Come to South Korea and see the glamour of the Incheon International Airport which gives the best blend of tradition, technology and culture. This is one of the largest cities in the  world and gives you the best opportunity to witness something very real and magical.

South Korea conjures the image of Seoul in the minds of the tourists, but the country is more than just this important capital city. As you step outside the city of Seoul you would find that South Korea has more to offer than you could ever imagine. Though a small country, yet the innumerable attractions here take you to a land beyond imagination and reckoning.

Visit the Gyeongju City and enjoy this interesting place which is full of the most amazing burial mounds that are found lying scattered in the city. The Cheonmaachong mound is very famous and popular and this is where you would be able to see a replica of the Cheonmachong tomb too. This city has some of the most interesting sites like the national Geyonggi Museum, the Seokguram Grotto, the Iguksa temple, and the Timuli Park. At the Timuli Park you could enjoy a love carriage tour on the traditional horse. The museum at Gyeongju is one of the most enchanting constructions and belongs to the Shilla kingdom period.

Seoul is another place where you could get to see the most fascinating attractions and where you would certainly love to visit  back again. With its majestic skyscrapers and immensely tall buildings Seoul in South Korea is obviously a must see and gives you some of the major points to have a great view of the city. The Observation Tower at Seoul is another famous attraction at Seoul and it gives the most enchanting views of the entire city. The tower is located near the Namsan Mountain.

Also you can visit the Korean Folk Village which is a great place to go to get in touch with the culture and tradition of the villages in Korea. Seoul has some of the best museums where you also get to see the culture of Korean villages too.

Then you have a great market here for the tourists who love to shop for something electronic. The Yongsan Electronic Market is one of the best places where you could have the best variety of electronics in one place.

Go to the Seoraksan National Park and enjoy the natural sights here. Surely a tourist would love to explore the stunning views in the park added to the interesting sights. The Mount Seroaskan here gives some of the best views in the entire world. People normally climb to the top and there are many who take a cable ride up. The hiking enthusiasts love to come here and enjoy the interesting sights that this place has. There is a bronze statue of the Buddha and it resembles the Great Buddha of Kamakura in Japan. Some Buddhist temples are also found here and there are massive boulders that are found here. There are huge boulders called “Heundeulbawi” which are found one on top of the other rocks.

Busan is another place which is very interesting and has the best views of the majestic cliffs that are located inside the Taejongdae Park. There is an observatory here with the surroundings of the best trees.

South Korea with all these pleasures is a great place to visit with its immensely interesting travel locales.

The capital of South Korea is Seoul. The population is estimated to be 48,508,972. The spoken language of the inhabitants is Korean. English is being taught predominantly in schools. Christianity, Protestantism, Confucianism, and Buddhism are the major religions. Shamanism or traditional spirit worship and Chondokyo or the Religion of the Heavenly Way are also practiced.

The coastline of South Korea comprises 6,228 km. There are nearly 3000 islands situated in the Yellow Sea and Korean Strait. South Korea is spread over 38000 square miles. The terrain is rugged and mountainous in nature. Arable land is few and far between.

Hallasan, a former volcano standing at 1950 meters is the highest altitude in South Korea. South Korea is also known as ‘Hermit Kingdom’ and ‘Land of the Morning Calm’. The climate is continental in nature with hot and humid summers. The winters are cold and dry. Seoul, Pusan, Taegu, Inchan, and Kwangju are the major towns of the country. Seoul is the second-largest metropolitan city in the world.

The national anthem of the country is Aegukka or the Song of Love of Country. The anthem was adopted in August, 1948. There are several Chinese cognates that operational in Korean language. Nearly 1300 Chinese characters are used in Korean.

South Korea is a leading economy of the world, with a penchant for technology. Its economy is third-largest in Asia. The fishing industry is well developed. Nearly 63 daily newspapers are in circulation.

The culture of South Korea is unique. The eldest of the family is treated as the wisest. They are authorized to make the most important decisions. Before entering a Korean home, you need to take off your shoes.

The first night of the New Year sees the inhabitants hide their shoes. This practice has been followed because there is a lot of belief in ghosts. The ghosts are seen as an evil omen.

Korean architecture is heavily influenced by the Chinese. Taekwondo, a martial art, has its origins in Korea.

South Korea has an impressive history of more than 5000 years. These were some of the facts about South Korea.

The island is a home of the Natural World Heritage Site which is acknowledged as the Jeju Volcanic Island as well as the Lava Tubes.

History

Previous to the Japanese capture of the island in the year 1910, the place was by and large recognized as Quelpart to the various Europeans. The name “Quelpart” in fact is derived the foremost ship that arrived to the island from Europe, as to locate the island, the Dutch “Quelpaert”, which located it subsequent to be waft off route on its way back to the Dutch buisness base located in Nagasaki, in the country of Japan, all across the region of Taiwan (at that time the Dutch protectorate of Formosa).

As soon as Korea was taken over by Japan in the year 1910, Jeju after that became branded as Saishū, which is the Japanese translation of the hanja that was to be used for Jeju.

Before the year 2000, at the time when the Seoul management had decided to change the official Romanization of Hangul, the island of Jeju-do was spelled as Cheju-do. More or less all on paper orientation to the island earlier to that used to exercise that spelling.

Geography

Jeju Island is basically a volcanic island. It is subjugated by Halla-san commonly known as the Halla Mountain. The mountain is a volcano. The height of the mountain is 1,950 m high and it is regarded as the tallest mountain in entire region of South Korea.

The island was formed completely from the volcanic outbreak that took place roughly around 2 million years in the past. At some stage in the time age from the Tertiary to the commencement of the Quaternary era, and was comprised mostly of lava and the basalt. The explosions took place in the Cenozoic period. It has a moist subtropical type of weather; it is quite warmer than that of the remaining parts of Korea, with 4 major discrete seasons. Winters are very much breezy and desiccated while summers are burning, damp, and every now and then rainy.

The Crater Lake located in the region is the lone natural lake in the entire region of South Korea.

Around 224 sq km of area of the Jeju Island is identified as the Gotjawal Forest. This region has been left untouched in anticipation of the early 21st century. The forest is located at the pedestal of Lava. The location of the forest makes it complicated to expand the area for agricultural purposes. For the reason that this forest was left untouched for an extended time, it has an only one of its kind natural balance. The forest is the most important resource of groundwater, the major water resource for the 1/2 millon citizens of the island, for the reason that the rainwater make a way into the groundwater directly aquifer in the course of the cracks of the Lava underneath this forest. Gotjawal forest is well thought-out a globally significant marshland beneath the Ramsar Convention by a number of researchers, for the reason that it is the home of exclusive species of vegetation and is the most important source of water for the inhabitants, even though to date it has not been confirmed a Ramsar site.

Administrative divisions

In anticipation of the year 2005, Jeju district was separated into 2 cities commoly identified as si, namely Jeju as well as Seogwipo, and 2 counties commonly known as gun, namely Bukjeju (located in North Jeju) and Namjeju (located in South Jeju) correspondingly. The 2 cities were additional alienated into 32 neighbourhoods acknowledged as dong, while the 2 counties were seperated into 7 towns recognized as eup and also 5 districts commonly known as the myeon. The 7 towns as well as 5 districts were in turn separated into 551 different village’s comomly known as ri.

In the year 2005, Jeju inhabitants accepted, by referendum, a suggestion to come together with the Bukjeju County hooked on the Jeju City, and also the country of Namjeju County hooked on the Seogwipo City. Effectual 1 July 2006, the region was also again named as Jeju unique self-governing Province with 2 ostensible sections namely Jeju as well as the Seogwipo city. In totaling to alterations in the name, the region has been agreed to a widespread managerial authority that has been set aside for the fundamental government. This is division of strategy to generate the Jeju into a “Free International City”.

Traditional food

Gamgyul is a category of orange. Black pig is slenderness on the island. Black pigs are celebrated for their black coat and their animal protein for its rubbery consistency. The animal protein is fibrous and nourishing, but does not have the exceptional stink of pork. Black pigs other distinguished features are their extended faces, slender snouts and little ears that plunk up.

Myth and Legend

SeulMunDae HalMang is very well-known legend in Jeju. Each and every one who subsists in jeju completely identifies her. SeulMunDae HalMang have arrived to Jeju all the way from “Sung San Ill Chul Bong” with a lone foot to Guan Tal island at “Ae weol” with jointly foot on the road to Mt. Halla. She was physically powerful. So, she makes up to the Mt.Halla with 7 of spading upbeat the ground. It is believed that she had almost 500 children. One day, she was preparing soups for her sons and was drowned to decease in the burning pot despite the fact that her sons were out hunting. After they over and done with the hunting they felt famished and had the soup. But they were unaware of the fact that their mother had lost her life in the soup. Nn the other hand the youngest son was the one who knew what all happened. Later he told the reality to the other family members. All of her 500 children cried till the time they turn into 500 stones.

Tourism

Tourism orders a large portion of Jeju’s financial system. Jeju’s moderate climate, natural landscapes, and various beaches make it a fashionable tourist’s site for national as well as a number of international visitors. The most admired tourist destinations on the island are Cheonjeyeon as well as the Cheonjiyeon waterfalls, and also Mt Halla, also the Hyeobje cave, and the Hyeongje Island. There is a diversity of relaxation games that tourists can take piece in Jeju which includes golf, as well as horse riding, hunting, and also fishing and also mountain climbing. According to the various seasons, Jeju hosts a number of festivals for its visitors. The celebration includes a penguin swimming competition which is held in the winter season, cherry flourish festival which takes place in the spring season, the mid-summer night seashore festival in the summer season, and also Jeju horse festival which is celebrated in the season of autumn, amongst others. For the majority tourists, travel to and from the island is mostly taken in the course of Jeju International Airport and transportation inside the island by hire cars. A number of local goods are fashionable to the various tourists; comprising Jeju’s unique tile fish as well as the mandarin oranges, sideways from memento as well as duty-free shopping.

Jeju was selected as one of the 28 finalists for the New 7 Wonders of Nature.

The various tourist attractions in the regions are mentioned below:-

• Hallim Park

• Fire Festival
• Olle
• Manjanggul
• Sangbangsan
• Sangumburi Crater
• Jeongbang Waterfall

Busan was the area in the Three Kingdoms of Korea it was proved from grave goods found in the mounded burials at Bokcheon-dong. Yeonje-gu and Dongnae-gu are the two areas on the ridge where the burial of Bokcheon-dong was built. More than 250 iron weapons and ingots were found from Burial no. 38 which is a wooden chamber at Bokcheon-dong was found by the modern Archeologists. The city of Busan was treated as trading port by the Korean government from the fifteenth century. It was treated as trading port for Japan. The Japanese settlement in Ulsan and Jinhae were decreased later but the settlement of Busan which was called as Waegwan continued up till the invasion of Korea and Japan in 1592. Japan was established in the year 1607 and the Waegwan was reconstructed and Korea was exposed to negotiation in the year 1876 and it became the first international port and city in Korea.

When Japanese were ruling the city of Busan it was treated as trading port and was the only city with steam tramway before the electricity was introduced in Korea in the year 1924. Busan was treated as refugee camp during the Korean War as being the city along with Jeju City which was not attacked by the North Korean Communists. During the Korean War it was one of the areas which remained under the control of South Korea and remained the temporary Capital of Republic of Korea for sometime.  Pusan Perimeter was built by UN troops for defensive purposes in the year 1950 from that year it acted as a major metropolis after Seoul. There are many parks, beaches and resorts in Busan Geumjeongsan in the west is the hiking spot, and the beautiful Beomeosa is the Korean Buddhist temple. The area of Dongnae-gu is one of the wealthy and traditional areas. There is a shrine for soldiers who died in the battle against Japanese Dongnae Fortress in the sixteenth century. There are six beaches in Busan which are very attractive and most visited in summer season. All the beaches are unique and well known in their own way.

Seasons in Busan

It is located on the south eastern tip of Korean peninsula and has in seasonal winds as it comes under mid latitude temperate zone. People visit here throughout the year because every season brings beautiful scenery and weather is nice all around the year. The weather is mild than inland and northern areas. The spring season starts from early March to end of June. Summer starts from end of June to early September. From September to end of November the climate is nice and cool because of high atmospheric pressure. Winter starts by November until February.

How to get in Busan

Gimhae International Airport is located in Busan and is the 19th largest airport in Asia. It is domestic as well as International airport. Korean Airlines, Asiana Airlines are the domestic airlines. There are many international airlines which are connected with this airport. Air China, China Eastern Airlines, Korean Airlines, Asiana Airlines, and TransAsia Airways etc many other are connected with Gimhae International Airport. There are local buses, country buses and airport buses in Busan. Local buses will provide you transportation in city and late night tours even from outside Busan. Taxis are also easily available while subways are also well connected from all the parts. Railways are connected with KTX trains from all parts of the city.  Transportation here is excellent with good frequency.

Accommodation in Busan

Hotels, motels, apartments, lodges, guests houses etc all are available, accommodation here provides all the required facilities for the tourists. From five stars to two stars hotels to lodges all are easily available from mid budget to high budget. These hotels also provide transport facilities to the tourists. However pre booking is not necessary during the low seasons and online booking is also available for the tourists those who want to get discounts and to avoid unnecessary problems. The accommodation here is vast with chains of hotels.

Festivals and places to visit

Busan city is stated as a place of global hub city of visual culture with the Pusan International Film Festival which is one of the most significant and influential film festivals in Asia. Film and Media industry is the major sector to boost the Busan economy. It is rich in infrastructure for its art movies. Asian Film Market, Busan International Kids Film Festival, Busan Asian Short Film Festival etc. there are many more festivals which are organized here in this city with crowd from all around the globe.

While the visiting places includes shrines, beaches, historical places, temples, and museums.

• Imrang Beach
• Dadaepo Beach
• Ilgwang Beach
• Gwangalli Beach
• Bromeosa Temple
• Chaungnyeolsa Shrine
• Samgwangsa Temple
• Busan Museum
• Bokcheon Museum
• Busan Modern History Museum
• Busan Museum of Modern Art

Busan is the city of art, entertainment, culture and much more to explore here. The metropolitan city of Busan is also called as “The City of Tomorrow”. The extraordinary nightlife at bars, pubs, and restaurants are of worth surveillance. It is the mixture of metropolitan city which is great destination for you and your family.

The most important part to trip is the mountain is the entrance of the National park. It is fifteen minutes away from Seokcho city. The thriving Yukdam and Biryeong waterfalls can be found on the left side of the valley and it forty minutes away from the car parking area. You will see an exclusive rock formation in the National Park known as Ulsanbawi. There are plenty number of rocks to reach you has to do hiking and climbing of around 800 to 900 steps. There are two temples and a spare shaped rock known as Heundeulbawi and is located on top of the larger rock. Heundeulbawi rock is 5 meters high where many people have taken efforts to move this rock but every one failed. It was said that Ulsanbawi came from south east of Korea from the city named Ulasn. When the time Kumgangsan Mountain was built, the Ulsanbawi came from Ulasn to represent his city. But regrettably reach late and there no room to stay. So started to move towards south and went to sleep in the Seorak area and felt very beautiful and stayed there for ever. There is a rock platform in the stream at the end of the main valley which is known as Biseondae. The clear views of surroundings can be seen from the cave above the stream but it is difficult to reach there. The Seorak Valley was named after the formation of rocks near the Buddha statues. The big Buddha statue is located at the entrance of the national park.

Seoraksan Mountain looks like a classic Korean painting which includes weather beating mountains, waterfalls, natural scenes etc. This mountain is not a lone peak they are series of peaks which lies in the middle of Taebaeksan range and are spreader from north to south of Korean peninsula. This amazing mountain has many names which are Snow Peak Mountain, Mt. Seolbongsan, Mt. Seolsan, and Snow Rock Mountain. The terrific beauty of winter gives it a snowy appearance throughout the year. The mountain has plenty of attractive forests with a mix of broad leaved alpine plants near the high mountain ridges. It is the habitat of immense number of animals and plants. Asian Black Bear, mountain goat, musk deer, sable and antelope are among the 25 species of mammals and the variety of plants goes up till 939. There are about 90 species of birds, 360 species of insects, 11 species of reptiles and 40 different species of fresh water fishes are habitats of the National Park. The park is the important area of ecological standpoint. There are many museums and art galleries in South Korea which are of National pride.

Time to visit

Autumn is the best season to visit Seoraksan National park. It makes the area of colorful. The autumn is considered the best time to visit this most beautiful place in Korea. The red, yellow and green colors with the coverage of white snow give you a blissful experience. While in spring season you will see the shades of pink, purple, white, and yellow with different flowers. Every season has its own colors for this mountain you will see the thundering waterfalls in winter with snow covered.

Reach South Korea

You can easily travel in South Korea as it is a compact city with good transport. The big cities like Seoul have many subways connecting with each other. The transport here is cheap traveling in bus is more convenient for the tourists. South Korea is small connecting with island of Jeju. Domestic airlines include Korean Air, Jeju Air, Hansung Airlines; these air carriers’ offers daily flights with low fares. Korail is the National train operator connected with major cities. These trains are very comfortable but the network is still limited to the rural services. Busses are very frequent connecting all the major cities and bus network is the main mode of transport with cheap rates. You will easily get visa at the arrival on airport and valid for 30 to 90 days. The currency of Korea is won (KRW) which is 2.6 won is equal to 1$ how ever there are fluctuations in rates.

Where to stay

South Korea is full of large and small hotels and is easily available. These hotels also provide transport facilities for the tourists to visit the beautiful sites of South Korea. There are many bars and pubs in South Korea those who want to enjoy the night life. The hotels in South Korea provide all the facilities from luxurious rooms to play parks for children. The rates are dependent on the choice of hotel. There are high rates of accommodation at the places which are near to sites and these hotels may sometimes require pre bookings in the peak seasons.

Other Destinations

Andong- Historical place

Guinsa- Buddhist Cheondae Sector

Panmunjeom- World War tourist site

Boseong- Rolling hills

Yeosu- Picturesque Port city

A holiday in South Korea and its admired destinations will make fascinated. The history is captured in museums while the nature can be seen on the mountains and parks. South Korea is a place of adventure, sight seeing and many more activities.

History

It is said that earlier in 802 AD the monks Ijeong as well as monks Suneung were the first inhabitants of Haeinsa. The monks were earlier living in China.The name of the temple stands for the Buddha’s wisdom which is considered as a calm sea. The temple is supposed to be the place where the mind which is full of wordly follies as well as desires achieves the calmness.

An appreciative King Aejang king ordered the construction of the temple as his way to thank the monks who had restored his wife to health. The king’s wife was suffering from tumor. An age-old tale says that the monk had tied one end of the thread to a tree and another to the queen’s tumor and started the chanting of the Buddhist cantos. Astoundingly, the tumor was gone astray as the tree emaciated and died.

During the 13th century which was nearly after many years Korea was having a battle with the Mongols. The Korean government was held in expel on the island of Ganghwa. They ordered a copy of the temple to be made as to have the intervention of Buddha during the battle time. As a result Tripitaka Koreana was been constructed, as of now it is considered as one of the best copy of the temple in Asia. The wooden blocks used in the construction of the temple are traditionally made. They are made up of a white colored birch later then are soaked in sea water and later boiled in the sea water for nearly three years also they are kept in shade for drying for the next three years.

A huge fire took place in Haeinsa in the year 1817. In this fire mostly all the wooden temples as well as buildings were destroyed. The Tripitaka library which is located in the back of the temple was successful in escaping the fire. The library was been created in the year 1488. During the dynasty of Joseon dynasty that was in the year 1818, the main hall of worship was been reconstructed. The original foundation which was laid by the two monks was used for the later constructions.

The library halls as well as the woodblocks of the building were declared as the Korean national treasure in the year 1962. Also in year 1995 the building was declared as the World Heritage Site by UNESCO.

The monks of Haeinsa were introduced to the computer era in the early 20th century. All the information of the Tripitaka Koreana was transformed to an electronic form which was started from the year 1992 and was completed by 1994. The old days text is now saved in CD-ROM also the monks have a plan of translating the text into other languages.

What to See

Haeinsa’s splendid Tripitaka comprises of around 52,382,960 traditional Chinese typescripts which are being carved on around 81,258 two-sided wooden blocks whose volume is around 6,802.

The Janggyeong Panjeon construction is outstanding in itself. It is used as the storeroom for the various artifacts as well as numerous exhibits. UNESCO describes the structure as “remarkably effective solutions developed in the 15th century to the problems posed by the need to preserve woodblocks against deterioration”.

Daejeokkwangjeon is the main worshipping hall. Commonly it is known as the Hall of Great Silence and Light. This hall was constructed again in the year 1818 on its old base. Strangely, it acts as a home for the Vairocana Buddha statue. The statue was been carved in the year 1769. The statue of the Vairocana Buddha is one of the 5 Celestial Buddhas. It is said that Vairocana stands for the heart of the universe. Various wall paintings that represent the Buddha’s life are painted on a wall that is located just behind the Buddha’s statue.

Getting there

Busan is the closest important city to Haeinsa. It has an airport named Busan Gimhae International Airport. From here you can reach Haeinsa by using the inter-city bus.

When to visit

The best time of the year to visit Haeinsa is from September to November.