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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Most writers have their fair share of irrational fears and insecurities. However, none are as compelling as the fear of losing one’s ability to put words to paper — to build stories from nothing. Can you ever forget how to write? This question plagued me during the course of the last 3 years. Do you…
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Last November, Basil coaxed me to join him on a work trip to Jeju. I usually prefer to stay back in Seoul and stick with my routine. But I’d also just come back to Korea — after an annual monthlong trip of visiting family and friends. I was glum and Seoul’s dipping temperatures weren’t doing…
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Taipei is a bustling city with a heady mix of natural beauty, spiritualism, and national monuments. The local gastronomy is diverse and famous for its unique ‘Q’ texture. It’s the best entry point to start any trip in Taiwan and proves to be a good base for day trips. We visited Taiwan in the month…
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Getting In Hangzhou’s proximity to Shanghai makes it an excellent choice for a weekend trip. High speed trains connect Shanghai to Hangzhou and the total journey is under an hour. We had made online reservations (trip.com) before arriving in China. The great internet wall can be quite challenging without a VPN and it’s wiser to…
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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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Getting There There are many ways to reach Seoul Forest. It’s a sprawling spread of green cover that can be accessed by Seoul Forest Subway Station (Bundang Line/Yellow Line) and Ttukseom Station (Line 7). Ttukseom Station may be a better bet if you don’t want to walk the entire length of the forest and prefer…
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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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Road Map It’s difficult to find transportation from Qingjing (Cingjing) Farm to Hualien. Tourism buses or trains don’t connect these two points — located on either side of Taroko National Park. Taxi drivers (from Cingjing) don’t like the journey because of constant road blocks, unpredictable weather, and empty rides back to Cingjing. The manager of…
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Sunrise at Sun Moon Lake It was our fifth day in Taiwan and Qingjing/Cingjing Farm (a mountain town) was the next destination on our itinerary. Basil woke up early to watch the sun rise over the cascading mountains of Sun Moon Lake. I skipped sunrise for sleep and to conserve my energy for the travels…
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