Beyond Seoul: Exploring Nami Island

No visit to South Korea can really be complete without seeing the beauty of Nami Island. And yes, it's photogenic regardless of the season. Though it has become very touristy, thanks to Winter Sonata and social media, Nami Island remains a great place to visit. 

Nami Island during late spring/early summer

As it is only 1.5 hours away, it's ideal for those visiting Seoul. From there, you can take the regional train to Gapyeong Station, walk to the Gapyeong Wharf, and hop on a 5-minute ferry ride.

All of its attractions are not far away from where you'll land, owing to the fact that this half-moon shaped island is only 43 hectares in size. There are two options for going over the stretch of the island. One is by the central lane, following a trail that runs from north to south and starts right by the entrance to Nami Island. And the other option is by the riverside paths, where you can enjoy a pleasant walk along the banks of the Han River. 

If you opt for the central route, you'll see the most popular attractions of the island. First you'll see the tomb of General Nami, after whom the island is named. You will then continue along the Central Korean Pine Tree Lane, pass by the First Kiss Glass Sequoia Bridge to the left and the Pitowon Garden to the right, and reach the Joongangwangjang or Central Plaza. 

The tomb of General Nami

First Kiss Glass Sequoia Bridge

Pitowon Garden

Naminara train tracks

Various wildlife including ostriches live in the island

How to Apply for a South Korea Tourist Visa for Filipinos

Hitting the land of the kimchi and taekwondo? Well, you'll need a visa. 

If you're holding a Philippine passport, chances are you'll have more travel restrictions when flying around the world. In fact, the Philippine passport is considered moderately weak and ranks 70th in the list of most powerful passports. That being said, there are a lot of countries Juans need to get a visa for including South Korea. However, getting a visa for a legitimate tour isn't too much of a problem. 

Actual Korean visa

Here's a guide to scoring a South Korean visa for Juans.  

Basic Requirements
Here are the five basic requirements that all Juans must submit:
1. Duly accomplished application form. The form must be completely filled out with no blank fields. Download the form here. 

2. One (1) passport size colored picture. The photo should be taken within the last 6 months with full front view face against a plain white or off-white background. Paste in the first page of the application form. 
3. Original Philippine passport. Only passports valid for at least 6 months will be accepted. 
4. Photocopy of passport bio-page. The bio-page is the passport's second page with the owner's biographical data, picture, and a machine readable zone. 
5. Original and photocopy of valid visas and arrival stamps to OECD member countries for the past 5 years, if applicable. As South Korea is a member of OECD, submitting these documents give you an advantage as its co-member countries are known to be the strictest in issuing visas. Click here for the full list of OECD countries.
6. IF invited by a Korean citizen, submit an invitation letter and photocopy of inviter's passport or identification card. 
7. IF invited by a company in South Korea, submit an invitation letter and photocopy of the Korean Company's Business Permit.

Passport must be valid for 6 months

Seoul: A Budget Travel Guide for Juans

Seoul is on almost everyone's preferred travel destinations. However, budget travel in South Korea's capital is not common. Rightly so because the city consistently makes it into the list of the ten most expensive places in the world. As such, Seoul may seem like a pricey destination to get lost into for a lot of Juans. 

The beautiful and grand Gyeongbokgung Palace

But whether you want to experience its rich history, indulge in its fascinating food culture, see its futuristic structures, or visit the beautiful filming locations of popular K-dramas, there is a way to see Seoul on a budget of less than PHP25,000. Here's our guide to doing it. 

Note: Exchange rate used is PHP1 for every KRW20.83.

Flights
Airfare is nearly always one of the biggest expenses when traveling. So for us, it's really important to get the cheapest flights we possibly can. By taking advantage of lower airfares, we were able to drastically reduce many of our trips' total costs. 

For our trip to Seoul, we booked our tickets back in January during Jeju Air's Super Sale Event. At that time, one way fare from Manila to Incheon were offered from as low as PHP800 before taxes. Although we were not able to book the lowest fares, we still managed to score a pretty good deal on our flights. We each paid PHP6,262.65 for discounted round trip flight tickets to Incheon. 

Passport and Jeju Air boarding passes

Tip: To book cheap flights, you must first be able to recognize a good fare. Do some research to establish the going rate for flights to your destination. When you find seat sales, be ready to make an immediate purchase as these low fares sell out really fast. Lastly, be flexible. In a lot of cases, adjustments of a day or two in your travel dates can make a big difference in the price.  

Airfare: PHP6,262.65 total per person 
Travel Tax: PHP1,620.00 total per person

Waking Up to Good Things at Yellow Brick Hostel Seoul

For first timers, figuring out where to stay in Seoul is difficult as it's such a big city with many diverse neighborhoods and districts. Chances are you'll be overwhelmed with all the choices and information out there. Ideally, you should pick an area in Seoul that fits your traveling style and needs. 

Jongno District is a great home base for those who want to experience the historical and cultural side of the city. It is conveniently located near several subway stations making many of the Seoul's attractions accessible from it. 

One of the hostels tucked in between the alleys of Jongo is Yellow Brick Hostel. This is where we stayed when we went to Seoul. We absolutely loved our stay here and we highly recommend it. 

Entrance to Yellow Brick Hostel

Here's our review of this charming property. 
  

Location
If there's one thing that Yellow Brick Hostel can boast about, that would be its excellent location. It is within Jongno District, the city center for the last 600 years and considered as the face and heart not only of Seoul but of the entire country. The hostel is within walking distance to many points of interest like Insadong, Changdeokgung Palace, Gyeongbokgung Palace, and Cheonggyecheon Stream, and a few minutes drive to Myeongdong and Gwangjang. 

Although the hostel is located in a busy part of the city, you could hardly hear anything from the room, allowing us to wind down and catch some much needed shut eye. To reach Yellow Brick Hostel, you can take the subway to Jongno 3-ga Station or take the bus to Changdeokgung Bus Stop and walk to the hostel.

Reservation
Yellow Brick Hostel has its own website for reservation of rooms. It is also listed in online travel agencies like Booking.com and Hotels.com. Since the rooms are offered at lower rates plus an additional 10% Genius travel discount, we decided to book through Booking.com. With free breakfast and WiFi, we only paid PHP1,730.00 per night - an excellent value for money. 

Sign up for a Booking.com account and become a Genius member by completing any 2 stays. For more information, visit the website here. 

Check-in
We arrived at the hostel at around 8:00AM which was way too early to check in. Upon arrival, we asked the front desk attendant Pyo if we can leave our bags in the property and just return in the afternoon to check in. We also asked if we can use the toilet to refresh before our first activity in Seoul. He gladly approved and directed us to the luggage area and the common toilet. 

By 9:00AM, we were ready to go but Pyo told us that a room was already available and he went ahead with the check in. That totally changed the course of our first day in Seoul, letting us nap and shower after a red-eye flight. Thanks Pyo!

Yellow Brick's Front Desk

Seoul: A Travel Guide for First Timers

South Korea has become one of the top travel picks for Juans, thanks to the Korean wave that has swept across Asia in the past few years. Korean mobile phones, beauty products, pop music, movies, and television dramas have become so popular that travelling to this country is now a hip thing. 

Seoul, being the capital city, is probably the easiest and most ideal destination for first time travelers to South Korea. So if you are planning to visit Seoul, it's best to know a few of the basics. Here's our beginner's guide for travelers to this vibrant city. 

Seoul as seen from the top of N Seoul Tower,
distance to Manila is printed on the glass 

The City
Seoul has long been the political and economic capital of South Korea. It has a history of two thousand years through the period of the Three Kingdoms, Goryeo, and Joseon. As an ancient city, Seoul is where history and traditions live on. 

Today, Seoul is the country's world city and one of East Asia's financial and cultural centers. As a modern city, it offers cutting-edge technology, vast nightlife districts, trendsetting culture, and extraordinary architecture. 

Seoul is truly a fascinating blend of the old and the new. 

A fascinating blend of the old and the new

Travel Requirements
Any foreign visitor in South Korea must have a valid passport and a visa. There are two types of entry visas - single entry visa that allows one-time entry and multiple entry visa that allows entry to Korea two or more times. Only citizens of a country under the visa exemption agreement with Korea are permitted to enter without a visa. Unfortunately, Filipinos are still required to get a valid visa prior to entering the country.

Read our guide: How to Apply for a South Korea Tourist Visa for Filipinos

For more details, visit the website of the Embassy of the Republic of Korea in the Philippines here.

Time Zone
Korea Standard Time is nine hours ahead of Greenwich Mean Time (GMT +9). This means that the time in Seoul is 1 hour ahead of the time in the Philippines. Make sure to adjust your watch to ensure you do not miss your scheduled tours and return flight.

Mei Mei Da Hotel: Unbelievably Poor Customer Service

With more and more hotels opening, competition is getting tougher and hotels are taking steps to attract travelers. More focus is now placed in customer service and well-being of guests. So it came as a surprise that the Mei Mei Da Hotel in Siem Reap offered nothing but poor customer service. 

Here are the details of our stay in Mei Mei Da Hotel. 

Location

Mei Mei Da Hotel is located along an unpaved side street named Bakheng Road, off the busy National Highway 6 in Siem Reap. The hotel is about 700 meters from the Cambodian Cultural Village, 2 kilometers from the popular Pub Street, 5.4 kilometers from the airport, and 5 kilometers from Angkor Wat.

The alley leading to Mei Mei Da Hotel

Reservation
Mei Mei Da Hotel has its own website for information about the property. The website, however, cannot process reservations. Reservations directly with the hotel has to be made via phone or email. 

Bayon Temple: Face to Face with Giants

When you travel to Siem Reap, you cannot but miss the ancient temple of Bayon, else you will miss the chance to witness one of the most intriguing temples in Southeast Asia. 

Built nearly 100 years after Angkor Wat, Bayon served as the centerpiece of the sprawling Angkor Thom, the last and most enduring capital city of the Khmer Empire. Unlike its more famous cousin which was built for Hinduism, Bayon was built as a Buddhist site. It was constructed at the behest of King Jayavarman VII, who broke tradition and adopted Buddhism. 

Although it is located close to Angkor Wat we decided to visit Bayon last. We have done little reading about it before the trip so we didn't have many expectations of the temple. 

From afar, Bayon looks like a jagged pile of rocks

Seeing Angkor Wat for the First Time

A lot of travelers know about and want to see Angkor Wat in person but the beauty and magnificence of the temple will hit you even just through thousands of images found online. Just like us, these photos will inspire you to make plans and fly to Cambodia. 

Angkor Wat as seen from the inside gallery

So when Air Asia offered seats to Siem Reap at 0 BIG points, we did not think twice and booked a flight to finally cross off Angkor from our bucket list. 

It was our second day in Siem Reap when we arranged to have Pin Ton pick us up at our hotel at 4:30AM. It took us a little while to get our bearings when Pin Ton stopped the tuktuk, told us to buy our One Day Passes, and to meet him back at the parking lot of Angkor Enterprise. In less than 30 minutes we were back on the road to Angkor Wat. 

When we arrived at the site it was still pitch black so we followed the phone lights through the unlit dirt paths until we reached the pontoon bridge to cross the moat to the temple. We then entered through the main gate and walked our way to one of the ponds in front of the temple. We joined several others in waiting for the sun to rise over the temple's five iconic towers and see the skies filled with vibrant colors.

Going Inside Ta Phrom Where Nature Has Taken Over

If you fancy yourself as Indiana Jones or Lara Croft, then you can't go to Siem Reap and not see Ta Phrom.

Nearly 830 years ago, almost 80,000 people called this temple and its surrounding area home. Now, it sits empty and centuries of neglect have made it host to vegetation on the roofs and in the walls. 

Located amid the forest north of the Great Lake Tonle Sap in present-day Cambodia, Ta Phrom was a thriving monastery and center of learning called Rajavihara from the 12th to the 15th century. An inscription in one of its stone foundations records that it took 79,365 people to maintain the temple including 18 priests and 615 dancers. It also records that the temple owned considerable riches including more than 500 kilograms of gold, more than 40,000 pearls, and more than 4,500 precious stones and diamonds. It must have been very impressive in its day!

But as was the case with many temples of Angkor, the site was mysteriously abandoned. It was only rediscovered in 1860 and was selected to be preserved, leaving it in much the same condition in which it was found. Exactly the main reason why in 2000, Ta Phrom was used as a location for the blockbuster film, Tomb Raider.