South Korean is known for their Jimjilbang or public bathhouses. Since we had such a great time at the spa in Japan, we knew we had to do one in Korea too! Plus, this was the last day of our trip and our legs and bodies were in desperate need of some relaxing.
This one, Siloam Sauna, was very different than the one in Tokyo though. We skipped the public baths this time and went straight for the co-ed sauna rooms. The sauna floor mostly consisted of lots of little rooms heated or cooled to various temperatures. There was an ice room, a cold hard charcoal room, an oxygen room, 2 jade rooms, a Loess sauna, a fire sauna, a salt sauna, and a jade sauna. We went to them all except the fire sauna as that was heated to an intense temperature.
Chuck and Mara loved the ice room.
Beckett loved the Loess sauna and kept playing with the little Loess (soil) balls.
I liked the salt room and jade rooms although it did hurt my feet to walk on it.
Jade saunaSalt sauna
We had a great time visiting one, taking a break, visiting another, taking a break, and on and on.
Before we went, I read that people will fold the orange towel they give you into a Princess Leia type of hat and wear it, so we all took turns doing that. I only saw a few other people doing it, but whatever, it was fun!
After a few hours, we needed to get back for dinner and packing, so we reluctantly said goodbye.
We all gave the experience an enthusiastic thumbs up!
I remembering hearing about the DMZ growing up and learning a long time ago that Americans were allowed to visit and even step into North Korea. For years, I knew if I ever made it to Korea, this would be at the top of my list. So when I planned our trip to Japan, I made sure to include South Korea as part of the itinerary so I could include a trip to the DMZ too.
And then I started to stress. I liked the idea, but man did it freak me out to go there. Chuck and Mara weren’t phased, but Beckett was adamant that he wouldn’t go. Cue lots of reading, researching, thinking about it, and more reading. Ultimately, we decided that it would be safe as people had been doing this for years and years and years without a single incident.
That didn’t stop Beckett from refusing to go though. Unfortunately, he couldn’t stay home by himself, so reluctantly he went along. Chuck and Mara were excited. I was still freaked.
We took a tour – you have to – that handled everything for us. We boarded a motor coach around 8am and drove about 90 minutes to the border. Our first stop was lunch.
Our first view of North Korea across the waterLunch
After lunch, it was off to the Dora Observatory, where we got a look at the border and into North Korea. It was fascinating to look into North Korea and see people going about their lives.
South Korea in the foreground and North Korea across the river
South Korea facing south
After that, we went to the 3rd Infiltration Tunnel. This was one of the tunnels the South Koreans discovered that led from North Korea into South Korea. You first watch a video, then get into a little mining train and descend in a very narrow tunnel a good 5 minutes deep into the earth. Beckett was pretty freaked out by this, so once we got to the bottom, Chuck and Mara got out to explore the tunnel, while I rode back up with Beckett.
There didn’t seem to be much down there, just a long walk to a door that was at the border between North and South Korea.
Then we had a few minutes to take some pictures before we went to the main event.
Then we headed to Camp Bonifas which is the UN Command military post located just south of the border. We joined with other tours and went into an auditorium for a security briefing. We also had to sign some paperwork basically acknowledging the danger we were about to take.
As we boarded the buses to go to the border, Beckett started to freak out and refused to go. I felt so bad for him, but at this point, there was no way to stay behind. One of the American soldiers came up to talk to him, and told him that they would stay by his side the entire time to make sure he was safe. And he did. The guy was so nice and really made sure Beckett was ok.
After a short drive, it was showtime as we arrived at the Joint Security Area (JSA).
We then got to stand at a place I’ve seen in pictures so many times. It was surreal. You can see that Beckett is less than thrilled to be here.
After another briefing, it was our turn to enter the building. The soldier went into North Korea and talked for a bit, before he told us we were allowed to enter the North Korean side.
We’re in South Korea, and he is in North Korea. The microphones on the table mark the border.
This next part happened so fast. We walked into North Korea, took some selfies, and before I knew it, they were telling us we had to leave. I think we only got 2 minutes on the North Korean side so I didn’t get the pictures or videos that I would’ve liked. It didn’t help that there were so many of us in the room, that its not that we had much of a chance anyway.
Still, WE STOOD IN NORTH KOREA!!!
Walking across the border into North KoreaIn North KoreaNorth Korean selfieView from North Korea into South KoreaIn North Korea with the background as South Korea
And then it was over and we were back outside.
Despite Beckett’s initial resistance, he was over the moon once we entered the building and stood in North Korea!
From there, we walked down to the Blue Bridge where Moon Jae In and Kim Jong Un had a historic, private conversation in April 2018.
We also got some time to take pictures of the Freedom House before boarding the buses and heading back to Camp Bonifas.
Once back at Camp Bonifas, we boarded our first motor coach to continue our tour.
The soldier that was keeping an eye on Beckett, gave him 2 military patches before we left.
Our final stop was at the Dorasan Station. This is a train station which used to connect North Korea and South Korea. The hope is that one day, this station will be used to connect them together again.
We bought tickets to Pyeongyang, North Korea
The train routeWaiting for a train that wasn’t coming yetThe train network linking Korea to Europe
And sadly, this was our last stop, so we headed back to Seoul.
Overall, it was such a neat experience. It wasn’t as scary as I expected, but that’s also probably because they removed all the soldiers with guns from both sides 6 months before our visit. Still, I never felt unsafe or had an concerns once we got the border.
And as soon as Beckett got to cross into North Korea, he was so happy and relaxed. He ended up being so glad that he went, and so proud of himself for pushing through his apprehension.
I think for all of us, this was one of the top experiences of our entire trip and definitely our top experience in Korea.
One of our favorite things to do when we travel is visit night markets. They are a great place to try different foods and drinks, to see what interesting things are for sale, and to people watch.
We went to the Myeongdong night market our first full day in Seoul and loved it so much we went back the next day. We spent a good 2 hours there the first night and probably longer the 2nd night.
First up was getting the kids some of the favorite night market treats – watermelon smoothie and grilled corn on the cob for Beckett and fried potatoes on a stick for Mara. These were both some of the kids’ favorites in Thailand and other places we’ve visited.
Fresh watermelon smoothiePotato on a stick!Grilled corn on the cob – on a stick of course
There was also plenty of other eating as we walked around: dehydrated strawberries that the kids fought over, crepes, and other random things that looked good.
Nutella crepe – another one of our favorite night market treatsMore food on a stick
It was really crowded in some spots, but in some spots it wasn’t so bad.
Strangely, it seemed that every 3rd actual store was selling face masks. We were able to pick up a few for free as they handed them out when you went into the store, and Mara ended up buying a few more to take home.
Face mask store after face mask store
And then I spotted a “Lush” store. I love “Lush” products, and it turns out the kids now do too! We spent a LONG time in the store trying different products and picking out our favorites. They’re so ridiculously expensive, but we still let the kids pick out a few things to bring home. Mara loved them so much that I bought her more for her birthday later!
The second night, we got a traditional Korean BBQ at one of the restaurants near the night market. It was delicious, although Beckett wasn’t a fan.
To make it up to Beckett, we let him get a watermelon milk ice treat he’d been eyeing up while the rest of us got cake slices and cupcakes to enjoy back at the room.
In addition to all the eating, there were some fun sights around:
All told, the night market was one of our favorite activities in Seoul!
One thing Mara wanted to do in Japan was take a dessert making class. We looked into taking a class learning to make wagashi, but couldn’t find a class that fit our schedule. However, I found a class in Seoul making the Korean version of wagashi known as Bean paste rice cakes so we took that instead.
Chuck didn’t want to take the class, but he came along to watch and take pictures.
The bean paste was already made for us, so we only had to weigh it, roll it into balls, then cover them so they didn’t dry out. And then we learned how to decorate them. We made 6 each and we all did surprisingly well.
Covering them in 2 colorsEtching grooves into themThe finished product
The finished products:
We took the class with Sunny S Dining and she did such a great job of teaching us how to make our cakes. The best part was that we got to take our creations home with us, and while I wasn’t a big fan of them, the kids nibbled on them for the rest of our time in Seoul.
We went to Gyeongbokgung Palace on our first morning in Seoul. Gyeongbokgung Palace was built in 1395 and was the main royal palace for centuries. Unfortunately it burnt down in the 1590s and then was destroyed again in the 20th century by the Japanese. Some buildings were spared and the rest have been recently restored.
One of my favorite things about visiting this palace is that many of the visitors dress up in traditional Korean costumes known as hanboks. It’s appropriate for even non-Koreans to wear the traditional dress to the palace, but I felt like it really wasn’t our place to do so, so we skipped it. Seeing everyone else dressed up really made it a richer cultural experience though.
Tourists wearing traditional Korean costumes
There aren’t any buildings that you can enter, so we just strolled the grounds for an hour or two. It really reminded me of the Forbidden City in Beijing and I found it quite cool, although the kids were a bit less impressed.
I love seeing the palace grounds with the modern city in the background
As we were leaving, a group of guards marched passed us so we followed them outside. Once they were done with their march, people lined up for pictures. It was a neat way to end our visit.
We arrived in Seoul after an exhausting, but fun 11 days in Japan. After grabbing some snacks at the airport since we missed lunch and picking up our pocket wifi, we headed for our hotel to drop off our bags. Normally we’d drop our bags and head out to explore, but this time we all chilled in the room for a bit before wandering around.
Our hotel was in Insadong which is one of the top tourist areas known for more traditional Korean shopping and food. The hotel was a great choice as we had 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms, there was an included breakfast buffet which was awesome, plus we had a full kitchen and living area. The location didn’t turn out to be the best choice for us though and I kind of think we would have had a better time somewhere else.
The pedestrian only streets around our hotel were neat, but after a brief stroll, we we’d seen all we wanted to see. Plus the restaurant choices weren’t the best. At this point, we were all so tired and hungry and honestly just needed some “normal for us” meals. The first night, Chuck and I actually went to an Indian restaurant and then picked up some ramen and other food from a mini market for the kids’ dinner.
The next morning we went to Gyeongbokgung Palace. After visiting there, we found a burger place on our walk back to the hotel and it really hit the spot. Normally you can’t find a good burger outside of the US, but this place was pretty close and we were all able to get fed!
We then wandered around Insadong and found a stand making King’s Dessert. This consists of taking a block of honey and rolling then stretching it into 16,000 strands which are then filled with nuts or chocolate. The guy made a special batch for us and we took a bunch home to snack on the rest of the trip.
King’s DessertInsadongCute alleys off the main pedestrian streetMara favorite – fresh coconut!
After a brief rest at the hotel, we took the subway to a different area of Seoul for our Korean Dessert making class. There didn’t look to be a good place for dinner near the class, so we took the subway back to our hotel and then walked a good 15 minutes to the Myeong-dong night market to hunt for dinner. We love night markets and had a great time exploring the market and trying the food.
Area between our hotel and the Myeong-dong night market
Day 2 started with us visiting the Bukchon Hanok Village which is a traditional Korean village. I’d seen this on travel shows and it looked so cool. And it was cool, but… not as amazing as I was hoping!?!? It may have been the heat, so while we enjoyed seeing it, I wasn’t as blown away as I expected. That said, I’m really glad we went.
We had lunch at the same burger place from the day before then wandered around Insadong some more, mostly on the hunt for treats. I ended up picking up some Starbucks and discovered the best Starbucks drink I’ve ever had although I can’t remember specifically what it was now. I was hoping the drink would come to the US, but sadly it hasn’t yet. I loved the drink so much, that I ended up getting one most of the remaining days in South Korea.
Treats!
We had plans to visit another section of Seoul, but we scrapped them for some relaxing time at the hotel.
That evening, we revisited Myeong-dong for a traditional Korean BBQ meal then strolling around the night market again.
The day was incredible, but tiring so we had dinner at a Mexican restaurant about 10 minutes from our place then crashed for the night.
Day 4 was our last full day in Korea and there was still so much we hadn’t done. First up was going to Gangnam. Beckett has always LOVED that song, so we had to go to the area to check it out. We found the one stage and proceeded to dance to the song and take pictures like total tourists.
We never found the other stage – it turned out to be far away – and then found a Japanese shabu shabu meal for lunch. Yes, despite eating so many shabu shabu meals in Japan, we were back for another one!
We had a really nice time relaxing at the spa before heading back to the hotel to pack up.
Fun in the back of a taxi
For dinner, we walked a gazillion miles to a pizza place and after a really long wait, we were treated to pretty authentic NY style pizza that totally hit the spot!
Day 5 had us leaving South Korea and starting our long journey home.
Departures Board at Incheon airportCool robot at the airport
All in all, I enjoyed our time in South Korea, but I have many mixed feelings. I didn’t love Seoul as much as I expected, but I didn’t hate it either. There were so many things I had planned that we didn’t do from going up the top of Lotte World Tower, one of the world’s tallest buildings that has a glass floor on top, to visiting Lotte World, the world’s biggest indoor amusement park, to visiting other markets and sites. But we were so exhausted that we couldn’t have fit in one more thing. Plus finding food for all of us was far more challenging than I expected.
That said, visiting the DMZ was an absolute highlight of my travels and we got to see and experience many cool things so it was definitely worth going.
