The KTO scheduled a 5- day tour of South Korea for us participants to the Korea- ASEAN Tourism Partnership Program (KATPP) covering at least ten grounds and interests foremost of which are highly-recommended tourism destinations of the country starting off with the city of Seoul down to Ulsan and other ideal stops midway. This is part of a two- series FAM trips where we get to experience the various attractions of Korea and hopefully implement some of the applicable measures/ tour programs/facilities in my country.
We left early in the morning after hastily checking out of the hotel. We were to use the 18-seater KTO-supplied transport, a sturdy, comfortable and reliable coaster with a driver whom I got the impression as a serious man but lol, was actually a joyous one! No less than Ms. Hyojeong Jeon, a beautiful Assistant Manager for East Asia and the Middle East Team of the KTO served as our Tour Coordinator (To be easier for us, she gave us her Western/American name as Annabelle). We were joined by an English-speaking tour guide named Ms. Jinny ( I forgot her surname though) but she was one energetic lady.
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| KTO Coaster with the small sign KTO Fam Tour! |
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| Ms. Annabelle, our beautiful Tour Coordinator in a Silla Dynasty Costume! |
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| Miss Jinny, our Tour Guide |
We were all excited as we have no idea on what to expect. I did not have any time to check each destination online and could only base it on my few readings and on the itinerary given. Anyway, I know it will be an exciting journey and boy, I was really blown away by the different attractions I saw and experienced. We were to cover ten destinations as shown in the map below:
We were to cover the following destinations, namely:
The trip to our first stop will take us around three hours, thus I glued my eyes on the coaster window as it was a chance to see the countryside. Trees offered an attractive display of different and varying colors contrasting the beautiful landscape. Everywhere you look ushers in that autumn is the season and soon, winter time.
I soon found out that 70% of Korea are mountains and I could say it is true as evidenced by mountains from both sides of the road. Everywhere one looks, a mountain will surprise you with contrasting colors of maple red, green and yellow, truly beautiful - none of which exists in a tropical country like mine. It made me think back of the Philippines - the perception there is if it's a mountainous area, development will be hard. But here in Korea, nature did not deter them. How I wish we can do the same and change that wrong mindset.
Our first stop as it was lunch time, was as expected a Ginseng Course Meal in one of the traditional Korean Restaurant named Yaksundang. It looked like a typical house by the road but it is actually one of the recognized and accredited authentic Korean restaurants.
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| A souvenir pic taken infront of the restaurant! |
We were excited to see what will be laid on the table as this is the first time that we really are trying an authentic Korean dish and a Ginseng course meal at that. A toast for the safety of our 5-day trip was made before our lunch was served.
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| Cheers! Mabuhay! |
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| A Ginseng tea for a Starter! |
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| The 16 participants from 8 ASEAN countries! I am the fifth one standing on the right. |
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| Ginseng! |
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| Yummy and hot vegetable soup! |
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| Side dishes - all vegetables and kimchi preparations!
Now if this 12-course menu (if my memory served me right) was an indication of a truly wonderful tour, then I could say we could hardly wait for it to begin!
Now, it is past midnight so I better log off as my eyes have a will of its own - time to rest it says! Now, wait for the detailed description of each tour on a day-to-day basis on my next blogs!
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