Thursday, July 14, 2011

Best Place for a Layover!!!!

An approaching Maglev.


If you ever find yourself with a layover in Shanghai, by all means leave the airport and go see the city. The Shanghai Maglev Train will get you downtown from Pudong International Airport in 8 minutes. The distance covered in those 8 minutes are 30.5 km (18.95 miles). Needless to say it is a very fast ride, so hold on!!! The train allows you to connect to the metro (lines 2 and 7) at the Long Yang Road stop. Once you get into the city’s center, other forms of transportation can be found as well.

Sit back and enjoy the ride!!!

Clean and comfortable seats.


Happy Travels

Sunday, May 15, 2011

Philippines-To Relax and Discover

I write this entry from Camiguin Island in the Philippines. I never had a strong desire to visit the Philippines. Last week however when the opportunity presented itself, I jumped at the chance. And I am glad I did. We flew from Seoul to Manila and then to Cagayan du Oro. To be honest we didn’t even know the name of where we were going until we landed. Passengers kept asking us where we were going and we would show them our boarding passes. The same happened when the cabin crew asked us where our connecting flight was too.

The first thing that caught me by surprise is that the majority of the population speaks and understand English. I hardly heard the native language being spoken. The signs on the roads are all in English as well as menus at restaurants. The people here are also very warm and friendly. And the food is WONDERFUL.

The Philippines are made up of over 7000 islands. We were be able to visit about 2-3 islands. To get to Camiguin Island, we drove about 1.5 hours to a dock and boarded a ferry to the island. The ferry took about 1.5 hours to reach the island.

We are staying at the Camiguin Highland Resort. It is nestled in peaceful mountains and the view of the palm trees and ocean is breath taking. Our room is very nice and has a cute balcony.
Camiguin Highland Resort

Our room at the resort



After checking in, we headed out to the Ardent Hibok-Hibok Springs. At this Hot Spring, the “pools” are open 24/7 and you can even spend the night there. We got there as the sun was setting, and the crowd just kept on coming. I am sure people will spend the night there.

The resort offers horseback riding for a small fee among other leisure activities for its guests.

We had the opportunity to go to the near by White Island, where we were able to rent a wave runner for about an hour.

Popular White Island


After leaving White Island, we went and saw the Sunken Cemetery. The Sunken Cemetery is one of the most famous cemeteries in the world as the cemetery of the town sank below sea level during the volcanic birth of Mt. Vulcan in 1871. The place is commemorated by a huge cross erected in 1982.

Sunken Cemetery

I truly must say that I enjoyed our trip to the Philippines. I will define it as one of Asia's best kept secrets. Planning a return trip to see more of this country.

Thursday, April 21, 2011

Korail Pass (S. Korea)



Traveling around South Korea is relatively safe, inexpensive and manageable. My preferred mode of transportation the train. You can get a train to almost any small town in the country. The popular train types are the KTX, Saemual, and the Mugunghwa. The KTX is the fastest and most expensive and the Mugunghwa is the slowest and cheapest. The KTX takes about 2.5 hours between Seoul and Busan while the Mugunghwa takes 5 hours. The prices on the KTX vary on the time of day of your trip. Back in 2004-2005 when I lived in Seoul, I vowed NEVER to take the KTX since it was twice the cost of the slow train. However, I recently had to travel to Seoul for the weekend and was pressed for time both going and returning. In order to save time and money, I decided to look into the Korea Pass. This is a pass tourists and non-Koreans can use to travel for a selected amount of days (1-10)on the trains. Travelers can ride the trains, not subways, unlimited in the economy seats. You can even upgrade to first class for a small fee. I was a bit excited to finally ride the KTX and I recommend the pass if traveling round trip from Seoul to Busan. The price of a three day pass is cheaper than buying a round trip ticket from Seoul to Busan. And I was even able to squeeze in an extra trip to visit a friend during the weekend with my pass. The pass must be purchased online at www.korail.com. The website is tourist friendly and in English. You will need your passport number to book the pass. This is definitely an inexpensive and convenient way to travel to different cities in the country.
Riding first class...
First class snacks
The seats on all 3 train types can be turned

Thursday, April 14, 2011

Busan to Ulsan (South Korea)

There are many ways to get between Ulsan and Busan. One of the more budget friendly ways to get between the two cities is to take an intercity bus. The bus leaves from Nopo Bus Terminal which is on subway line 1 (the orange line). The buses are outside and don't depart from the same location as the other buses heading to cities further away. The two buses that I know you can take to Ulsan are 1127 & 1137. The one way

fare if paying with cash is 2,000 won and if paying with the Busan transportation card is 1,800 won. The ride takes about 1.5 hours.

You can also get to Ulsan via the trains and express buses. The one way fares for the train and express bus ranges between 6,000-7,000 won.

Happy Travels!!!

Wednesday, April 13, 2011

Back in the ROK



Hello All! I ve been thinking about doing this travel blog for quite sometime, but never got it started. As most of you know I LOVE to travel. Currently I'm living in South Korea (for the 2nd time) and the experience never presents a dull day. This blog will give you an insight on my expat life here in the East as well as travel information in different cities around the world. I'm very cautious about who I travel with and rarely go on trips with others without outlining what it's like "traveln with Rachel". The hope of this blog is to give readers an insight on too often missed information when traveling. Hold tight and hang on! You are now Traveln with Rachel!