Eventhough the winter of 2018-2019 was not very cold, it was somehow unpleasant. Maybe because days were short and trees were naked without leaves. No flowers were blooming during this time. But suddenly in March I could notice the first signs of spring…
It begann with the magnolia tree I saw in the Yonsei University’s campus. It was full with those little white buds, but not yet opened.
Magnolia on Yonsei University’s campus
Some days later, I couldn’t remember anything else than the golden hedges over Seoul. They were colored beautifully by the yellow blooming fosythia.
This is the first time for me to meet the Korean Autumn. Eventhough I already read on the Internet or saw on TV that this is a wonderful time here, I still can’t help but fall in love with it 😍.
The weather is not hot anymore, rather cool. You can feel the autumn breeze and also see it taking all the colorful leaves with it. Day by day you can see the color of your surrounding is changing – on the streets, in the parks or on the mountains. From green to yellow, to orange then red… Then maybe you only see a naked tree left, without any leaf.
Everyday is more beautiful than the previous day…
I went around, enjoying this fabulous scenery and try to capture it with all devices I have. But I only feel helpless, because the reality is much more lively, much more colorful, much more fantastic… No word, no picture can describe the beauty of the autumn in Korea. You have to come, to see and breath it by yourself.
Well, despite that fact, I still would love to share some pictures of my autumn collection with you to give you more motivation to come to Korea in autumn ☺️.
All of them were taken between end of September and end of October 2018. The whole collection as well as the locations I’ve been to can be found here.
Garden of Morning Calm – 아침고요수목원 – is a wonderful botanical garden in Gyeonggi, which you can reach within 1,5h by car from Seoul.
Morning calm
Do you know what “Morning calm“ means? The last dynasty on the Korean peninsular, from 1392 until 1897, was named as Joseon Kingdom (조선, 朝鮮). At that time Joseon was translated, or better to say, interpreted in English as “Morning calm”. Hence you can find in a lot of old travel reports or documentaries the expression “The Land of the Morning Calm”, which was equivalent to Joseon Kingdom or Korea. Continue reading “Garden of Morning Calm [Gyeonggi]”
Traveling to foreign countries you can see a lot of new interesting things, check in in many awesome locations, meet new great people, enjoy new kind of food and gain a lot of new experiences. That‘s why I really love traveling. But before you get to the destination of your trip, you need to organise many other things, too, e.g. apply for a visa, think about how to get cash, purchasing a sim card, take a cab, etc.
In this post, I’m gonna share with you some good things to know upon your arrival, that might be helpful for you first visit to South-Korea.
1. Visa for Korea
You may need a visa, maybe not to enter South-Korea depending on your nationality, purpose and length of stay. The best information about that is available on the official page of Visa Korea Portal .
Please check it before you plan to come.
2. Immigration and Customs 👮🏼
2.1 Filling the forms
So, now everything is booked and you’re on the airplane ✈️ to Korea. Before landing, you may receive an Arrival card as well as a Traveler declaration form (one per group) from the flight attendants. They both need to be filled out and handed to officers when you pass the immigration.
The Nami island – 나미섬 (Namiseom) or 나미나라 (Naminara – Country Nami) is a very popular destination for a half-day or whole-day trip from Seoul for tourists as well as loving couples.
On a “half-moon” island, which is about 42km2 large, you can enjoy the beautiful nature, have a romantic walk or ride couple bicycle with your beloved through tree avenues, have a picknick or do a lot of activities on the fresh and clean water.
It is also said, that the Nami island has four different “coats”. In spring it wears a rose – purple coat of the cherry blossoms. In summer, it changes to the green one. In autumn, the golden and red coat will cover it. And in winter, the white one.
Actually this island is very famous in Asia, because one of the most well known K-Drama from the 90’ was flimed here – Winter Sonata. All the snowman ⛄ figures you can find on the whole island were made as memories for that beautiful love story. Now a day, you can still meet a lot of its fans on the island.
I visited the Nami island on a very hot summer day. Under the sun it was almost 40 degrees. However, on the island it was really cool and very enjoyable.
In case you would like to take the ferry to the island on weekend or holiday, try to get to the pier before 9am to avoid the crowd and reduce the queing time
There are a lot of nice resting areas, alos near the water. If you have time, bring a picnic mat, drinks and some snacks with you
Around the island, you can enjoy a lot of water activities. Don’t forget your swimsuit
