going to korea in mid july

hello, is there anyone who knows the best parts of Kunsan, and the other turistic cities. I will be traveling to Korea for 5 days and do not know anything other than the capital. Is there anyone who could give me lots of information bout it. and how can i make it safer. Thanks! BTW, if anyone is available to help me while I am there..IT WOULD BE VERY MUCH APPRECIATED!

Your question is a very general one. Where are you arriving in the country? You mention Kunsan - are you going to the air base there? Kunsan is on the coast about 150 miles south of Seoul.

You won't be able to do much in 5 days except for the capital and one or two other places. Perhaps spend a couple of days in Seoul, and 3 days elsewhere .... Busan and Gyeongju could be combined, but you won't get a whole lot of time in each.

I suggest you get a guidebook (Lonely Planet Korea is far from the best LP guide but it does cover the main tourist attractions in Korea). Then you will be able to work out what interests YOU and build an itinerary around that.

As for personal safety, there is no need to worry. Almost all of Korea is extremely safe. The main danger is the traffic and bad driving (and watch out for scooters driving on the sidewalks!).

thank you so much for your reply! I actually am not very interested about the capital. I was actually thinking more of Busan and Gyeongju. Is there anything else in Kunsan other than the air base, i know where it is. but I was hoping to find something interesting there. If NOT, then go to the mud festival. Do you know how far from Busan would this festival be? Do korean people understand english more or less? your reply is much appreciated!! :)

I have never been to Kunsan (also spelled Gunsan) so I don't know, sorry. I don't know about the mud festival either! Not much use am I :-(

As for Koreans understanding English, the short answer is "no". Away from Seoul, I would say that the majority of people don't speak or understand any English at all. Brush up on your sign language. Learning how to read Korean doesn't take too long and is a useful skill to have (although perhaps not worth it for only a 5 day trip).

July is also the wettest month of the year in Korea with over 400mm or 16 inches of rain in many parts of the country. Having said that, there are sunny days.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gunsan

THANK YOOU SO MUCH...I WISHED THEY COULD AT LEAST SPEAK CHINESE!! WELL THANK YOU SO MUCH YOU BOTH!! I WILL WORK ON MY SIGN LANGUAGE...

Chinese is taught in the schools here, but so is English. Learn the Korean alphabet. There's only 26 consonants, & public transport around Korea is great, with busses that go everywhere & the KTX fast train service to Iksan & on to Daejeon, Daegu & Busan. Maybe you could buy a phrase book at your airport bookshop?

oh thank u so much..that sounds amazing.i will def do that..im so scared cuz i have no idea anymore..i used to speak it but now i only speak chinese.it confuses me:(

Here's an image of the Korean script for 'Motel'.

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_OLPh9dIbP8c/S1hRgYqOLzI/AAAAAAAAASw/IdX_hjFNOHk/s320/korea+036.JPG

The box or square is an 'M', & the symbol that looks like a capital 'E' in English is a 'T' (in English.) You've just learnt your first 2 consonants! Only 24 to go!

haha..very funny..i can read some stuff but dont undesrtand what i am reading :(..

Hi,

With regard to Busan and the Mud Festival, they are quite far away from each other. The festival is on the west coast, where as Busan is southeast.

To get from Busan to Boryeong you are best to get the KTX up to Daejeon, then a taxi to Seo Daejeon bus terminal and then a bus to Boryeong. I’d allow a good five hours for this trip. I’ve done it a few times and the time between Daejeon and Boryeong can vary quite dramatically depending on the bus you get and the traffic.

Hope that helps,
Elizabeth.

Hello, your info is very useful. WOULD YOU PLEASE LET ME KNOW OTHER PLACES THAT ARE WORTH SEEING.? DO YOU KNOW IF THERE IS A PLACE I CAN PUT MY BAGS BECAUSE I AM COMING FROM CHINA TO KOREA THEN THE STATES..ANY INFORMATION IS APPRECIATED... THANKS AGAIN

I live in Kunsan. Not really much to do. Not much of a nightlife and not much to see. You can hit some of the national parks on day trips, but apart from that you are in the middle of nowhere. We have the worlds largest sea-wall (noones really sure why). We also have a pizza hut. exciting.

Getting around without knowing any Korean isn't hard at all in Korea. Most westerners who live here dont speak any and they get along fine. And you can usually find someone who knows "a little."

Is there a specific reason for coming to Kunsan. Most people spell it Gunsan, in case yur interested.

We have the worlds largest sea-wall (noones really sure why)

Right, it's a total environmental disaster, that sea wall has wrecked the migratory habitat of thousands of birds including the critically endangered Spoon-billed Sandpiper.

After I posted above, I read that the town name was usually romanised as "Gunsan", but the air base prefers to use the spelling "Kunsan"? I figured that the OP has something to do with the air force base, hence the reason for being there.

OK THANKS FOR THE INFO. well i got a guide book and it also does not say much of this city. I want to go there because my family comes from this city and somewhere in Busan! anyways thanks for the info. :)

About the language problems, It is recommended that you carry any Language(you are comfortable) to Korean traveller's guide book. And unfortunately, most Korean cannot understand Chinese. Probably English is most useful foreign language in Korea but many of them hesitate to speak in English because they use broken English as myself. ^^
I say that most Koreans in their 20~30s learned more than 6 years or longer in their school years. So if you speak slowly and add some writing, most younger Koreans can help you to see around and get to any place you want to go.

Regarding romanizing Korean,
Not long ago, we usually used 'K' for 'ㄱ(the first letter)' in Kunsan(or Gunsan).
But from some years ago, we use 'G' instead of 'K' by the national policy.
So it is understandable that a lot of foreigners can find both letters to romanize the same Korean letter.
And it is same that the case of 'D/T and B/P', usually old guidebook romanize Daejeon as Taejeon(or Taejun). It is the reason that the most famous Korean film festival, PIFF(Pusan International Film Festival) use P to mean Busan. The PIFF festival was started in the year that we Korean use Pusan for Busan, now.(And personally, it sounds funny to pronounce BIFF for Busan International Film Festival.^^ reminds me some other thing instead of Film festival)

Hope that helps.

Edited by: zelkova