Monthly Archives: September 2013

South Korea, Travelinds

Finally! Korean Driver’s Licence acquired.

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30 September 2013

After 18 months of procrastination, I finally put in the (small amount of) effort and voila! One times Korean driver’s licence valid for 10 years, placed in my hands by lunch time.  For all South Africans living in Korea who, like me, need a little bit of motivation to brave the Korean administrative processes alone, here’s how as of September 2013:

1. Documents to prepare:

  • 3 x passport photos (colour)
  • 1 x verification/certified letter for driver’s licence
  • Original Passport
  • Original Alien Registration Card
  • Original South African licence
  • 12,000KRW (eye test and licence fee)

2. Embassy visit:

  • The South African embassy is in Yongsan, Seoul; and in ten minutes, assisted me with a certified copy of my South African Driver’s licence, officially stamped and signed.
  • Also, the fully bilingual receptionist was extremely helpful in directing me to helplines and advising bus routes.

3. Seoul Global Center

  • This is a fantastic center for foreign visitors in general. I received professional service from everyone; including the helpline, staff and administrative assistants.
  • It’s very easy to find, on Line 1 (blue) in front of the Jonggak subway station, Exit 6.  If you’re taking a taxi, ask for “Jonggak yok” and look for Exit 6 as a reference point.  Go up to the 5th floor to the licence desk (first desk on the right).
  • Present documents, original licence and photos; sign forms and then proceed to the eye test via the subway. (The assistant gives you detailed directions, with a map).
  • Return with completed eye test (5,000KRW) and surrender South African licence.  Pay 6,000KRW and receive Korean licence.
  • NOTE: I was concerned that my address was not in Seoul or Gyeonggi-do, but this was not an issue.

Tips:

  • Try and reach the Seoul Global Center early because lunch is from 11.30a.m. to 13.00pm.  Having arrived in Seoul by 9.30am, I was lucky enough to visit the embassy, take a taxi to the center, fill out all the paperwork, take subway (2 stops) to and from eye test clinic and make it back by 11.27am to be issued my Korean licence.  Working it!
  • Passport photos can be taken at any photography studio. It cost me 7,000KRW for 4 and because I took my own photo on my USB, they gave me a discount.
  • If you are lucky enough to have someone who can help you out (e.g. your director, a trustworthy friend etc), the embassy also provides service to a proxy in possession of your licence, passport, ARC and a signed letter of permission from you to collect the copy on your behalf. You do have to visit the Seoul Global Center in person, however, to take the eye test.
  • I briskly walked (about 20 minutes) from Oksu station (orange line 3) to the South African embassy.  Be warned, the (1.5km) walk consists of steep wooden steps up to the very top of the hill and then downhill Dokseodang-ro to the embassy.  Great exercise but, do factor in the time and effort, or take a taxi.
  • NOTE: If you are not a South African Citizen, I advise phoning the Seoul Global Center for information to check details.  South Africans do not have to take any written test, but this may be different for other nationalities. 

Good to know:

  • You have up to 3 years to reclaim your South African licence from the Global Center before it is destroyed. You need your airticket, Korean licence and ARC.
  • The eye test clinic is about 200m from the Jongno5 subway exit 1. It’s a tiny door that leads up to the 2nd floor so keep your eyes open.  Be prepared for little to no English levels here.

Good luck! It’s well worth a day trip for out-of-towners!

www.crossed-flag-pins.com

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Location and contact details:

South African Embassy

  • Mon to Thurs, 8:00 to 16:45; Fri, 8:00 to 15:30; (Lunch: 12:45 ~ 13:30).
  • 104 Dokseodang-ro (Hannam-dong), Yongsan-gu, Seoul 140-884
  • http://www.southafrica-embassy.or.kr/eng/embassy/contact.php
  • Nearest subway stations are Oksu (Line 3 orange) and Hannam (Jungang Line).  It is about a 20 min walk (or 5 min taxi) from Hangangjin Station (Line 6 brown).

Seoul Global Center

  • 5th Floor of Seoul Global Center Building (“Driver’s licence” desk), Jong-ro 38-gil, Jongno-gu, Seoul (it’s directly outside Exit 6 of Jonggak (Line 1), just walk straight about 100m and you’ll see the logo and “Seoul Global Centre”)
  • http://english.seoul.go.kr/lh/support/scof1.php
  • For information call: +82-2-2075-4130~1 (Seoul Global Center 5th floor) or 1330 (Korea’s tourist information call center) or 1588-5644 (BBB Korea)
South Korea, Travelinds

Caribbean Bay

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25 September 2013

On Saturday we decided to head to Caribbean Bay, the waterpark side of the Everland resort we visited in July.  It was the Chuseok weekend and we expected it to be very busy, however, we were pleasantly surprised to find that we did not have to queue for hours or fight our way too much through crowds during the day.  It wasn’t busy by Korean standards anyway.

There are 5 sections of the park but 3 of the sections (with the big rides) are only open for one month of the year (in July, for the summer holidays).  The other two sections were less exciting but nevertheless, a lot of fun.  We were able to have a fun-filled day at a discounted rate, thanks to the Chuseok discount for foreigners that happened to coincide with our trip.

When we arrived, we went on the indoor tube and body slides with almost nobody waiting in the queues.  Later in the day, this section had filled up so much that we had to wait up to 45 minutes to take a ride!

The riverway (a lazy river where we you jump on a tube and float around the course) was really good.  Apparently, it’s the longest lazy river in the world.  We spent a lot of our day lazing on the long riverway and again and marvelling at how the Koreans stuck in their “ppali ppali” (hurry hurry) mentality, who would rather run and push their tubes, and anyone else in their way, to get around the course faster.  It’s called a “lazy” river for a reason people!

The riverway connects to most attractions in the park.  It’s great to jump on a tube (or run pushing your tube if you wish), ride for a little way and then jump off again at the next place.  You can go to almost every ride this way without walking anywhere.  Always a bonus.

The other attractions open were the wave pool, the bade pool and the rest and relaxation area with a few jacuzzis and hot pools.  The Miracle spa is another stop along the riverway and consists of three jacuzzis and a foot spa.  The foot spa was great.  Fill it up with hot water from the tap, soak for 10 minutes, pull the plug, fill up with cold water, soak and then repeat.  The contrasting temperatures help to promote blood flow and also, apparently, healthy organs.  It was very relaxing, even if not quite a miracle.

It was a great day enjoying the last of the summer sun!

If you have a chance, check out the Siam Cafe and Restaurant on your way home. It’s on the road towards the Maseong exit out of Everland, past the GS 25. They have great Thai food.

Caribbean Bay Indoor Pool
Caribbean Bay Indoor Pool
Caribbean Bay Wave Pool
Caribbean Bay Wave Pool
Caribbean Bay slide
Caribbean Bay slide
South Korea, Travelinds

Chuseok

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25 September 2013

This year, Chuseok (추석) was celebrated on Thursday, 19 September 2013.  Chuseok is a public holiday for all South Koreans (and, thankfully, all English teachers, too).  It is celebrated on the 15th day of the 8th Lunar month. The widely-followed tradition is to go back to one’s hometown to spend time with family and to visit ancestral graves.  It is also referred to as “Korean thanksgiving” or “Autumn/Harvest Festival”.

Families come together to share some quality time, make traditional Korean food and honour the ancestors.  There are worship rituals, visits to the graves, weeding of the grave area and offerings of harvest to the ancestors.  Christians in South Korea, for the most part, still visit the graves and keep the area trimmed, but they do not worship the ancestors or engage in offering rituals.

The families eat traditional food and drink rice wine during this time.  The most famous traditional food is songpyeon (송편).  This is small rice cake with stuffing, which is steamed over pine needles (“song” 송 means pine).  The stuffing ranges from sesame seeds, black beans, mung (yellow sprout) beans, cinnamon, pine nuts, walnuts, chestnuts, jujubes (Chinese dates), and honey.  There are many folk tales around songpyeon and the significance revolves around the shape of the rice cake.  One old wives’ tale says that, for the women of the family, if they make a well-shaped rice cake then they will have a very beautiful daughter.

Since it is one of the two big holidays, the other being the Korean Lunar New Year, it is inevitable that travelling during this time is both busier and considerably more expensive.  Flights to Korea’s Jeju island and also out of the country, are sold out months in advance, at premium prices.  Roads are heavily congested and local resorts, pensions and inns are usually fully booked.

With the weather at this time of year being almost perfect, it’s no wonder that Chuseok is such a popular holiday.  “High sky”, only occasional rain, cooler but comfortable temperatures and beautiful landscapes transforming under autumn colours.  It’s perfect weather for hiking, camping, outdoor activity, picnics or spas.

Chuseok – Korean tradition at its best.

South Korea, Travelinds

Resom Resort Spa Castle

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24 September 2013

This Chuseok, we had an invitation to join some Korean friends at the Resom Resort Spa Castle in Deoksan.  We arrived on the first day of Chuseok and were surprised by the buzzing atmosphere of the resort as guests streamed in to enjoy the long weekend.

We stayed 2 nights in a small condominium.  Ironically, we slept in the Korean style room (Korean mattress on the floor) and the Koreans slept in the Western style room (with a double bed).  There are two beautiful parks on the grounds where you can picnic or walk.  There was also a buffet breakfast to enjoy and of course, the main attraction of the hotel, the spa.

Unaware of the facilities, we had assumed that going to a ‘spa’ meant that we would find a salon style spa with massage, facial therapy, mud baths, jacuzzis and skin treatments.  We could not have been more wrong! As it turns out, Korean ‘spas’ are actually more like waterparks!

At this one, there was an indoor public bath area (women and men seperate), an indoor pool area and an outdoor waterpark area with slides and pools.  You had to pay for a day pass to enter the ‘sauna’ (indoor public bath area) or, a full day pass for all the facilities.  It was also compulsory to hire life jackets if you wanted to use any of the slides (as most Koreans cannot swim) and you also had to wear a cap (swimming or baseball cap are both acceptable)!

Of course, we had to take advantage of staying at a waterpark and so we spent a full day enjoying all that it had to offer.

The indoor public bath area was like a normal jimjilbang (public bath house) that can be found anywhere in Korea.  It was however, a little fancier than the average jimjilbang found in the cities.  Women and men are completely seperated and there are towels and powder room amenities provided free of charge in this area.  Also, everybody is naked.  Completely naked, together, in full view of everyone else.  The towels are more like hand towels and barely cover one cheek let alone a body.  In this area there are saunas, pools of varying temperatures, showers, scrub rooms, hot rock decks and massage rooms.  The powder rooms have moisturisers, hair gel, hair dryers and other consumables, which can be used free of charge.  Secretly, I actually enjoy the jimjilbang, once I’ve forgotten about everyone staring (openly) at the foreigner who looks quite different from the skinny Koreans.

Once you leave the jimjilbang, you need to be fully clothed again to enter the indoor and outdoor swimming areas.  The indoor pools were a combination of jacuzzis, swimming pools, hot and cold paddle pools and also a huge “bade pool”.  The Bade pool is so relaxing!  You move around the pool at your leisure and visit different areas to enjoy different types of hydrotherapy.  For example, there were sections with a neck massage spray, foot spa bubbles, back and leg spray, jacuzzi style pool, individual bubble bays and even a “therapy walk way” for relaxing walking.  All inside one pool. Amazing!

The outside pool area included a torrent river (70cm deep, still required life jackets), tube rides, body slides, speed slide and also a few different pools and jacuzzis to relax.  There were attentive life guards at every station and they got very grumpy if you didn’t wear your life jacket, or a cap.  It seems that it’s ok for a lady to walk around naked in front of every lady in the jimjilbang but when she goes outside she must have clothes on over her swimming costume – t-shirt, shorts, pants suit, whatever.  And the men also have long t-shirts and big shorts on most of the time.  A few exceptions were jaw-dropping bikinis and banana hammocks but these were either fashionistas or tourists.

We had a superb time at this resort and a good few laughs at the strange differences from what we’re used to back home.  I hope to return here one day soon.

Thailand, Travelinds

Patong Beach, Thailand

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24 September 2013

For our last night in Thailand we decided to go and see the famous Patong beach area.  We stayed in Kata to avoid the crowds so, to get there, we took a 20 minute taxi, through Karon, up to Patong.

As expected, Patong was just crazy from the first moment.  As we entered the Patong area, our taxi had to screech to a halt to wait for two elephants to cross the road! Yes, you read it right, two live elephants carrying tourists back from their day trips!

As we drove down the road, a little further, we passed a Cabaret show (with ladyboys (very convincing transvestites) of course.  Then, as we rounded the corner to the beachfront, we were suddenly at a standstill in congested traffic which, continued all the way around the beach ring road.  We hopped out and headed into the crowds to see what we could find.

The first fantastic discovery was a bargain clothing wholesaler where everything was about a third of the price of any other store we saw in Phuket.  Had we known this at the time, we would have bought a whole lot more!  But we did manage to pick up a few things.

We headed over to the beach to see the last of the daylight disappear but not before we had watched a paragliding company giving rides (of 5-10 minutes) to a large handful of tourists.  Everytime the parachute returned to the beach, the two handlers managed to unclip the person, reset the harness, secure the next person and then push off for another run; all in only 10-20 seconds! Absolutely unbelievable! The one handler also tags along for the ride so that he can guide the parachute in the right direction.  He is not even strapped in.  He jumps up, swings himself up into the ropes and then hangs on during the ride.

Getting hungry, we ventured back onto the opposite side of the street to search for a restaurant.  Distracted by a few more clothing stalls and became more expert by the minute at palming off aggresive salesman.  We eventually hit the main party district in Patong.  Lights, noise, sex and booze everywhere.

Picture the madness. Salesman everywhere pushing their wares into your face.  Lights flashing and music blaring from the hundreds of bars on the strip.  Advertisements and flyers everywhere about ping-pong shows which are not really about ping-pong at all. Ladyboys enticing you into the bars, clubs, cabarets and other forms of entertainment that can be found in this place. “Make you a suit sir?”, “Like iguanas, here take photo – and give me 100baht”, “Come, bar good ladies”, “Happy hour here, best price, come come”…

An eye-opening experience to say the least. The exhausted travellers retreated back to the quiet hotel in Kata a couple of hours later. As a last farewell, we chose a taxi with our own flashing lights and disco music to take us back home.  Awesome!  I think this may just have been the highlight of my evening.  Wind blowing through my hair, lights flashing, music pumping and four of us bopping as we sang the few lyrics we knew of the dance music all the way back to Kata.

Patong, you are forever seared into my brain with your colourful lights and your craziness!

Thailand, Travelinds

Ao Thalane – Travelinds go kayaking in Thailand

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12 September 2013

As we ate a leisurely breakfast at our marvellous hotel, we caught up with french tourists who had been around for a couple of days and were great for exchanging ideas for daily activities around Krabi.

They had done kayaking the afternoon before at Ao Thalane and thoroughly enjoyed it. Their enthusiasm convinced us to try it and we headed out on the afternoon tour after having found a travel agent who was actually willing to sell us an afternoon tour.  The problem was that they were worried we would have to get out and push the kayaks at certain places because of the very low tide but we convinced them to at least let us have a go!

There were only 7 of us all together on the tour (4 of us, another couple and a guide) and this was so much better than being stuck in a large group of noisy tourists while trying to enjoy the nature around us.

The first 20 minutes was in the hot sun as we paddled down the wide lagoon towards the ocean before taking a left to go back into a mangrove river and upstream.   From the lagoon we could see Hong Island in the distance (another day trip we had considered doing but ran out of time).  There were also fisherman standing waist deep in the lagoon catching fish.  Our guide said they were commercial fisherman and could be found here most days.

As we entered the mangrove river, we suddenly found ourselves in a quiet, calm stream with shade provided by the sheer cliffs rising up out of the water.  At the base of the cliffs were mangrove trees and muddy banks sticking out because of low tide.  We were mesmerized by the majestic beauty of this place.

We spotted monitor lizzards, mud-skippers and crabs from the first minute.  There were also amazing plants and jungle settings high up on the cliffs.  Unfortunately, we didn’t spot any monkeys but our guide assured us that they were watching us from hidden places at the tops of the cliffs.  The sun danced on the water where it could reach it and the shady spots allowed us to notice the smaller creatures in the water and the muddy patches.

Our entertaining guide caught a couple of crabs and mud-skippers for us to get a close up and explained a little about the environment and habits of these little mangrove creatures. The funniest moment was when my sister was looking into the 500ml bottle containing a mudskipper to see the turquoise spots on his brown skin when he jumped right out of the bottle almost into her eye. Shrieks of surprise and then laughter broke into the quiet surrounds while we all recovered.  Life-long fear of mudskippers begins in 3,2,1….

We had stuffed some Subway sandwiches into our backpacks (best decision ever!) and enjoyed a little picnic on our kayaks when we could go no further up the stream.  Despite the low tide, we did not get stuck and had a great view of all the little mangrove crabs and fish which we wouldn’t normally have seen in high tide.

Photos could not capture the essence of this place.  Beautiful, completely untouched, thriving with life and yet also accessible to those who want to experience it.

The afternoon ended with a little bit of fun as our guide showed us a small hole in the rock, “the cave” that we could kayak through by lying back so as not to bump our heads.  The best thing about this little activity was watching the other couple in our group attempt to do this about 3 or 4 times without success!  They could not keep the kayak straight! Eventually after a little skill lesson from our guide and lots of encouragement from the rest of us, they made it through! Such fun!

What a great afternoon!

Thailand, Travelinds

Kata Beach, Thailand

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09 September 2013

We had a short stopover in Phuket for only 2 nights.   We chose to stay at Kata as this is known to be the quieter of the three main beach areas (Patong, Karon and Kata).  The beach itself was so different to those in Phi Phi with big waves, slightly coarser sand and, believe it or not, more people.  There were even ‘no swim’ zones due to rough currents.

We enjoyed a (windy) afternoon stroll on Kata beach and also a morning tanning session the next day.  It was a slightly quieter vibe here and even though it was difficult to swim because of the very high Spring tide, we still enjoyed a few dips to cool off.

The excitement of the day was when R helped save a lady from the rip tide which had pulled her out to sea when her and her boyfriend were swimming in the ‘no swim’ zone.  Even though she had passed out and collapsed from exhaustion by the time they got her on to the beach, she was fine and recovered with oxygen and lots of rest.

The wave house just next to the beach was very cool and reminded me very much of the Gateway wave house in Umhlanga, South Africa.

Kata had a huge selection of restaurants, hotels, shopping areas and travel agents. There is also a buzzing taxi industry taking tourists between Patong, Karon, Kata, Old Phuket town and the Phuket port and airport.  Our taxi from Phuket port (from the Phi Phi ferry) took at least an hour to Kata which was not bad considering the heavy traffic.

The ClubMed Kata resort spans almost the full length of the beach front which means that anyone staying in a resort behind this has to go around in order to get to the beach on either end.  We didn’t mind the walk though! So many interesting things to see in this little beach village.

Thailand, Travelinds

Karon Beach, Thailand

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06 September 2013

We visited Karon beach for only one day as part of our two night stay in Phuket.  The famous snake/dragon statue greeted us as we jumped out of the taxi and the long, sandy beach beckoned to us to come and enjoy this beautiful beach.

The long, sandy beach hid the number of visitors well as there was enough place for everyone to feel like they were actually alone on the beach.  Most sources say that Karon is 4km long and it is also wide enough to give you a sandy or grassy spot to escape rising tides.

Our day was very relaxed, a little swimming, a little waboba for the boys, tanning, sleeping.  We also were happy taking advantage of a vendor for a new bikini at only 150baht – WHAT A STEAL! She was part of the many who (conveniently) constantly walked up and down hoping for business for anything from eats to clothing to hammocks.

I hope to return someday to explore a bit more – I think a few early morning runs on Karon beach would be just the best way to start a day before exploring the rest of this lovely place.

Thailand, Travelinds

Day trip to Phi Phi Island

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01 September 2013

We did a day trip from Aonang to the Phi Phi islands. A surprisingly short trip from Aonang on the speedboat, we were spoilt with great weather and beautiful scenery, as promised on the brochures.

The tour took us to all the major tourist spots around the Phi Phi islands and included lots of swimming, snorkelling and beach time as we’d hoped.  Unfortunately and unavoidably we also had to contend with many tourists piled onto many boats and crowding the viewpoints.  Expect this, in even greater numbers during the high season.

The spots where we explored were Maya bay (‘The Beach’ movie location), Pileh bay; Monkey beach and Viking cave on Phi Phi Leh; Tonsai beach on Phi Phi Don; 2 very nice snorkelling spots and the last stop at Bamboo Island before returning to Krabi. All locations provided many exquisite photo opportunities and a chance to take a dip to cool off.

The beautiful sunny day ended with a 30 minute thunderstorm that came out of nowhere, drenched everybody in the speedboat, caused an embarrassed passenger to be sick overboard and then, magically disappeared. The joys of travelling in the rainy season in Thailand. Definitely not enough to dampen our spirits after a fantastic day tour though.

Maya Island Bay
Maya Island Bay