I had a holiday in South Korea instigated, I believe by my granddaughters Juno and Issy (Isadora). Apparently that country is discussed quite a lot by them and their school friends. Anju (Anjana their mother and my daughter) asked whether I would like to join them. I had no hesitation in saying “Yes”. I don’t miss out on opportunities to visit countries I have never been to before..
Here is Anju’s original email to me about the trip:
Hi Dad
Here is how the trip to S Korea is shaping up. Much of this is booked, a few things left to go.
Wednesday 29 Heathrow 1635 Fly Asiana Airlines OZ522 to Seoul Incheon. Terminal 2
Thursday 30 1320 Arrive Seoul Incheon. Taxi to Hotel Lemong
Friday 31 Hotel Lemong
Sat 1 Aug Hotel Lemong. DMZ tour in morning
Sun 2 Aug Leave Seoul by train to Jeonju. Stay in Airbnb traditional house in Jeonju Hanok village
Mon 3 Aug Stay Jeonju
Tues 4 Taxi to Gunsan airport and fly to Jeju Island. Stay in Airbnb house in Andeok
Wed 5 Jeju Island
Thursday 6 Jeju Island
Fri 7 Fly Jeju Island to Busan. Stay in Airbnb near Gwangalli beach
Sat 8 Busan
Sun 9 Bullet train or fly Busan – Seoul. Last night.
Mon 10 0750 Fly Seoul Incheon – Heathrow. Asiana Airline OZ521
Anju x
Wednesday 29/7/26
I met up with Anju and the girls at Woking Railway station. I do usually get a ticket that takes me to Woking by rail and on to Heathrow airport by coach.. They got to Woking by rail too. As usual Anju noticed me first! On my recent trips abroad to places other than India I have used tour companies to take me around the relevant country along with other tourists. On this occasion the “tour company” was my daughter! My diary says there was a very helpful Korean on the plane. I can’t remember how he helped and am guessing that he was Korean! The other thing I have noted is that Issy slept on my shoulder!
At Seoul/Incheon airport Anju got us a taxi to a car-hire company. She had no problem communicating with driver even though she doesn’t speak Korean. At the car-hire place we learnt that a certain document which we could only have obtained in our home country was needed to allow Anju to drive in Korea. I am probably happy rather than sad that my dear daughter was not going to be driving us around. I was being hypocritical too I suppose because I did drive in countries other than the UK at her age.
It’s possible that my memory fails me but I think we got permission from the car-hire place to leave our belongings safely behind a counter and walk to a nearby restaurant for lunch. It turned out that that was not our lunch but our supper because when we got to Hotel Le Mong Anju and the girls went to their room and I went to mine without mention of another meal. It might have been dark by then, I can’t remember. But I wasn’t hungry anyway. I unpacked and then stepped out for a coffee. There across a busy road I saw a “Starbucks” That was good enough for me. The busy road was actually a dual carriage way. Anyway at Starbucks I had an “Americano”. – recognised all over the world now as a coffee then in my own time I returned to the hotel for a night and sleep.
Thursday 30/7/26
I have lost track of what happened on this day but possibly Anju and the girls went to meet a friend of Anju’s from the BBC and I entered Tapgol park nearby
A photo from Tapgol Park near our hotel
Friday 31/7/26
We headed off to Geongbokgong Palace on foot. On the way we came to a hairdresser’s called “Juno Hair”, an appropriate place to stop for a photograph and then a couple of concrete or stone frogs which have significance in Korean culture.
At the palace where we had to pay to enter. I was puzzled by groups of people dressed in Korean national costume. Most Koreans dress like Europeans. The reason I gathered was that entry to the palace is free for people dressed in the Korean national way.
Below: In front of the palace, visitors dressed in traditional Korean attire for free entry.
Anju, and Issy in front of one of the palace’s pavilions. Where is Juno? I must be behind the camera!
A painting of a Jige in the palace’s art gallery. A jige is a traditional frame carrier used to carry many items together.
In front of the palace’s lake
Later we had our evening meal which Anju had probably chosen because of a likely vegetarian choice and it’s proximity to an open air area where music was being played. We had to join a queue to get seats and listen and watch. It was a thoroughly enjoyable evening though
The music in the evening
Saturday 1/8/26
We set off from the hotel on foot to meet the organiser of trips to the demilitarised zone. We met him and a lot of other tourists before boarding a coach and heading for our destination. It took less than two hours. There was a screen at the front to entertain us
The entertainment screen in the coach:
Myself, Juno, Anju and Issy in front of one of the the monuments representing the demilitarised zone
A dragonfly on Anju’s arm at the nearby lake.
Statues representing Korea’s “Comfort Women” at the demilitarised zone
Japan invaded Korea in 1592. There were wars between the two countries in the following ten years or so. Japan also ruled over Korea from 1910 to 1945, the end of World War II. When in control they used local women known as “comfort women” to provide sexual services to Japanese soldiers.
The area we were in is very close to the 38th parallel. The 38th parallel refers to the line of latitude 38 degrees north of the Earth’s equator, . This line is accepted today as the North Korea/South Korea border. This was agreed between the combatants of the Korean war June 1950 to July 1953, North Korea, the Soviet Union and Communist China against the United Nations, South Korea the USA and their allies after the war had reached a stalemate.
The spot we were at was near but not at the border of South and North Korea. There was a sloping tunnel leading almost to the border. Given that I had painful arthritis on my left knee it might have been unwise to have joined Anju, the girls and other tourists on the trek down the tunnel. I did anyway and on the way back stopped several times to rest on benches conveniently provided for people like me!
Wednesday 2/8/26
We took a train from Seoul to Jeonju and stayed in a traditional house in Jeonju Hanok Village. It is a cute little town/village. Anju decided to hire a buggy and drive us round the village – not a bad idea.
Here is a picture of our “buggy driver”:
We also managed to get to an art gallery where there was a portrait of somebody famous. But they had a trick whereby anybody could have his/her face superimposed on the original. Guess who this is:
Friday 4/8/26
We took a taxi to Gunsan airport and flew to Jeju island to stay in an airbnb house in Andeok.
Saturday 5/8/26
It was either on this day or the one before that we went to the Cheonjeyeon waterfalls . See the pictures below:
Sunday 6/8/26 (I think)
Very near our hotel there was a crater, one of many on the island and I really fancied getting to the top. It was possible!
We hired a taxi to take us to the top. In fact it dropped us off about 50 metres short of the top.. I thought it well worth the trouble as one can see by the photos:
That evening Anju decided we must go to a restaurant she had read about which had plenty of vegetarian food.. We walked there. It was by the sea.
The food was cooked at our table: I think we ate everything.
I can’t remember who the fourth lady in this picture is, perhaps the restaurant owner
Monday 7/8/26
We flew from Jeju Island to Busan and stayed at an airbnb near Sangdo beach..
There was a stretch of very pretty sea a long way below most of the land nearby. There was plenty of climbing to do up man-made steps, getting from the sea to our residence. We had a cable-car ride which was fun, of course. There were plenty of parasols on he beach , After dark the sky was lit up by an image of a bird and the lights on a bay bridge.. There was a demonstration about a recent election which told me that whatever had happened in the election South Korea is a democracy. Oh yes we also swam in the sea and visited a Buddhist temple which looked so nice from the outside that I did not bother to take my shoes off to enter.
The view from above
The lit-up bird
The lit-up highway bridge
The parasol and the swim
The cable car ride
The beautiful Buddhist temple which I admired without entering
The pictures which show South Korea is a democracy
Wednesday 9/8/26
We took a Bullet train from Busan to Seoul
Thursday 10/8/26
After our last night in Seoul we headed for the airport for the flight back to the UK. The last bit of excitement was that we could not find Dear Juno’s passport! Dear Issy and I flew back to London without Dear Anju and Dear Juno who stayed behind a couple of extra nights to have a new travel document produced for Juno. I understand they did more sight-seeing in the interim and had fun, Nic in the UK was made aware of the situation and met us at Heathrow airport to take Issy to his place. This was the first time I had seen Nic’s son Hubert. Issy and Hubert get on well.
Before I finish here’s what Juno and Issy have to say about our South Korea trip:
Juno:
Our trip to Korea was incredibly fun and interesting for a variety of reasons. Starting off in Seoul, we ate food from street markets which had a brilliant atmosphere and walked through large central parks. One noticeable thing about Korea was the incredibly loud crickets. Every few minutes they would start up a racket, making it quite difficult for conversation temporarily. However, the vibrancy of the city, particularly at night when it was cooler, was something we each found special. Later in the week we headed down south towards Jeju Island and spent a few days staying in a local town. It was noticeably quieter here and it allowed time for us to walk around the volcanic island, enjoy some time in the spas and swim in the sea.
Isadora
I loved going to South Korea, it was a brand new experience for us all. The heat was incredible, unlike anything I’ve experienced; thick humid warmth that follows you around, but thankfully Koreans had effectively installed AC into every building imaginable- even the subway (an entirely different experience from the London Underground). Seoul was of course a fantastic bustling metropolis and we loved getting lost in the maze-like back alleys, but surprisingly Busan was my favourite city. There we swam in the warm water and travelled across the city to Gamcheon Culture village; brightly coloured houses sprawled across a valley and rich with history. Jeju Island felt worthy of the nickname ‘the Hawaii of Korea’, it was tropical and lush. People tended to be very polite – we often got ladies helping us best they could with their limited English. We much enjoyed eating all the food we could manage though my mouth was usually on fire! We threw ourselves into the meat eating culture best we could and I’m glad we did because it’s part of the experience really. There were a true variety of flavours and my mouth waters when I think about the kimchi (fermented spicy cabbage). South Korea is a place I would definitely go to again.
Right! You have read Juno and Issy’s reports. I can now end this narrative and add South Korea to the list of countries I have visited
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