Day 1: Airplane
Day 2 - 4: Seoul
Day 5 - 6: Yeosu
Day 7 - 8: Hadong
Day 9 - 11: Busan
Day 12: Tongdosa Temple stay
Day 13 - 14: Gyeongju
Day 15 - 16: Seoul
Day 17: Airplane
Day 1:
The airplane will leave around noon from Schiphol Amsterdam, and with a stop in Abu Dahbi it'll be a 17 hour flight until landing on day 2 in Seoul, around noon local time. So that's 17 hour trip plus a 7 hour time difference. The group will gather in Seoul because there is a local tour guide, so this will be by myself...maybe some others want to meet up at Schiphol already so we can wait and transfer together.
Day 2:
Arrival in Seoul and meeting up with the tour guide and rest of the group at Incheon airport and go by shuttle bus to the hotel. Rest of the day is free time.
Day 3:
Free day, with the option of joining the tour guide in the morning for a walking tour in the area around the hotel. In the evening there is an optional event to go watch a traditional music and dance show which i'll be going to, you have to subscribe while booking the trip already.
Day 4:
Free day, with the option of going to the DMZ (demilitarized zone between North and South Korea), you have to subscribe during booking to this as well, i won't be going and will stay in Seoul, plenty of things i want to see and do there.
Day 5:
Go with the KTX (high speed train) to Yeosu. After arrival you can join the tour guide and go see the turtle ships that the famous and legendary admiral Yi Sun Shin created.
Day 6:
Excursion to Geumo Island, with a local ferry you sail to the island and during a hike across the island you can enjoy the beautiful scenery.
Day 7:
Travel from Yeosu to Hadong that is located near Jirisan national park. You can join the tour guide to go see the orchards or go explore the village.
Day 8:
Free day, you can join the tour guide to go visit the Chamunhwa Tea Culture Centre to attend an official tea ceremony and go for a 3 hour hike in Jirisan national park from a temple to a waterfall.
Day 9:
Travel from Hadong to Korea's second biggest city Busan. Busan is a big harbor city with an impressive fish market which you can go to with the tour guide.
Day 10:
Free day, you can go for a local bus tour or a hike by the sea.
Day 11:
Free day, you can go shopping in the worlds biggest mall, visit a museum or just rest up on one of the beaches.
Day 12:
Travel from Busan to Tongdosa Temple for the temple stay. This is a very exclusive part of the tour, you'll be living ina Buddhist temple for 24 hours and live just like the monks do. You get to join in the meditations, help with shores, go to bed at 9 pm and wake up at 4 am to meditate again and have a tea ceremony with the head monk.
Day 13:
After finishing the temple stay we'll travel to Gyeongju. Gyeongju was once the capital and now there's allot of cultural heritage still there. Gyeongju is on the UNESCO world heritage list and all buildings, even as they are new, have to be built in the original Korean style.
Day 14:
In the morning there is a bike ride to see the rice fields, in the afternoon you can go to a museum or go visit the Bulguksa-temple and Seokguram-cave just outside of Gyeongju, in this cave you can see a huge stone Buddha. In the evening you can join the tour guide for a real Emperor's meal if you want to.
Day 15:
We'll travel back from Gyeongju to Seoul by train and have the rest of the day free time. Hopefully i can go visit Namsan Tower and the Han-river which i want to see.
Day 16:
Last day, with still so much to do.
If i haven't been able yet at the start of the trip in Seoul i want to go shop for k-pop stuff, go see the building where Shinhwa Company (the k-pop group i'm fan of) is located and visit Shinhwa forest (a forest that's made true donations of the fans to commemorate Shinhwa's anniversary) at least.
In the evening we'll leave for the airport and the flight back that will leave around midnight.
Day 17:
Arriving back home halfway the afternoon after a long flight and transfer in Abu Dahbi.
Real publishing date: 10-03-2019