By: Juan Fernando Rincon
I travelled in 2017 with my family to Japan. We spent a week in Tokyo. It was a wonderful experience. One of the highlights was a visit to Seoul. When we did the process for the Visa required to travel to Japan, we choose the multiple entry visa. We flew with Aeromexico with a stop at Mexico City. This is the cheapest and shortest way to visit Japan from Colombia. The flight was very comfortable, and food was particularly good in the flight from Mexico City to Narita airport in Tokyo.
One of the days in Tokyo, we woke up very early in the morning and took the first flight from Tokyo to Seoul with Asiana Airlines. Food was very good in the flight and from the plane it was possible to see Mount Fuji a couple of minutes after take-off. The flight lasted two hours and a half. It was perfect because we had time to sleep. That morning we woke up very early and we needed energy for the adventure that we were about to start.
After arriving at Incheon Airport, we took a train to Seoul Station. Then we took another train from there towards the City Hall Metro station. We were able to see the center of Seoul with its tall buildings. Walking we got to Cheonggyecheon. This is a river in the middle of the city that was design in order to give a calm spot in the middle of the big buildings. This is a very interesting place to visit because you can walk beside the river and enjoy a peaceful time. This area was totally reconstructed after the war. There are some places with signs showing the transformation process. It´s incredible to see how devastated this area was during the war.
Then we walked to the Statue of Admiral Yi Sun Shin. It´s located in the center of a very important avenue. There are a lot of museums nearby and that´s were people gather to protest. Down the street, we walked all the way to Gwanghwamun Palace. This is one of the most important historic sites in Korea. It’s where the Korean royals lived. You can ask for an audio guide and learn about the story of this important land before the war. The different chambers were reconstructed in order to show the way royals lived and worked. At the back of the palace you can find the National Folk Museum of Korea. This museum is beautiful. There we learned a lot about the ancient Korean lifestyle.
The history of this country is filled with interesting events. Trapped in the middle of two giants – Japan and China-, Korea had to work out various obstacles in order to maintain its independence. We had lunch at the cafeteria of the museum, but I would recommend going outside and look for a restaurant with typical food. In that area you can also find a lot of other museums. Due to the small amount of time that we had, we went back to the airport in order to go back to Japan.
Korea is a wonderful place and we would totally recommend a longer stay. Due to our budget and time constrain, we were able to do just a one-day visit. But it was totally worth it. We got at least a glimpse of this incredible country. As a remainder, consider that Colombians don’t need a visa to visit Korea. Since we were one of the few countries that supported them during the war, they welcome us in their land with open arms.