South Korea

South Korea is a wonderful country that is far too often overlooked by those travelling around East Asia. The country is tiny in comparison to its neighbours and for whatever reasons lacks the appeal to tourists enjoyed particularly by Japan. Even for me it was originally a country to include on my travels but not one that I was expecting to be a highlight of the region.

I was very wrong! South Korea is wonderful and fully deserves to be treated alongside Japan. The main cities are vibrant and fascinating, you could spend weeks trying to get to know Busan properly and Seoul would take you a lifetime. The cuisine was one of the most unique and consistently delicious of any country that I’ve been to. Any dish that you order will be incredible and come with a dozen side dishes that you can use to create an incredible variety of flavours. But the thing that made Korea most enjoyable for me were the people I met, everyone is so open and friendly and everywhere I stayed there was immediately a fantastic group of people to explore and hang out with.

My Trip

I landed first on Jeju Island, having found a very cheap flight from China. I started off in Seongsan for a relaxing few days enjoying the food and views around the spectacular volcano. Then I went to Jeju city and hiked the central mountain on the island, the highest point in Korea. I had intended to get a ferry to the mainland but I had forgotten to check the weather and a typhoon rolled in. After a few days stuck on the island I flew to Gwangju and explored there and Jeonju on my way up to Seoul. I tried to see as much of the city as I could and went out to see the DMZ from the south, having already been there from the north. Then it was festival time and I went to the Andong Maskdance Festival and the Jinju Lantern Festival before finishing my trip in Busan. I had definitely saved the best until last, Busan was by far my favourite place in the country and a perfect final stop before flying on to Japan.