A Terrible Five-Day Group Tour to South Korea During the 2014 National Day Holiday

It's now December 2021, and I'll be retiring in a few months. With nothing much to do, I remembered chatting with my wife a few days ago about places we've visited. Many details have slipped my mind. Fortunately, I'm not one to throw things away. In a drawer, I found the contracts and itineraries from our travels over the years. I plan to use these few months to revisit them with photos, so that in the near future, my wife and I can slowly reminisce in the sun.

We went to Taiwan in February 2014 during the Chinese New Year. Our first trip abroad was in October of that year, taking advantage of the National Day holiday to visit South Korea. It's funny to think—I worked at a so-called state-owned enterprise. In October 2014, I still wasn't allowed to take my seniority leave, but starting in November, I could take annual leave based on years of service. So I ended up traveling abroad twice a year, making full use of my 15 days of annual leave. That continued until last year when COVID hit.

Now, let me recall my trip to South Korea. The most vivid memory can be summed up in one word: terrible. I haven't been to many places—about thirty countries—but South Korea is the worst travel destination I've ever rated. The bad part wasn't the scenery; it was the people.

I. Mode of Travel

It was my first time abroad, so I decided to join a tour group for peace of mind. It was during the National Day peak season, so the price was quite high: 4,980 RMB per person for the "South Korea Highlights Five-Day Forest Train Experience Tour." The travel agency seemed legitimate, with all the proper paperwork, and they arranged a Chinese-speaking tour guide for the entire trip.

II. Itinerary

Day 1 (October 2): Depart from Beijing Capital Airport on an 08:20 flight to Seoul, then transfer to Jeju Island. Dinner followed by hotel check-in.

Day 2 (October 3): Full-day tour of Jeju Island.

Day 3 (October 4): Fly from Jeju Island to Seoul, full-day tour of Seoul.

Day 4 (October 5): Full-day tour of Seoul.

Day 5 (October 6): Depart from Seoul on a 12:30 flight back to Beijing.

The original itinerary in the tour notice had shopping scattered across Day 3 and Day 4, but in reality, the guide consolidated all the shopping stops on Day 4. The following description follows the actual itinerary.

III. About Shopping

We had almost no free time during the trip. The time allotted at Myeongdong was short and very crowded. I bought a jacket and a shirt for my child. At the duty-free shop, I bought some face masks—after all, it was my first time abroad, and I had to bring back some gifts. At the local specialty store, I bought two small bowls that were advertised as heat-resistant, but they didn't work as claimed. Maybe I was holding them wrong. If I ever go again, I wouldn't buy anything. After traveling these past few years, I certainly wouldn't recommend shopping in South Korea.

IV. The Terrible Trip

Day 1: Beijing to Jeju Island.

The terrible journey started at the airport. The tour guide assigned by the travel agency was a young woman who worked in the office. Because there were too many tour groups during the National Day holiday and not enough guides, they pulled office staff to fill in. The young lady was very nice and helpful, but unfortunately, she had never been to South Korea and didn't know anything when asked. She managed to herd the chaotic group onto the plane and handed us over to the local guide at Seoul Airport, sighing with relief.

The local guide—a South Korean man in his 40s who had worked in China. He looked like a typical Korean, probably not surgically altered, and was quite ugly. His Chinese was decent. He briefly explained the day's itinerary and took us on a flight to Jeju Island. We had our first foreign meal. In my memory, the worst food I had was in April 2003 when I went to Wudang Mountain and Zhangjiajie in Hubei. But now I know there's even worse group meal. On the bus to the hotel, the local guide looked displeased and said, "China has endless delicious food, endless culture to learn, and endless beautiful scenery. Why do you come to South Korea?" That attitude was really strange. If it weren't for the constant promotion of your tiny country on TV, I wouldn't have come. South Korea has developed as a capitalist society for so many years; I came to see how it surpasses our socialist China. I didn't know until I came—it was a shock. It turns out, just as you Koreans yourselves say, you have no culture, no scenery. You eat rice and kimchi and are so proud you don't even know your own name. Your English is full of a kimchi accent. There's really no comparison with China. If Chinese people didn't come, you might not even have food to eat. I guess in recent years he's been happy—normal Chinese people don't go anymore.

Because Mr. Zhao (my husband) is a heavy smoker, wherever we go, the first thing after getting off the plane is to buy a lighter. He always buys the cheapest one. After some comparisons, we concluded that South Korea had the most expensive lighters—even more expensive than in the UK or the US.

The only thing that cheered us up that day was the hotel. It seemed to be in the mountains, with a good environment, fresh air, and cleanliness. It was a so-called four-flower hotel. I didn't take any photos and don't remember its name.

Day 2: Full-day tour of Jeju Island (Teddy Bear Museum - Seongeup Folk Village - Seongsan Ilchulbong Peak - Forest Train)

First stop, 07:40: Teddy Bear Museum.

This was a so-called special attraction offered today, but it was actually a shopping stop. There were staff explaining things and some facilities for photos. The exhibits were quite nice to look at, but the teddy bears were expensive. Just looking and taking photos was fine.

Second stop, 10:00: Seongeup Folk Village, the most authentically traditional village on Jeju Island.

The folk village is not big; you can finish walking around in about thirty minutes. A village guide led us around and finally we rested in a large room, which was actually for shopping—selling horse oil, honey, and other local specialties.

Third stop, 11:40: Seongsan Ilchulbong Peak, one of the 360 parasitic cones of Hallasan Mountain and also the world's largest volcanic cone protruding from the coast.

Fourth stop, 14:00: Eco Land Forest Train.

We took the small train to enjoy the scenery.

At the end of the day, looking at the photos, it still seemed like a nice day. The scenery was beautiful, the air was fresh, but the people were still terrible. Since no one in the group bought anything at the shopping stops, the Korean guide was very unhappy. With a long face, he reminded us, "You are on a shopping tour. You need to spend appropriately, otherwise I'll lose money." I wondered: Is this 4,980 RMB a shopping tour? What kind of tour is the 2,000 RMB one? Is 1,000 RMB per day still too low? Other members of the tour group had apparently spent a lot of money in China too and wanted to argue with him. The Chinese guide quickly stopped them. What's going on here is obvious.

Day 3: Full-day tour of Seoul (Kimchi School - World Cup Park - Gyeongbokgung Palace - Cheonggyecheon Stream - Myeongdong Shopping Street - Namsangol Hanok Village - The Painters: HERO)

After breakfast, we flew to Seoul.

First stop, 09:00: Visit Kimchi School, with an opportunity to try on hanbok.

We experienced making kimchi, which was quite interesting. The staff led us step by step. Those interested could purchase some.

Second stop, 10:20: World Cup Park.

This was built to commemorate the 2002 World Cup.

Third stop, 11:50: Gyeongbokgung Palace (exterior view of the presidential residence).

Fourth stop, 12:30: Gyeongbokgung Palace.

The royal palace of the Joseon Dynasty, now the presidential residence. The complex includes the Gyeongbokgung Palace and the Folk Museum. Inside the palace are the Geunjeongjeon Hall, where officials held court; the Gyeonghoeru Pavilion; and the king's sleeping quarters, the Gangnyeongjeon.

Fifth stop, 14:00: Cheonggyecheon Stream.

An ancient stream that runs through Seoul.

Sixth stop, 15:00: Myeongdong Shopping Street.

Seventh stop, 16:00: Namsangol Hanok Village.

Once the most scenic area during the Joseon Dynasty, with trees, streams, and pavilions creating a traditional garden. It preserves the lifestyle and furniture from scholars to commoners.

Eighth stop, 19:00: The Painters: HERO.

A show featuring instant powder painting, sticker animation telling stories, and LED painting shining in the dark. It was a pretty good show. No photography was allowed during the performance, but time was given at the end for photos.

A busy day ended. We had the best meal of the entire trip today: ginseng chicken soup. Each person got a small clay pot with a tiny chicken inside. I forgot whether it came with noodles or rice.

Day 4: Full day of shopping stops.

1. Ginseng Monopoly Bureau;

2. Amethyst Processing Factory;

3. Cosmetics Duty-Free Shop: mainly promoting whitening and anti-wrinkle botox products. Many people in our group bought some face masks and such.

4. Shilla Duty-Free Shop.

With so many stores in one day, the spending wasn't optimistic. The Korean guide was getting angry and his words became more unpleasant. If the Chinese guide hadn't held him back, there might have been a fight.

Day 5: Seoul to Beijing.

After breakfast, we went to a Korean specialty store. Most people bought some snacks, not much money. The guide reluctantly saw us off at the airport.

We took the 12:30 flight back to Beijing.

The five-day, four-night trip ended.

If you've had the patience to read this far, let me make a recommendation. In recent years, after traveling, I've written some reports. My writing is not good, just lengthy records, but relatively detailed. I travel on a budget, so I hope it might be useful to you. Rich folks don't need to read it. I'll gradually fill in the trips before 2018.

https://you.ctrip.com/travels/unitedkingdom20354/3721765.html

July 2018: Local tour - 13-day family trip to the UK with my wife and child

https://you.ctrip.com/travels/hokkaido296/3880918.html

July 2019: Family of three exploring the world - Summer train trip to Hokkaido, Japan

https://you.ctrip.com/travels/cambodia100081/3952861.html

January 2020: Family of three exploring the world - 5 nights, 6 days in Siem Reap

https://you.ctrip.com/travels/zhangye283/3977021.html

September 2020: Joining a group tour to the northwest for fun

https://you.ctrip.com/travels/guizhou100064/3983822.html

November 2020: Old couple traveling in Guizhou