In the summer of 2020, when South Korea had managed to contain the active Covid cases below 50 per day, we took a week-long exploratory road trip along the east coast. Gangeung (강릉시), a city in Gangwon Province (강원도), was the starting point of our trip from Seoul. The city is divided into multiple regions…
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It’s best to avoid travel during public holidays in South Korea. Tickets get sold out early and getting out of Seoul can be a nightmare. We generally spent most of the major public holidays like Chuseok (Korean Thanksgiving) and Seollal (Korean New Year) either at home, hiking a local mountain, or cycling along the Han…
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South Korea has imposed social distancing across the country until 13th September 2020. Please avoid nonessential travel and check for local government updates before planning a trip. Stay at home now and travel later. We’ve had the wettest monsoon this summer. There were about 10 typhoons (of varying intensities) that wrecked havoc at vulnerable spots…
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Driving from Tongyeong to Geoje The drive from Tongyeong to Geoje is about 30 minutes. However, the journey from Yi Sun-sin Park (earlier post), in Tongyeong, to Windy Hill, in Geoje, took over an hour. Both scenic points are located at the southernmost tip of each island city. We would spend the night in Geoje.…
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We spent most of last year travelling around South Korea. Every opportunity or holiday was converted to a weekend getaway from Seoul. Our trips were spontaneous and planned on the spot. We wanted to explore paths that were off the popular tourist radar and closer to nature. Last April (2019), we explored the city of…
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Chuseok is the long Korean Thanksgiving Holiday that prompts mass migrations across the country. We were lucky to get two bus tickets for Sokcho (from Dong Seoul Bus Terminal) last September. We spent the first two days at Seoraksan National Park and hiked to the peak of Ulsanbawi. We moved back to Sokcho City after…
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After our trip, I noticed that my phone pictures were matched with locations on Google Maps. I don’t know whether I should be worried by how fast AI is evolving, or be happy — because my work gets so much easier. This is a screenshot of our route from my phone. Towards Light After exploring…
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Liang-tan (Inter-beach) Bike Trail Cycling is one of the hottest activities to pursue in Taiwan. We got a small taste of it at Sun Moon Lake (Shuishe Pier-Toushe Dam) and hoped to repeat our experience in Hualien. Hualien County lies on the east coast of the country and is home to the stunning Qixingtan Beach. We picked…
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The View from Hotel Bayview, Xincheng Township, Hualien We reached Hotel Bayview in the afternoon. It had been a long ride from Qingjing Farm to Qixingtan Beach in Hualien. The hotel staff were kind enough to allow us to check-in before time. We were hungry and hadn’t eaten lunch yet. But those views from the…
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There’s something about small towns. I guess, the warmth of people appeals, even before, the place can grow on you. As we left the bustle of Jeju-si (north) to head towards Seongsan Ilchulbong Peak (east); the scenery, outside our window, quickly changed from towering grey monsters to flat brown plains — licked by salty waters. It took us…
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