My mom couldn't take the plane ride over. Her health is not that good.

[just because]

[seoulis]

[peppermint]

Seoul city tour bus: http://www.visitseoul.net/english_new/citytour/cen_citytour.htm

Stops at a lot of tourist sites, every half hour, and it at least solves the trouble of transportation for a bit.

Not hard at all to spend an afternoon at the War Memorial and it's got AC. Maybe somewhere in Itaewon for dinner afterwards?

If your parents will be there during a Korean holiday, that might be the best time to get them to Insadong- the KNTO tends to hold a lot of foreign friendly events there on holidays. Lots of funky little tea shops and the like to take a break in, between haggling over souvenirs and "antiques" Make a day of it, and hit Gyeongbokgung either before or after. They offer very cheap (free?) tours in English a few times a day.

[yesnoyesyesno]

[just because]

[MissSeoul]

[VirginIslander]

Try to stay indoor during the day. Keep them cool. It does get pretty hot here in Busan.

Gwangali in Busan is real nice and cool at night. Mon-Sun, we shut down the main road that runs parallel to the beach and fill it with chairs and tables. There are thousands of people out at night walking around and having a good time.

Take them to Seymeon and go shopping (Boring).

Take them to a couple of bars in PNU. And the Turkish place.

Good Luck and if your parents need a place to shower (strange comment) after a day in Gwangali, PM me. I live next to the beach and I have a real apartment.

[simone]

Rent a car. Get one with a GPS.

Get the travel book, go through it, and book regular hotels (with identifiable names, phone numbers, etc.)

You can get a K-friend to help program the GPS system with all your reserved hotels, and it will guide you, traffic wise, through your whole trip. I haven't done this, but I saw it profiled at a Korean tourism conference and it looked brilliant.

Also, trip to the DMZ is always popular. Last remaining cold war frontier and all that...

[hanguker]

Thanks so much for all the advice...but now I'm REALLY worried about the heat!

We'll try to keep it a mostly "indoor trip", I guess. Take advantage of these fine Korean A/C units.

Cheers.

[Pak Yu Man]

Get a car and drive around with the air on.
Go to Jeju. I know it's overrated, but my parents loved it. There a lot to do there for the oldies.

Drive from Pusan to Seoul and stop at random locations. Your parents wcould see some temple that every waegook and Korean has, or they could go to some back road temple that hasn't seen a white person.]

Go to one of the amusement parks (Carribean Bay water park would fight the cool)

[seoulis]

Not to get into one of those long posts, however... By way of the KMA link as provided by just because, looking at averages of max temps:

July 15 - 31: 31.3 degrees // Aug 1 - 15: 30.3 degrees // Aug 15 - 31: 28.8 degrees // Sept 1 - 15: 26.8 degrees

Avg for the 30-day period July 15 � August 15: 29.9 // Avg for the 30-day period Aug 15 � Sept 15: 27.8.

Mid July to mid Aug, the temp exceeds 30 degrees on 16 days; in the period mid-Aug to mid-Sept, zero.

Point is, there is not much difference between the high�s experienced in the mid-July to mid-August and the mid-August to mid-Sept periods.

However, the latter period is cooler, and by the second week of September, the weather averages 26.2 degrees.

If your parents arrive mid-August and intend to stay 3 weeks, hopefully they will experience more of the cooler weather which marks September, than the weather in first-half August. The further their arrival date beyond August 15, the better.

[ajgeddes]

From anybody that has actually been in Korea during the summer, everybody knows that August is worse than July for heat. Take into account that August is also sunny, while July is mostly cloudy and even rainy. July here is bearable but I hate August.