First things first : Travel Essentials

meh...lazy bunny

Side note: All my posts on my Korea trip will be written in the past. Actually I completed my voyage last year in the summer. (I was having too much fun, and was a little lazy kekeke, to 'instablog)  

Cheap way to get to Korea  

To be honest, if you are travelling during peak season (i.e.: summer), it's almost impossible to find amazing ticket deals. Since I was travelling halfway across the world, in June, I had to resort to buying my ticket 4 months prior to my departure, and even that wasn't cheap. I purchased my ticket on kayak.com. I traveled on board Finnair. The trip started from Toronto, Canada to Helsinki (transit) to Seoul. The price range for my ticket was around $1200.  

Visa 

I have a Canadian passport, so I did not require a visa to travel to Korea, so long as my trip did not exceed 6 months. If you are residents of countries in Africa, Eastern Europe or South America, you are usually restricted to a much shorter stay. To know if you need to a visa or not have a look here: Visa by country 

Things to consider 

This part might seem obvious to some of you, but I thought I should mention these anyways, for people who are used to travelling alone. 

Budget - You will need to work out the amount of spending money you will need. Which means that you are going to need a rough plan regarding your 

• accommodation,
• food budget,
• transportation, 
• souvenirs, 
• entertainment. 

Make sure to check the weather in Korea so you can pack accordingly. The summer months are extremely humid, hot and wet (rainy season).

Hangug-eo mal hae ? Do you speak Korean ?

If not, no need to worry! I got by making gestures and stressing that one English word you think Koreans should understand. kekeke . Seoul is teeming with people who can speak and understand English. Things tend to get a little tougher when you step out into the other provinces. But you can pick it up quite fast if you are good with languages. I think learning Korean that way is a lot of fun! However it's a great idea to get a translation app or one of those useful phrasebooks to practice. 

 

That is it for now guys. A more detail breakdown on accommodation, transport, etc will be coming up shortly!  

Meanwhile, if you have any specific questions feel free to send them my way! :D

It all started with an Asian Infatuation

Dear Reader - Welcome!

My very first post!!! And guess what it's about? Korea, of course! Duh!

 

Gyeongbukgung, Seoul, summer 2013 

My infatuation began, like most Korea enthusiasts out there, when I watched my very first k-drama. (I know, it sounds a little pathetic). :'(  But k-dramas became a portal through which I learnt so many things about the language, Seoul, the food, the culture, the people. Soon enough, I was gobbling up as much info as my brain could handle, on youtube, on blogs, Trip Advisor, etc. And slowly but surely, I was envisaging my own trip to this land of marvels!