As we left the Imjingak area I took a rather serendipitous opportunity to deal with a nasty little issue that had arisen just prior to leaving Melbourne. With only days left in Australia the water pump had failed ( camper water pump, not van engine water pump ). No time to deal with it there and we could get by on bottled water short term, but knowing we needed a long term solution I purchased a new one while in Canada and brought it with us to Korea. I had the presence of mind to bring all the small imperial measure fittings that might also be needed, but forgot that I would need a drill to remount the replacement unit. Where to rent a drill in Korea ? Fortunately, as I knocked on the front door of the first “campground” we were to stay at, I noticed the owner had (sitting right there on a nearby counter ) just what I needed! The inclusion of a loaned power drill made the steep campground fee bearable and within a few hours I had the old pump removed and the new one installed – bingo, we had running water again. Pure bliss, and a good start to another week in Korea.
Our first formal Korean campground ( well, perhaps “formal” is a stretch ). We were alone there, too early in the season for most Koreans. Hey, the owner had a drill, which I desperately needed, so we stayed.There, to my left as I walked inside to pay the campground owner, among a slew of other tools, was an old ( but still working ) drill.….and once it was all done, we had running water again.
Folly that we might think just by leaving the Imjingak and Gangwha Island area we’d be done with the heavy South Korean military presence. In fact, as we headed east towards Sokcho ( on the coast ) we saw more military vehicles, more military installations, heard more military jets and saw more military “devices” than we had back nearer to Seoul. On reflection, this should not have been surprising. Although only at certain points were we again close to the border with North Korea, there are of course many points along the northern frontier that a possible invasion might come from ( as was seen in 1950 ); to that end the South lives in a state of constant readiness. Troops, both US and ROK, are based in various camps in the area and all civil infrastructure is designed in such a way to quickly thwart the progress of any North Korean aggression – a few images below will explain that ( pretty clever, the South Koreans ! ):
At random points near the N. Korean border, large concrete blocks are balanced on the roadside, usually on both sides, ready to be deliberately collapsed onto the road. A small explosive charge is all that is required to destroy the supporting “legs” and hence make the road impassible.We passed countless military vehicles like this, and many tanks.
Our travels east took us on a bit of a zig zag route (generally avoiding freeways) through the pretty lakeside city of Chuncheon, Hwacheon, the incredibly circuitous ( but very scenic ) route to the Peace Dam Park and on, eventually, to Soeraksan National Park, our next major destination.
The Peace Dam was constructed solely to prevent South Korea being destroyed by an accidental ( or deliberate ) flood created by a dam breach on the North Korean side of the border.The base of the dam is massive and designed to stop a deluge from the North.We were able to ring the Peace Bell,( made from old shells and casings from past conflicts around the world ).The bell is missing one tiny piece – it will be added when Korea reunifies.Saw some of the fullest cherry blossoms on a lakeside walk in Chuncheon.Ditto.Saw this “campsite” in Chuncheon and asked about staying….….turned out their focus was on selling “glamping” ( for a couple of nights – or more- in an on-site upmarket tent ). We would come across this kind of camp site quite often. They were not interested in us parking on site !
Soeraksan is one of Korea’s top national parks and stunning in its landscape – neither Lois or I expected mountains this high, this rocky, nor ( so late in the year ) to still be snow-capped ! A very pleasant surprise. Sadly, what was not a pleasant surprise were more “Public Alerts” on our phone addressing the poor air quality ( blamed on particulate matter from Chinese factories just across the West sea ) which left otherwise beautiful days with a blue-ish haze; not conducive to good photography, unfortunately. This would follow us for the next few days. We actually spent a couple of nights at Soeraksan and got in some lengthy ( well, lengthy for us ! ) hikes and a spectacular gondola view. Two weeks later and the cherry blossoms would have made it even nicer ( more of that down south we hope ) but we were just a bit early for that this far north and this high.
First views of Soeraksan NP. Surprised to see snow.Mountains, Soeraksan NP..A cable car / gondola made for a speedy ascent.Views from here were wonderful.Selfie, Soeraksan NP.Sheer rock face, Soeraksan N P.
Statue of Buddha, Soeraksan N P.
While in the Sokcho/Soeraksan area we had finally made a couple of important ( to us ) discoveries. First, we discovered a Korean laundromat ( we’d been struggling to find one ! ) and second, we realized that “HomePlus” was in fact a giant Korean grocery store ( which we also desperately needed ) and not ( as we had assumed ) a Korean version of Home Depot ( a large North American hardware store ). Now we could both wash our clothes and, finally, stock up on life’s little luxuries. The selections at HomePlus were indeed impressive.
After getting by with 7/11 type convenience stores we finally stumbled upon a “real” grocery store. Heaven !Been to a lot of laundromats in our travels, never to one that had a special machine for washing shoes ( and a shoe drying machine beside it ) ! Sokcho, Korea.
Beyond the attractions up north, there was a geographical gap (further south ) to the next areas of interest to us. Korean’s we’d met encouraged us to fill that with further exploration of more of their excellent National Parks. Beyond Soeraksan we travelled to and hiked in Chiaksan NP, and took a rather twisty, circuitous and very narrow road around Korea’s largest lake, Chungko, which delivered us some of the best cherry blossom viewing on the trip so far.
Lois, Chiaksan NP.Chiaksan NP.
Further south, through Danyang, a popular tourist area for Korean’s, we made a couple of pit stops to check out at least a few of Danyang’s famous “8 views”. These were less than notable, and we were glad we’d not detoured too significantly to take in these “attractions”. If they were a bit underwhelming, the UNESCO recognized Hahoe Folk Village in nearby Andong definitely was not. A very well preserved traditional Korean village with buildings dating to the 1500’s, it was very impressive. Very authentic ( and still lived in ) it was also surrounded by some of the best cherry blossoms we’d seen in Korea so far. Only after we’d almost completed our visit here did we realize that no less than HRH Queen Elizabeth herself had visited in 1999 !
Us, walking the cherry blossom pathway, Hahoe village, Andong.View across rice field and cherry blossoms to traditional Korean village, Andong.Hahoe Village, Andong.Hahoe Village, Andong. Dodamsambong, ( 3 Peak Island ), supposedly representing the typical love triangle of ancient Korea ( husband, wife and mistress )Sainam cliff, Danyang.
I’ll close with a few important learnings from this past week on the road here ( seems there is some tip or trick we pick up almost every day ! ):
Expressway rest stops serve two other useful purposes ( in addition to offering fuel): a) a place to get rid of rubbish ( rubbish bins being VERY scarce in Korea ), and b) a place to park up for the night when all else fails ( they’ve saved us once already ! ).
This is where we usually have to go to dump our garbage bags ( expressway rest stops ). It is very difficult to dispose of rubbish in Korea.Typical highway rest area, this one near Danyang. A safe park-up when nothing else is available.
2. The country has more tunnels than any other we have ever visited ( and yes, we’ve been to Switzerland ! )
3. Almost all car washes in Korea are those low clearance automatic ones – we looked long and hard to find a high clearance hand held spray wash ( and still only just made it underneath ). Ten days in the country before we found one like this.
4. We’ve accepted that we’ll never figure out how to get a Korean toll payment machine to accept our credit card ( or even cash ! ). Wait long enough, though and one of these ever helpful toll collectors will come out of the toll booth and help us out !!!!
5. And, finally, we realized there ARE other campervans in Korea ( many people had us believe we’d be the only ones ). Here, two others parked beside us at Soeraksan and below a few more we saw free camping in a municipally designated free camping area near Imjingak. That said we’ve yet to meet anyone else who brought their rig in – Lois and I have a bet going, I say we’ll see at least one, she thinks not. Who’ll win….?
Here, we’re parked up at Soeraksan, wedged in between a couple of Korean “camping cars”.Korean campers, roadside designated camping area, near Imjingak. Still not mainstream in Korea but catching on.
As our first few days in Korea wrapped up we were feeling optimistic about next steps – namely, getting to Pyeongtaek port and arranging to collect our van. Separated for almost 7 weeks, we were anxious to be reunited with our rig. Staying in downtown Seoul hotels was a nice change of course, but there is nothing like having your own wheels – and bed, and kitchen, and bathroom, and sofa and…..basically, all your stuff in one place ! We had missed that.
Prior to heading down to Pyeongtaek with JB from YCL Logistics, we still had some more sightseeing to do in Seoul. This thriving city of over 10,000,000 is Korea’s economic and cultural hub and offers much to the visitor. Imperial Palaces, famous markets, great restaurants, home of “K-pop”, one of Asia’s hippest suburbs, an amazing War Museum and a truly vibrant downtown. Connecting it all is one of the best, fastest, cleanest and most affordable subway systems we’ve seen anywhere. Especially notable was the lack of graffiti and the fact that the subway information was always posted in 4 languages ( Korean, English, Japanese and Chinese) – there are not many places where you see that and just another great example of the lengths Korean’s go to in order to make navigating this huge city as easy as possible for all visitors. We also found the Korean people to be incredibly friendly – more than once people actually approached us ( when we were staring blankly at maps ! ) to offer assistance. Safe to say that Seoul left a great impression on us and had us hankering to see more of the country.
Street near our hotel. Street name in English, Korean, Japanese and Chinese.Meticulously clean Seoul subway – seen here at a quiet time of day !Must say, this was a first : our hotel in Seoul ( room was on the 3rd floor ) offered a “ Life Line”. Upon opening the box it was a nylon rope you could use to exit via the window in case of fire. Luckily we had no need to use it !Wander the backstreets and you occasionally find a gem. This local restaurant offered the best prosciutto pizza we had eaten in ages.Always nice to get a good “foodie” surprise.Throughout the museum the Koreans go to great lengths to recognize the support of all UN nations who supported the South against the North Korean invasion.One is left in no doubt as to who the “bad guys” were.The museum has Douglas MacArthur’s famous old corn pipe.One of the greatest planes of WW2, the P51 Mustang saw lots of action in Korea.This was touching. A monument at the Korean War Memorial depicting two brothers, separated when the Korean peninsula was divided, leaving one fighting for the North and for the South. They actually met on the battlefield. Monument depicting the split of Korea and the hope that one day the Korean people will see their country unified.General Yi Sun-Shin.King Sejong, Seoul. A revered leader, King Sejong is credited with developing the Hangul alphabet which Koreans now use. Previously they used Chinese charactersNational Museum of Korea – ornate royal garment.Gyeongbokgung Palace, SeoulGyeongbokgung Palace, SeoulModern art, downtown Seoul.First we found Gangnam station……..…..not far away we found Psy !Gangnam – hippest part of town in Seoul. Can’t beat Gangnam Style !
I’ll leave the full “blow by blow” blog of vehicle importation steps in Korea till we leave and merge that with the steps for exporting the vehicle. Putting it all in one place and tagging it appropriately will make it accessible via a general Google search to those that follow us in Korea and wish to see what’s involved. It’s absolutely invaluable to have a current example of what the process looks like. But, more on that in a few weeks.
JB Chang escorted us to the Port of Pyeongtaek and after some minimal signatures, ID checks, and a short wait we walked through the gate to see our van. All alone, covered in a light coating of dust, but otherwise in perfect shape ! The inside was still quite clean (we’d left it sparkling ), things appeared in order and, most importantly, no one had tampered with the Slicklock on our rear doors, which secured them closed. That was a good omen, because in all likelihood everything that we had stored inside the garage area of the van was likely to still be there. Using a key that only I had, the Slicklock was opened, and there before me was everything neatly stacked just as we left in the Melbourne . I can’t overstate what a huge relief that was given that we had seen some serious theft from both previous RoRo passages. No need to fight with insurance companies, no need to pay large excess/deductibles, and most importantly, no need to be living without critical items that are not easily replaceable on the road ! I gave Lois a big high 5 as I drove through the gates to pick her up – she was waiting just outside. A very nice start to our road travels in Korea!
JB drove us from Seoul to Pyeongtaek in his own car, a very nice new BMW.Pyeongtaek International RoRo Terminal ( PIRT ) through which our van was unloaded ( Photo courtesy P.I.R.T. ).Thank you, JB !Out of the port, first step was to fill the van with diesel. Hmmmm, how to distinguish between the diesel pump and the gasoline/petrol pump when everything was written in Korean. No room for error there…!
We had driven a couple of hours south of Seoul to pick up the vehicle and now we would begin our planned route around the country. Step one was to get out of Pyeongtaek and find a rest stop for the night ( it was getting late ) and step two was to head into the city of Incheon where I had really been looking forward to visiting the Memorial Museum of the Incheon Landing ( sort of a Korean War “D Day” equivalent – in WW2 terms ).
First lesson learned in Korea ( which came as little surprise ) – there aren’t many formal campsites here (in the Western sense) so we knew we would be relying on tips from those that went before us who had documented their rest stops on the trusty iOverlander app. A quick glance at the whole country map revealed that there certainly were not very many of these and most of those were three or four years old (hence, probably of dubious relevance today). Furthermore ( as we would soon discover ), of the few campsites that did exist, many were closed because it was not yet high season. Finding a place to stay each might require more creativity than we thought……
Thanks to notes from a lady who last stayed here way back in 2019 we found the parking lot where she rested, near a Catholic Church, not far north of Pyeongtaek. It was late, and we were tired; “any port in a storm”, as they say.
The second lesson came in Incheon. As big and congested as the city is we did not find driving there to be difficult but it certainly helped that JB had tipped us off to some of the unique Korean driving rules. We found the Incheon Landing Memorial with no drama at all but got the shock of our lives when we saw the parking lot. While a memorial like that in most western countries would have a large parking lot for cars and tourist buses, we could see no such provision here, and with the extremely narrow lanes and tight corners, there was obviously no way I was going to navigate a 7m van through the place. Worse, there was absolutely nowhere, within a reasonable distance, where I could park our vehicle. A full hour after trying, we just threw in the towel and headed on out of the city. Note to self – sometimes it might be easier to park on the outskirts and take the subway in to the centre of town !!!
Having wrapped up our sightseeing in Seoul before leaving to get the van in Pyeongtaek, our aim for the rest of the week was to explore the areas north west and just north of Seoul, all of which closely bordered North Korea. From past personal experience, and recent updates from other travellers, we knew there were a couple of great spots for getting as close as possible and thus having a birds-eye view into the Hermit Kingdom. One thing we knew we would not be doing, somewhat sadly, was re-visiting the “truce village“ of Panmunjom. We’d luckily visited it back in the mid ‘80’s but tourist visits were now suspended after an off-duty US soldier dashed across to the North during a tour of the DMZ back in 2023. Over the next few days we travelled to Gangwha Island ( west of Seoul), the Imjingak/Panmunjom area (to the north), and finally the Odusan Memorial Tower – all provided interesting access points and/or harrowing tales of life in North Korea as well as showing the immeasurable pain and suffering caused by the conflict.
Blue dot shows where we visited/stayed on Gangwha Island. The Han River is just 1.8 km wide here.Access to this area is tightly controlled – here, a passport check with a Korean Marine.The 60x binoculars provided a clear image across the river. Easy to see people walking in the fields.On Gangwha Island we met Ahrum, a Korean lady who owned the restaurant at the viewpoint and who gave us some great travel advice (and served up delicious Korean food). She’d lived for 5 years in Canada.Military checkpoint on Gangwha Island. They allowed us to park up nearby for the night. If nothing else it was secure !Parked up for the night at a military checkpoint, one of the stranger places we have camped on the road !Display from the Korean War at the Greaves Museum, Imjingak. Showing the actual demarcation between the Korea’s.One of the saddest displays at the Greaves Museum. A letter from a 16 year student soldier to his mother just before he died in the war. I had no idea so many of that age were involved.Odusan Memorial Tower display of statements from North Korean defectors. It lists examples of the North’s many breaches of the UN Declaration of Basic Human Rights.
Another telescopic viewpoint of the North at Odusan.
We really enjoyed our time along the border with the North.Of the several locations one can visit, we most enjoyed the experience on Ganghwa Island. Quiet, relaxed, far less touristy and yet provided an excellent opportunity to look over the Han River to what goes on in the North. On a sadder note, the Odusan Reunification Tower, while providing probably the closest visual perspective, also provided some rather grizzly examples of what life is like in the North via first hand accounts of recent defectors. We seriously have no idea how lucky we are if we live in any free, Western democratic society.
Our exploration of the North Korean border region complete, we’ll next head east towards some of Korea’s great national parks and northern coastal regions. Stay tuned.
All good things come to an end, as they say, and so it was with our return visit to Canada. After 5 wonderful weeks at home in Kelowna ( while our van transited from Melbourne, Australia up to North East Asia ) it was finally time to re-pack the bags, bid a sad farewell to our kids and new grand-daughter, and head to the airport. The 6.00am departure from Kelowna, though, made for a god-awful early start !
Our grand daughter seemed to enjoy having us back !….and it was so hard to say goodbye to her !
When we left Melbourne back in mid-February I know I left things a little “cryptic” as to where our van was actually headed – so, now for the reveal. By the time this blog is distributed, our van should have been unloaded at the Port of Pyeongtaek, just south of Seoul, in South Korea. Obviously, we are now here to meet it, and to get here we flew from our home in Kelowna, to Vancouver ( 1 hour ) and then from Vancouver on to Incheon ( Seoul ), an almost 10 hour flight. Exhausting, certainly, but as I type this we are finally in Seoul…!
Flights to Asia almost all leave Vancouver late at night. Ours was a daytime flight which made it a bit harder to sleep so the jet lag was worse when we arrived.Our route to Seoul, over Alaska and Russia’s Kamchatka Peninsula.
Ok, I know you’re asking – why Korea ? Indeed (insofar as vehicle-based overland travellers go), Korea is certainly not a common destination. It is, after all, a very small country, and most definitely always a “ship-in” option ( the only land route, in or out, has been rather firmly closed for almost 71 years !). Being a major vehicle producer itself and increasingly affluent, South Korea offers great RoRo shipping options and is a major transit point for vehicle traffic from Australia to either Europe or North America, and ( equally importantly ) is only a short vehicle ferry ride to Japan, Russia and China when it comes to onwards travel. Given the current global status of Russia, we certainly won’t be heading that way, and while China is also a possible option it’s not our priority just now. So, following our time in Korea, and all going well here, it’s our plan to travel ( via ferry) on to Japan next.
The shipping route to North Asia through the South China Sea is one of the busiest shipping lanes in the world. Here, our ship ( the Arc Commitment ) en route, from Melbourne, to Fremantle, Singapore, Bangkok, Kunsan, and Pyeongtaek – about 30 days.
The whole Asia decision itself was actually a bit of a toss up. As it always does, weather at various destinations played an important part in the decision. We had looked at shipping to Europe directly but with the Red Sea situation forcing shipping detours via South Africa, that passage was long – very long in fact, meaning we’d miss some of the optimal weather by the time we got to Europe. The transit to Asia was less than a month by comparison and we’d arrive in what should be optimal conditions there ( here’s hoping anyway ! ). While Korea is not top of most overlanders’ bucket list there have been a number of people we follow who’ve made the effort in the past few years and all their accounts were the same – just go for it ! Thanks especially to the folks at Landcruising Adventures, Tread The Globe, and VanDeViaje for inspiring blog, YouTube and Instagram accounts of their vehicle travel in Korea, your tips and recommendations were invaluable. Hopefully we can “pay it forward” for others by sharing our own experiences.
The Kelowna – Vancouver – Seoul flight was uneventful and in fact, arrived a bit early. The time made up in the air, however, soon got gobbled up in the inordinately long immigration line-up. Still, it was friendly enough and once we got through, purchased a Korean SIM card right away and took the airport bus on into Seoul’s downtown. Funny, only because we were tracking the route on Naver ( Korea’s version of Google Maps ) did we realize just how close Seoul is to the North Korean border ( a bit alarming when you think of it ! ). In places, barely 50kms.
Like everyone else, first stop at Seoul airport was a Korean SIM card. One can’t function in modern Korea unless one is “connected” since everything is touch or tap with a phone.Everyone, and I mean EVERYONE a in Korea has a phone so “Public Alerts” are common. This one only an hour after we got the SIM card. Fortunately, not an air “raid” warning but just an air “quality” warning in this case !
Settled in to the new time zone after a good nights rest, first order of business in Seoul was to meet our Korean shipping agents ( YCL ) , complete some customs forms, and plan for the vehicle collection. We already knew from the Wallenius Track and Trace system that our vessel had just arrived in Pyeongtaek port ( one day early, in fact ! ). I cannot say enough about these good folks, we were simply dazzled by their incredibly warm welcome – from the time we were picked up by James at our hotel till we left them a few hours later, they went way beyond our expectations – it certainly helped a great deal in what is always a stressful situation. We still have the vehicle to collect, of course, but so far so good. I’ll let the following pictures tell the story of their amazing hospitality ( I will, as always, do a full review of the shipping process next week ).
Our shipping line, Wallenius Wilhelmsen, provide a Track and Trace service so you can follow the ship’s progress and specifically the handling of your own vehicle on the ship. It’s the 3rd time we have used this company – hopefully no theft this time..! Shows our vessel had just arrived in Pyeongtaek.What a touching welcome – this greeted us in the foyer of their building. We were then personally greeted by all the senior people at YCL.Discussing importation and customs clearance procedures at the offices of YCL in Seoul. Here with senior staff, Emily, JB and James.Our friends at YCL must have known about my chocolate sweet tooth in advance. There was plenty on the table – and Swiss, no less !The warm welcome continued with lunch at a nearby Vietnamese restaurant – absolutely delicious ! Thank you, YCL !This little yellow sticker is of critical importance – issued by Korean Customs it permits us to drive on the roads for up to 90 days. It’s known as a TIP ( Temporary Importation Permit ), and also allows us to buy vehicle insurance. At the time of this blog we did not have our van from the port but did have this critical permit at least, thanks to Emily at YCL. A huge step in the process !
Our morning filled with the shipping meeting, the afternoon was free for us to start doing some sightseeing in Seoul. We managed to explore a few of Seoul’s historic sights, famous Namdaemun market and in the evening some of its shopping and nightlife backstreets. What a change we noticed since our first visit over 40 years ago !
Shopping in Namdaemun Market we were helped by one of Seoul’s legendary “red coat” tourist information guides. They are present near many of the city’s major attraction and fluent in multiple languages.Historic Sungnyemun Gate, Seoul.Men wearing traditional dress preparing for a ceremony in Seoul.Deoksugung Palace entrance, Seoul.Inside the palace grounds with at least one cherry blossom tree in full bloom. A very pretty time of year.Cherry blossom, Deoksugung Palace grounds.Changing of the guard ceremony Doeksung Palace entrance.Ditto. The colors were stunning.Strolling along the busy backstreets of Myeongdong, the area of Seoul where we stayed,We’ve now confirmed that there are at least some camper vans in Korea. To our surprise we came across this Iveco van right in downtown Seoul, near our hotel. Perhaps we won’t be the only van campers in the country after all !
We’ll spend the weekend in Seoul completing our sightseeing and next week hope to have our van . Fingers crossed !
We are Lois and Jeff, of Kelowna, BC, Canada. Recently retired with a serious overlanding travel bug, we hit the road in our truck camper in May 2019, initially tackling the Pan American highway. The PanAm completed in April 2022, and truck camper sold, we plan to continue exploring again later in 2022 in our Sprinter 4×4!
