Seoul, South Korea

I was convinced that I’d love Japan and hate South Korea. Totally had that reversed. All of the kooky things I’d heard about from Japan, from robots to panty vending made me think that it’d be the craziest place ever. My Japanese experience was actually one of relative solitude. Few and far between are the places where I’ve felt like the locals were less interested in me.

Korea was the exact opposite. Trying to sort out the Seoul public transportation system to get to my CouchSurfing host, I was approached by an old man who made it his mission to get me where I was going, then took me to Dunkin’ Donuts while we waited for me to meet up with my CS host.

MINOTAUR RECOMMENDATIONS

Attractions: Anyone in the know will tell you that the USO tour (as seen in the video) is the top-echelon tour of the DMZ. Others don’t even necessarily take you to the border. I’ve heard of people who go on a “DMZ tour” who just go to a peace park. Check out the USO South Korea Tours page.
Lifestyle: While I heard a lot of negative things about the Koreans and their xenophobia, I had nothing but good experiences with the locals.

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