“Once A Year, Go Someplace You’ve Never Been Before.”
– Dalai Lama
My Seoul For The Taking
Seoul, the capital of South Korea, is full of beautiful landscapes and a vibrant culture. There are so many adventures that Seoul offers such as Buddhist temples, K-Pop, advanced technology, and shopping; so it was definitely a go-to on our Asia trek. We flew Air Asia, on a 7-hour one-way flight, from Bangkok, Thailand to Seoul, South Korea. The price of our ticket was $128.50 USD pp including bags. Air Asia charges for Carry-ons and Checked bags. They weigh both so make sure to follow the baggage policy for this airline. Once we landed in Seoul, we took a 1hr 14min train ride to our Airbnb.
Views from the 6
We opted for accommodations at an Airbnb instead of a hotel, as it was more affordable. We stayed in a high-rise condominium located on the 26th floor with an amazing view of the city. The condominium was set up like a hotel room, decorated very nicely yet minimalistic containing two queen beds, nightstands, a table, and two chairs. There was plenty of storage space in the built in closets. There was even a fully equipped kitchen and washer in the room. The bathroom was a good size and had a bidet toilet with a walk in shower. The location of our Airbnb was A-1! There were a few restaurants and a convenience store in the lobby as well a bus stop right in front of the building. The building was connected to a hotel that was connected to a subway station, which came in handy when traveling by train as it was frigid outside. The total cost of the Airbnb for a 3-night stay was $310 and since it was four of us still, we paid $77.50 USD pp. Not too shabby! Here’s where we stayed:
* P.S. Remember when I said the subway station was handy as it was connected to the building?! Yeah, it was super handy when we had to flee the Airbnb because the police came (we will talk about that in the blog post). Do not forget that Airbnb is illegal in Asia so book at your own risk.
The Wheels On The Bus Go Round N’ Round
Getting around in Seoul was the easiest hands down! We were able to purchase a MPass to get around the city and cost around $47USD pp. You can buy the pass upon arrival in Incheon Airport. There is a help desk when exiting the airport, stop there to purchase your pass. This pass allowed us to travel train roundtrip from the airport to our Airbnb and throughout Seoul on the bus system.
MPASS Card: Metropolitan Pass, or MPASS, is a transportation card exclusively for international tourists traveling in the Seoul metropolitan area and Jeju. The pass offers 20 rides a day for the duration of the pass. Areas of use included: Seoul- subway lines, airport railroad all-stop train, mainline buses, branch buses, circulation buses, village buses, night buses, as well as Jeju: Jeju city buses.
The buses also had Wi-Fi. So we were able to keep up with the stops using the maps on our phones and pre-load the walking route to the places that we were going once off the bus.
The Grub
We visited several street food vendors at Myeongdong Market where we tried different Korean foods including gimbap, Tteok-bokki, and fishcake.
We, also dined in the famous Seoul Station. The train station is filled with a variety of eats. Jai opted for a burger spot, while Tat had traditional Korean food. Tat was able to get her coffee fix, too, because the station has a Dunkin.
In Korean shows, picnics at Han River are very popular so, we decided to recreate our own. There was a convenience store right on Han River where we purchased some chips, drinks, and ramen. We were able to make the ramen in the store with hot water machines and after making our ramen, we grabbed a couple of park benches and enjoyed our meal riverside. It was such a beautiful view. Here is a guide to preparing for your picnic at Han River:
Shake Shack
We Had Seoul Much Fun!
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Gangnam station Underground Shopping Center
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Shopping and sightseeing in the Hongdae area
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Namsan Tower (10,000 won = 8.49USD)
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Gyeongbokgung Palace (3000 won= 2.55USD)
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Hanbok Village (free)
On our way to the palace, we stumbled across a store that offered hanbok (a traditional Korean dress) rental for around $5 USD. This rental included the hanbok, a purse, and a hairpiece. We rented the hanboks for two hours and we were provided a locker to keep our things safe while at the palace. If you do choose to rent a hanbok, admission to the palaces are free.
We were lucky enough to visit Seoul during the 2019 Seoul Lantern Festival on the Cheonggyecheon Stream. The festival was full of vibrant colors and consisted of life-sized paper lanterns all depicting different aspects of the Korean culture. This event occurs every year during fall season so definitely check it out if you can!
We went to a karaoke room in the Myeongdong Market. We cannot recall the name of the exact one, but there are so many options to choose from.
Cha-Ching!
We used AAA to exchange our U.S. Dollars for Korean Won and since we were exchanging over 250USD total, the fee was waived. You can also exchange money through your bank. The exchange rate was 1000 won =0.84 USD. We budgeted for $228USD for three days to cover food and fun!
