I'm back from Korea, just in the nick of time! The North Korea provocation happened on 23 Nov 2010 between 2.30pm to 4pm (all my posts are backdated); when we were shopping around in the airport and rushing to board the plane which took off at 4pm. Second time I escaped a catastrophe. Phew! I mean phew! we finally got on the plane! No prize for guessing, we missed our flight again (more on this later) and ever since then, boarding the plane has gradually become the most nerve-wracking experience for me when travelling. (Hung her head in shame)

In spite of the self-inflicted delay, I had a great time spending my birthday in Korea, during autumn. After this trip, I learnt that it really does not matter if one does not speak the language. With sufficient preparation and an adventurous spirit, language barrier doesn't stop you from going to the most remote places. Travel information on Korea is not easily available in Singapore. There are few Lonely Planet books in the library and they get snapped up very fast. At the time of planning, I had no books to refer to (I found Frommers and Moon when I was already 80% done with the itinerary) and had to figure out everything using Internet resources. Thanks to my friend Weiyi for sharing some useful tips too!



We didn't exactly do a loop (ok the lines are not supposed to be so straight either) but these are the cities we visited (marked out in yellow). The plan was to start from Seoul, go East to Gangwon, continue South to Andong in Gyeongsangbuk Province and back to Seoul. I take a while to write and publish so pls be patient with me k!