A TRIP TO SOUTH KOREA

It was the peak of winter 2020 when my best friend and I arrived in Seoul, the heart of South Korea. In just 50 years since the Korean War, Seoul has become the world's 10th most economically powerful city and the second-largest metropolitan area where skyscrapers and k-pop meet royal palaces and street markets. What a tiring journey to get there but eventually we arrived at our hotel which was just perfect besides the horrible breakfast that was included which we most properly only had twice during our two-week stay, which included toast and jam (not much of a breakfast if you ask me.)

COVID-19 (coronavirus) was already in South Korea during our travel time with 14 cases and climbing each day we were of course extremely aware of our health and safety but that didn’t stop us we decided instead of taking public transportation which we might have done maybe once or twice, we decided for the rest of our trip we would walk and take in all of Korea.

Korea is just a vibe, there is just a thing about walking in the streets of Korea, looking up to all these beautiful lights just flashing in front of yours eyes, its absolutely incredible, and don’t even get me started on the food, Korean cuisine is by far the best thing I’ve had my entire life but get yourself ready because if you’re not easy on picking what you want it might be difficult because there are way too many restaurants all with something different, and if you’re a lot like me I just want to eat and try everything I see, it might be difficult making your decision.

What are Korean people like? Well, that’s pretty easy, they are blunt people, they don’t try to be it's just in their culture, but we were lucky enough to make many friends and honestly, Koreans are super kind and peaceful and very helpful. A small example the hotel we were staying at was owned by this Korean couple and pretty much since the day I arrived all I was asking about was snow (keep in mind I’m from South Africa it doesn’t snow there ) anyways it was about 12 in the morning when we got a call to our room which was very unexpected, so I answered the call and of course they ask for my name and room number to make sure we were the correct quests they were phoning and my face just lit up when they said “you were the one asking about snow right? “And I was like "yes yes that’s me why is everything okay?’’ "Ma'am you can make your way downstairs it’s starting to snow" I put down the phone and I looked at my best friend and she just knew we both immediately put on our coats and ran downstairs, and that’s when it all began.

We decided the next evening to take a walk to Seoul tower and on the bark of our journey it started to snow but that didn’t stop us we kept on, till we got to this random elevator in the middle of a mountain which we were both confused about, we got in and it took us right to a cable car that lead us to the top when we got out that’s where it all was, it was something I have always seen in movies laid thickly on the floor, it was beyond magical so I just fell on the floor and started making snow angles just laughing away taking in every moment with an incredible view of the city, this was the night that Korea stole my heart and I wouldn’t change a single thing about my trip.

They say if you've seen one temple you've seen them all for me that's not the case I believe every country has their own culture so I always tend to find the difference between them and the relion behind them in this case the Korean temples are outstanding and the history behind them is quite interesting, there are 20 000 temples in Korea alone, most Korean temples are actually Buddhist temples which were actually introduced by monks who visited and studied in China and then brought back various Buddhist sects during the three kingdoms period, It then became the official state religion in all three kingdoms and subsequent dynasties, with monks often holding important advisory roles in governments. Not only does Korea have temples but they have the most outstanding palaces from the Chosun Dynasty, they are homes of the Korean kings, with a colorful history of over 600 years.

Starfield Library, not the easiest thing to find as its actually part of a mall called COEX which is the worlds largest underground shopping mall the library itself has over fifty thousand books from all over the world free of use, and if you want that perfect Instagram shot starfield library is the place to be, after walking around in circles we eventually found it but not only did we find that by getting lost we got to see much more than just a library, we stumbled across the Coex aquarium, SM town artium, the statue of Gangnam Style and the Coex center which were all mind-blowing experiences.

Walking aimlessly with a camera, that's what adventure is all about because if it wasn't for us deciding to walk everywhere, I'm pretty sure we wouldn't have seen as much of Seoul as we did. As a traveler, I should probably tell you to do your research as it might help a lot by finding places and things to do, but for me I prefer mystery, I like things to be a surprise because the feeling of walking into a palace is like something you'd see in a movie scene, but walking aimlessly for hours on end with no plan and no expectations is much more rewarding. And there's just something about this city that captured my heart. Like visiting a palace in Seoul is like going back in time and seeing how things you to be, walking in the streets where so much is going on no one even realizing you're there, with a unique fashion scene and pop culture it's like stepping into another world, and looking back there was so much more to explore and I can't wait to go back.

And as always stay strong keep smiling, much love Eve.