Exploring South Korea: A complete adventure guide.

Bardos Adventures
5 days ago
7 min read

From Seoul to Busan

Arriving in Seoul

Our adventure begins in the vibrant city of Seoul, the capital and largest city of South Korea. As our plane touches down, we are both super excited as this is a new country for the both of us. After collecting our bags, we navigate our way through the airport to our waiting driver that we had pre booked on booking.com. we did this as we had had a long journey from Brisbane, but honestly get the train straight into the city, its cheap and super easy. Fraser Place Namdaemun Seoul is where we will be laying our heads for the next Four nights, A fairly decent hotel for $620 AUD for the 4 nights. We dump our bags as we can’t check in until 3pm and hit the streets. It was pouring rain, so we just take a walk down and hit up dunkin donuts for a coffee as it was super close.

Korean cuisine

Korea is renowned for its street food and diverse culinary delights. We start with Namdaemun Market, the largest traditional market in Korea, where we begin with something simple: fish cake sticks. They don't look appetizing pale and bathing in boiling water, but to our surprise, they were very good, along with the water they were boiling in, as we got that given to us in a cup. My first thought was it would be like hot dog water, but what we got was a very clean-tasting, salty seafood broth, and at only 1.50 per stick, it was a steal!

Braised Pig Trotters

There are so many food options here that I could write forever but I will just mention a few that are a must do. Braised pig trotters being at the top of the list, the place that we went to is Micheline reccomended and for good reason, Manjok Ohyang Jokbal is the name, and it produces succulent fatty juicy pork along with a dumpling soup and of course banchan, an assortment of kimchi and pickled vegetables. Quite a lot of food along with some beers and of course soju and only $56 AUD. Don’t be turned off the thought of eating pig’s feet they are delicious. In the words of the Great Anthony Bourdain “Without experimentation, a willingness to try new things, we shall surely become static, repetitive, and moribund.

Korean BBQ

A trip to Korea would not be complete without Korean BBQ and you have your pick when it comes to places to eat. We randomly walked into a place down a small ally and wow it was amazing, the meat just melted in your mouth. We opted for the beef flank, but it came with a great marble, thinly sliced brisket, and a slab of pork belly which you cut up with the scissors provided. This was also complemented by a selection of Banchan and if you ran out of the Banchan you just walk up to the self-serve counter and help yourself to more. Banchan for this included Kimchi, whole garlic cloves, some pickled vegetables, lettuce and perilla leaf. If you haven’t had perilla leaf its like a mix of basil, mint, and anise, it goes extremely well with the BBQ meats. Of course, beer was on the menu along with more Soju.

Mul-naengmyeon (cold noodles in chilled broth)

Now your prob thinking, Yuk cold noodle soup but once again the Koreans know how to do food. The broth is sweet, tangy, and a little spicy. The noodles are very chewy and provide a weird but nice texture. There is one thing with a lot of the soups is that they are meat free, so we ordered some dumplings to go with it and they are big chewy, full of meat and a hit at this small stall within in the Gwangjang market in Seoul. This market is very tourist-based market, which I am guessing is because of the Netflix series “Street Food: Asia.” This series focuses on a lady who does knife cut noodles and dumplings and her stall was full of tourists but with in this market you will find a lot of stalls doing the exact same dishes and I don’t think you will be disappointed with your choice.

DMZ Tour

A tour to the DMZ is a must when you are in Korea. We booked with our hotel at a cost of W75,000 which is about $80 AUD. It takes about an hour to reach the outskirts of the DMZ, and your first stop will be Imjingak Park Which has the “Freedom Bridge” this crosses the Imjin River which was until 1998 the only point of exit from the south Korea onto the DMZ.

Next stop is the observatory where south Korea keep an eye on the North, and you can see the Norh Korean flag flying into the distance, the old north Korean industrial complex of Kaesong and the propaganda village of Kijongdong.

After the observatory we make our way to see the tunnel, specifically the 3rd tunnel of aggression which was found due to a defector from the north being interrogated and him being an engineer on the tunnel gave over the information to the south Korean military. I decide to go down which is a decent of over 200 m and then the walk through the actual tunnel of over another 200 odd metres to a series of concrete blockades which seals the tunnel off. Quite a site to be seen and scary at the same time. Of course, North Korea denied trying to tunnel into south Korea and said it was a coal mine even though the whole tunnel is Granite.

Train to Busan

We opt for the fast Train to Busan which takes a total of 2.5 hrs. I booked these tickets on Rail Ninja, and I paid a total of $427 AUD but it’s better to book on KORAIL website which you can then get the tickets for half the price but I didn’t really do much research as I booked it last minute.

The journey was smooth although we got put into seats that were facing other passengers with a table between us, like an awkward family reunion that nobody wanted. It was a game of "don't make eye contact" that could rival any staring contest. When booking on KORAIL you can pick your seats, so you only have yourself to blame! There is only a vending machine on the train so if you want decent food your better to bring your own. Luggage can be stowed overhead for small bags or for larger suitcases they can go in the luggage area as you enter your carriage, also there is no limit to the amount t of luggage that you can bring.

Arriving in Busan

When arriving in Busan head straight to the taxi rank and get in the line, you won’t have to wait long as there are plenty of taxis waiting to pick up passengers. We jump in and make our way to Gwangalli Beach. The journey takes around 30-45 mins but only cost us around $20 AUD. The driver was super friendly giving us the full run down of all the sites even in his broken english. Gwangalli beach is full of bars and restaurants, but it is very commercialised as it is a tourist destination for Koreans.

Gamcheon Cultural Village

A visit to the Gamcheon Cultural Village will present an array of colourful houses and markets. Navigating the village's steep staircases through narrow alleyways gives you an appreciation for the locals, who must carry everything up these stairs daily. A stop into a local coffee house which are a plenty in Korea and we are greeted with most amazing views over the village. To get this village you take the train to Toseong station and begin the accent up by foot or if you are not feeling so adventurous you can get a taxi. We walked and the wife complained the whole way, so it was a taxi back down to Jalgalchi seafood market as we had worked up quite a hunger from all the walking.

Jalgalchi Seafood Market

Jalgalchi seafood market is one of the largest seafood markets in Korea. It sells both live and dried fish and is a vibrant cultural experience. Jalaglchi comes from the vendors who are women who are known as “Jalgalchi Ajumeoni.” Which means Middle aged or married women in Korean.

As you make your way through the market you are greeted by an array of seafood from Live fish, octopus, squid, clams, scallops, eels and more. We do a lap and then decide on the first person who makes contact to see what they have for us. We opt for oysters, scallops, octopus, clams and a whole snapper half sashimi half grilled. We are then escorted to a restaurant up stairs where our meal is prepared. This is as fresh as it gets, and it was good besides some of the bigger clams which were a little tough.

Busan Sky Capsule

The Busan sky capsule is a unique and very popular tourist attraction featuring retro style, single train carriages that offer stunning views of the coastline. Be sure to book in advance as we didn’t and missed out on getting a ticket at the ticket office. Ticket prices start at W40,000 which is around $45 AUD. We did however take a nice walk along the boardwalk and had a drink at one of the cafes that offer stunning views and photo opportunities of the sky capsules coming past.

Back in Seoul

As our journey in Busan comes to an end and we make our way back to Seoul, we reflect on the experiences and landscapes that both cities have to offer. From the bustling scenes at Jalgalchi Seafood Market to the serene beauty of Gwangalli Beach, and the confronting landscape of the DMZ each moment was a taste of culture and new flavours. Though we missed out on the Busan Sky Capsule ride, the walk along the boardwalk provided an equally enjoyable end to our adventure. With hearts full of memories and cameras full of photos, we are already dreaming of our next month-long adventure to Vietnam.

While on our adventure we stayed connected with an eSIM with Airalo so we didn't get hit with those roaming charges. check them out via the link. https://airalo.tp.st/fO7rpnKB