Exploring Seoul Day 1 - Ginseng Chicken, Hanboks, Strawberries and Shopping

After moving to Bangkok, we haven't had a proper overseas holiday, with most of our holidays within Thailand. As most of our overseas holidays were tied to CS's work trips, he could never really enjoy them properly. We decided to treat ourselves to a proper overseas holiday and chose Seoul and Taipei since we've always talked about visiting these two places but somehow those plans never materialised. 

We arrived in Seoul bright and early after a late night flight. It was a nightmare clearing immigration  with only a small number of counters opened. For a country which is pushing for tourism, you would think that there would be more counters opened. Once we cleared immigration, it was off to find an airport bus to take us to our hotel. We had chosen to stay in Myeongdong since it is apparently the best place to stay for tourists. We didn't choose to stay in any hanoks (of which there are plenty, and also easily found through hotel booking sites such as Expedia and Agoda) since we were not interested in that. Locating the airport bus counter was a breeze and after buying our tickets, we waited inside the airport as it was just too cold to stand out in the cold. Surprisingly we found a Gong Cha in the airport, and over the next few days, we came to realise that Gong Cha was everywhere in Seoul. 

The bus to Myeongdong took over an hour and we took the opportunity to catch up on sleep. The bus had a recording which tells you which stop it's at but sometimes the timing is a bit off so you do need to take note of your surroundings. 

We booked a room at Ekonomy Hotel Central Myeongdong but since they had two branches at Myeongdong, we got confused and got off at the wrong stop and went to the wrong one.  The staff was rather friendly and told us where our hotel was located, and after a short walk we reached our hotel. Interestingly, both hotels were in a commercial building. The building we were in also had a restaurant which seemed rather popular. We never seemed to see any office workers whenever we went out, which made me wonder what time they start and end work. As we didn't have any Korean won with us, we also sorted out our money exchange in Myeongdong which seemed to have a currency exchange every 10 steps. The area around the China embassy seemed to have the best rates. If you can't find it, just walk around a bit and compare prices, the moneychangers were relatively competitive. 

After leaving our luggage in the hotel, we headed off for some ginseng chicken as we haven't eaten anything since touching down in Seoul. We headed for the one restaurant which every guidebook seems to recommend, Tosokchon Samgyetang, and found out that it's even listed on the map at the MRT station. Since we were really early, there was no queue and we were seated as soon as we arrived. Just as we were hesitating over how to order, a waitress appeared and asked if we understood Chinese, she then handed us a menu and proceeded to tell us the kimchi is free flow, the portion is for one person etc etc. Over our next few days in Seoul, we realised that there were many Chinese working in Seoul, every time we were confused on what to do in a restaurant, there would be a Chinese waitress who pops up and tells us what to do. After we ordered our food, other guests started streaming in. I think this restaurant is in every guidebook in Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore and Malaysia as we were surrounded by tourists from these countries. As the weather was rather cold, it was quite pleasant to eat something warm and soothing, however I felt the soup was a bit too thick and since the chicken was stuffed with glutinous rice, I found it impossible to finish everything. While I really love drinking soups (it's the Chinese in me), I didn't find this particular ginseng chicken mind blowing. 

interior of Tosokchon Samgyetang and its menu

After stuffing our stomachs, we decided to head to Gyeongbok Palace to see if we could catch the free guided tours there. We were walking there when we got distracted by fresh strawberries at the grocer. Obviously we had to stop and buy them! They were every bit as delicious as expected. 

When we reached Gyeongbok Palace we realised we had missed the free guided tours so we decided to just buy tickets and wander around the palace ourselves. There were many Korean girls as well as tourists who wore hanboks and wandered around taking photographs. The palace seem to rent out the hanboks but I think many of the Koreans actually came wearing their own hanboks. Some of the hanboks were a little too short and didn't look as lovely whereas some were modernised in a really trendy way.  Since we didn't have a guide, we did get quite bored rather quickly. I had initially thought that the palace grounds were quite small but they turned out to be bigger than expected. We did try to eavesdrop on what other tour groups were saying but since there were so many of them, the information just got drowned out.

 view of the palace

a building in the palace which was out of bounds to visitors

As we were rather tired out from the flight, we decided to head back for a short rest before venturing out for the evening. After a short rest, we went out in the evening to explore Myeongdong. It was really bustling and full of people. For tourists like us who are in Seoul for the first time, I do think it was the best place to stay. There were many restaurants, shops etc which makes walking around rather fun.

obligatory bingsu shot

I did pity the sales assistants who were outside the shops trying to pull in customers, since the weather was rather chilly. There is a Face Shop, Innisfree, Nature Republic etc every few steps away and I'm quite sure their sales targets must be very high since there are so many tourists staying there. As per my usual practice, we went to the 7-11 opposite our hotel so I can see what snacks they sell. I was totally amazed by how cheap the soju and makgeolli was. One bottle of soju was only 1000plus won? Only SGD1plus! It was the same price for makgeolli! No wonder they drink so much, it's so cheap! We bought a sakura soju to try, and it was quite yummy, not as rough as the normal soju. All in all it was a rather good first start to Seoul. 

Trekking and caving at Khao Sam Roi Yot National Park

The trip to Pranburi took slightly longer than expected as we made a few detours along the way. On the way towards Pranburi we passed Ratchaburi where we stumbled upon a Chinese ancestral home. We only found it as we noticed some signs in Chinese as we were driving, out of curiosity we drove up to the place and found a large ancestral home/ shrine (?). It looked totally like the ones we will see in movies, we didn't take any pictures as we felt it would be disrespectful. There appeared to be a large cemetery behind the shrine and I imagined it would be really crowded during Qing Ming when Chinese visit graves of their ancestors to pray and pay respects. 

Ratchaburi actually looked like a rather picturesque town, however we already had plans to go Pranburi to visit the Khao Sam Roi Yot National Park so we gave it a miss. We would definitely be back though.

We had chosen to stay at Evason Hua Hin as it was quite near to the national park and the hotel looked really good on the website. It was our first time there and overall I would say it was a rather pleasant experience, other than the receptionist who unwillingly tried to help us book a massage. The hotel grounds are huge, with tennis courts, a kids area, and there are also various activities such as yoga, cooking classes such that you can choose to just stay in the hotel and never leave until you check out. It is a little inaccessible without a car though and of course the restaurants in the hotel are a little expensive.

 lush grounds of Evason Hua Hin

When we were planning the trip, I was intrigued by Khao Sam Roi Yot National Park as it is the first marine national park of Thailand. We have already been to Khao Yai National Park before and while it is lovely, we wanted to explore a new place. The caves in Khao Sam Roi Yot sounded fascinating so we chose this place instead. After a good breakfast at the hotel, we set off for the park and went to the visitor centre. You can pay for your park entrance fee at the centre, or if you made your way directly to the caves, you can also pay at the entrances to the caves. We decided that we would check out Khao Daeng View Point first as it was quite near to the visitor centre. We left the car at the visitor centre and walked over, however you can also easily drive your car to the foot of the hill and park it there. Supposedly it takes about 30 minutes to climb to the top, however as we are relatively unfit and the trail is quite steep, it took us about an hour to get up there. There are signs indicating which way to go but you need to keep your eyes peeled for them. By the time we got up, we were all sweaty and tired but the view was totally worth it. As space at the top was a premium and there were other tourists who also wanted to enjoy the view, we descended after resting for a while and taking a few photos. 

panoramic view from the viewpoint

We then drove to Sam Phraya beach for lunch and to rest after the tiring hike. There is a restaurant there as well as a relatively clean toilet. We ran into some bikers who were doing a charity biking thing who stopped there for lunch, so it was relatively crowded. Luckily for us, we had ordered our food before they arrived so we didn't have to wait a long time. The staff could speak some simple English and with our knowledge of basic Thai, we managed to order our food and had a good rest. 

lovely quiet beach

Originally we had planned to visit the Phraya Nakhon Cave after lunch, but as we were tired and the soles of our shoes had fallen off, we decided to give it a miss and instead head to Hua Hin town for a massage and perhaps explore the night market instead. As that was the highlight of the trip, we were a little disappointed that we couldn't make it. I was actually pretty hyped up over the cave but we didn't have proper shoes to trek. We did drive to Sai Cave to take a look but the trail looked impossible with our broken shoes. Khao Sam Roi Yot National Park is definitely a place I would like to go back, it is less crowded than Khao Yai and the presence of both the mountain and the sea appeals to me. 

The river that got renamed cos of the bridge

It's been a while since our last road trip and Kanachaburi was one of the places we have been wanting to visit since we moved to Bangkok. Y was heading to Bangkok for a short trip and we thought it would be boring if we stayed in Bangkok and did the usual shopping and eating, especially since she was coming back again in December for that. Thus we decided that we will drive up to Kanachanburi, and then head down to Pranburi for Khao Sam Roi Yot National Park and some relaxation.

I must admit that my planning was overly ambitious and tried to pack too many things into one day. There are tours which offer day trips to Kanchanburi but they didn't attempt to drive all the way down to Pranburi at the end of the tour, thus in the end we skipped quite a few places that I wanted to visit in Kanchanburi. 

Our first stop was the Kanchanburi War Cemetery. It is the main cemetery for the prisoners of war captured by the Japanese army and is maintained by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission. The cemetery is open 24 hours and there is no admission fee. I had read a few books about the POWs experience to gain a better understanding of their experience and I think being in the cemetery overwhelmed me. I actually broke down crying even though none of my relatives fought in the war. I know my grandma lived through it but she never spoke about it so I have no idea of the things she went through. As you walk through the cemetery it's very overwhelming to see how young some of them were, 19, 20 etc and of course this continues even today. There were a few people who seem to  be there to visit the graves of relatives as they came bearing flowers. The date of our visit was also pretty close to Remembrance Day so there were also poppies being laid on some graves. 

As we were leaving, there was a group of Thai tourists who came and used the place as a photo opportunity. Sometimes I wonder if the Thais know about their part in World War II, in any case I have no way of finding out. This group didn't seem to know the significance of anything and just took a bunch of photographs and left. 

Our next stop was the Death Railway Museum which was just next to the cemetery. As we were walking into the museum, there was a really really old man walking out. He was so old I wondered if he was one of the surviving POWs. If yes, I cannot imagine how he feels coming back to visit his old comrades as well as going through the museum and all the memories. 

No photos are allowed in the museum which is privately run. The museum is able to help source for information about POWs and of course it provides an overview of what happens during World War II and the construction of the infamous Death Railway. I would say the museum gives a good overview and is pretty objective in the information provided. One of the things I remember clearly is that there was a mock-up of the carriage which the POWs were transported in and I was struck by how claustrophobic it must have been for the POWs who were packed in like sardines. The Japanese Army apparently didn't care how many died as they treated the POWs as dispensable labour.  While the first floor of the museum was dedicated to providing an overview of the war, what the POWs went through etc, the second floor was dedicated to the personal effects of the POWs. Some were recovered from the camp sites while others were donated by their relatives. It was interesting how innovative and creative the POWs were in trying to keep records of what happened to themselves as well as their comrades. If you didn't come with flowers but would like to leave some flowers at the cemetery, you can purchase some poppies at the museum. I'm not sure if they have it year round or only had it since it was near to Remembrance Day.  

After leaving the Death Railway Museum, we headed for the infamous bridge over River Kwai. It is now a tourist spot with many restaurants dotting the surrounding areas and we settled into one of them for lunch. It was actually quite surreal to sit there eating lunch, enjoying the view and at the same time think of all the POWs who died building that railway.

 After lunch, we went onto the bridge to take a look. You can actually take a train to cross the bridge or you can do it like us and just walk on it. There is no worry about a train coming and crushing you since the train moves really slowly and they hoot like crazy as they are approaching. The bridge was been apparently restored after the war by the Japanese (the irony of it all) so it is very safe to walk on. No rickety wooden slabs to walk on, everything is now steel. There was a huge Chinese temple on the other end of the bridge which we did not explore as it was too hot to walk across and back that day.

With that, we ended our Kanchanaburi trip and headed off to Pranburi. While Kanchanburi is perhaps best know for the Death Railway and Bridge over River Kwai, there are a lot more places to explore and we would probably go back again.

Note: I got the information about the river being renamed from seat61