Pre-Trip Travelogue

Having travelled to both Seoul and Jeju for 10-days I could say that I barely skimmed the surface. Frankly it wasn't even enough since there was just so much to see and do. But given the limited time and budget, I think I've managed squeeze in some of the recommended and must-see places and activities and create an itinerary that me and my friend will enjoy.

I didn't really plan to go during spring when we booked our flight, it just happened, which was perfect as besides being a great weather to travel, we get to escape from our hot and humid weather here. One of the reason we moved our trip to mid-April from our original late-March was due to the difference in ticket prices (I can't remember how much but it was a pretty sum).

My trip to Seoul was honestly rather...sudden - for the lack of better words. No doubt that I've wanted to travel but it had been a rough idea, a general plan of sorts which I'm sure most people have at the back of their minds. The thought of travelling to Korea hasn't even occurred to me (on my own) - not even after watching gazillions of Korean drama. Unbelievable right?! 

I had the assumptions that Korea would be a challenging destination due to the language barrier, expensive and that I would need to follow a travel agency which would complicate things. I mean travelling to a foreign country where you can't speak the language can be rather intimidating don't you think? However, my uncle who is well-travelled, regaled us with how amazing and tourist friendly it was there. The plus point was the fact that travelling within Seoul was surprisingly safe and convenient. You could reach most places by subway and everything was pretty much interconnected.

HOW WE GOT THERE 

Being from Malaysia, we decided to fly with Malaysia Airlines. Contrary to popular believe, Air Asia wasn't the most affordable as no doubt it was slightly cheaper but after the extras it would be nearly the same. I would rather pay slightly extra to ensure my peace of mind to not be caught unaware of unexpected expenses. It doesn't help that my previous experiences with Air Asia = delays.

ITINERARY

Making our own itinerary was really easy thanks to numerous bloggers who have blogged about their trip. VisitKorea website was also very helpful as it contains detailed information. In preparation for my trip, I've read countless websites and blogs to compile some of the places I think we would both enjoy. However despite my planning, its really impossible to predict what was going to happen and all we could do was to adjust and make the best out of it. 

TIPS

I believe that my trip would be much more enjoyable if I were to be able to converse in korean or at least read some hangul. The people that I've met there were so friendly though much was lost in translation and I think that I could have gained much more insight if I could converse more with them.

Right now, I'm still having a 'hangover' from my trip as it was really that epic and although school begins tomorrow, I would look forward to blogging each and every one of my misadventure and probably some of my hauls too since I did quite a bit of shopping ^^ Ciao~