6 of the 7 Continents For The Budget Traveler

Friday, November 15, 2024

Seoul, South Korea Layover

It was late September of 2024 I was going to be returning from an epic trip in Kazakhstan and Mongolia. The route to Kazakhstan was the most brutal flight path I had ever done, taking 30 hours over a 3 day span with crossing the international date line. I knew I didn't want to do that twice in one trip, so while booking my return flight I saw a layover in Seoul was going to be inevitable.

I had never been to South Korea before so with some shuffling of flights I saw that I could make the layover a full 24 hours, landing Sunday at 5pm and taking off Monday at 5pm. A new city, a new country, a great layover, and thank God breaking up an incredibly long trek back from Mongolia. I didn't need any more convincing. It was time to do a layover trip in Seoul!

Arriving late to my Airbnb

As I always have said, trips never go as planned, so as a budget traveler we must plan on things not going to plan. I was supposed to arrive in Seoul around 5pm for a full 24 hours, after extensive delays I think I landed around 8pm and wasn't at my Airbnb until 9pm or so. But I had done my homework on what would be open and knew I could make it to the Seoul Tower that wouldn't close until 11pm, it was only a mile or so from my apartment, so I would walk there quickly... Or would I? It turns out my research on my layover could have been a little bit more in depth, I still made it, but much later than expected as Google maps doesn't quite work there! That aside, let me break down my tips for your layover in Seoul!

I stayed near the Seoul Station, which definitely was a great point to see the city from, and seemed city center or damn near close enough.
On my Airbnb owners advice I took the bus to the apartment, going home I took the train. Both were fairly easy.
As advised, GOOGLE MAPS DOES NOT WORK! The map itself will open, but directions will not. I am old school, so I went back to Old School to just read the map and direct myself, but the streets on the map didn't account for giant walls, private property, or impassable areas.. So my mile walk was very scenic to say the least, and took me almost two hours. Luckily I made it in time to enjoy a quick tour of Seoul Tower.
Next issue was to get some cash for the 24 hours, and this was the next hard lesson, I had 3 ATM/Credit cards and none would work at the majority of ATMs. Luckily I found one in the train station that got me home. But be aware, local ATMs may not accept your cards. This is widely discussed in forums and definitely had me worried, but in the end I got cash for my train ticket and the country is very very credit card friendly.
After Seoul Tower I was itching for some unique Korean Barbeque, as recommended by all friends that had been, and my Korean extended family members. I grew up in NYC, the city that never sleeps, which isn't true there, and it wasn't going to be true in Seoul either... By 11:30pm I was super hungry, I found some friend chicken place with good WIFI. The chicken was ok, the WIFI was better because it helped me formulate a few options for real Korean Barbeque the next day.
At this point the 21 year old in me wanted to see if I could find some nightlife, the 43 year old in me wanted to sleep. Honestly the streets overall were very very dead, it was also a weekday, the 43 year old won, and I hit the pillows.
I would have loved to do a DMZ Tour, but this is truly a full day tour, so on layover it would be extremely difficult if not impossible to do, maybe next time!
On a layover trip the ideal plan is to wake up at the crack of dawn and do everything I can to jam as much of the culture in as possible, but my homework reported there would be no need as all the sights on my list were not going to be open until 9am or so. I still got up around 7am, which was great to just take in the vibes from my apartment.
The Korean War Museum was closed which was bad, but it made it easier because I would only go North to explore the city, everything seemed reasonable to walk within a few hours. I wanted to be at the airport by 3pm or so, so I left my apartment at 8am and would be back on the train to Seoul Airport by 1:30pm or so.

Good morning Seoul!
Of course stop for local coffee on the walk.
Since the museum was closed, this left the Palaces to be enjoyed. I can't recall the names of all of them but I passed by 1 or 2 and visited 2.
The fun of travel is always the unplanned sights, and South Korea did not disappoint!
I only traveled by foot, my phone was working great with Airalo and I considered Uber which I believe was working, but the distances were short and I just loved the sight seeing and little pieces of cultural immersion I was able to get.
I arrived back at my apartment around 11:30 or noonish, there was still one more mission, Korean Barbeque! Or maybe 2... I don't normally have a mustache... Not my thing.

The meal went down perfectly, it well made up for the late night fried chicken the night before, which really wasn't that bad either. My tummy was full for a long flight back, and more importantly I had gotten a taste of Seoul. This was an important layover as my brother's wife is Korean, and my nephew and niece are of course half. I once made a speech in Korean, but that's for another time, or maybe even another blog.

Seoul wasn't what I expected, I was imagining it to be like many other big Asian Cities I've been to with millions of people, lights everywhere, crazy parties at night, and system/stimulation overload. But walking the streets at night and all morning, I found it more tranquil. Certainly not a suburb, but more like a small city. Just more calm, and more peaceful. I could have opted for the 4 hour layover and hung out in a lounge or at the airport bar, but as with all layover trips I was so much happier to set foot in this country, even if only for 24 hours.

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Tuesday, November 12, 2024

How To Fly Back To The USA From Cayenne, French Guiana

A real quick article following up from my other post because I feel like it deserves its own for those who don't wanna read thru the whole report on The Forgotten Corner. If you have gone to Cayenne to visit the Space Station, the Salvation Islands, road tripping, whatever, you DO NOT HAVE TO FLY BACK TO FRANCE to get to the USA, hey I love Paris, if you haven't been, make a trip of it, but there is no need to if you don't have the time.

As of writing this there are no flights from French Guiana to the United States, the tour company I used for The Forgotten Corner suggested two options, one was to take an 8 hour van ride back to Paramaribo, Suriname and fly back from there, and the flights weren't going to be quick or cheap, the other option which one guy in my group actually did was to fly from South America to Paris and connect in Europe to go back to the USA!

The travel enthusiast in me got excited about finding an alternate and easier route home. I found a website https://www.flightsfrom.com/ and began my search there for an easier route from Cayenne, I saw it flew to an airport FDF in the Caribbean, FDF didn't ring a bell, but on a quick search Martinique certainly rang a bell. Instead of the boring track back I decided to do a great stop over for 2 nights in Martinique without any crazy flight paths as getting back to the USA from FDF was very easy and convenient. There were also flights to the Dominican Republic on certain days but at the time of writing this, I do not see them listed. Hope this helps! Enjoy!

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The Forgotten Corner: Guyana, Suriname, and French Guiana

South America has always had a lure on me. It was actually my remaining 6th, of the 6 of the 7 continents before I traveled to all 7 (I decided to keep the blog name the same as it's been so for over a decade). Even though it was one of the last continents over the years it's become one of the most important ones for me. I've always felt a strong connection in every country I have been to there, and I decided if possible I want to visit all the countries in South America. Of course a big chunk I hadn't gone to yet was the region I found nicknamed "The Forgotten Corner." Guyana, French Guiana, and Suriname.

I quickly learned that a DIY on this tour was going to be extremely difficult, main reasons being:

Need to charter a private plane to visit Kaieteur falls
Extreme difficulty reading about Border Crossing logistics, whether it was a 3 hour taxi needed or how to cross the border on a Dingy Boat
Safety, although I personally didn't have any problems and felt safe 100% of the time some reviews had mentioned traveling in groups would be a better bet

So with that I began looking for a tour company. As luck would have it, I found Penguin Travel. To their credit that's where I found the nickname too. A 9 day tour encompassing all 3 countries by land, sea, and air. My type of trip. Although I'm not big on organized tours, this was certainly an adventure that called for it. So here's my review and experience traveling through this rare part of the continent.

Arriving and Departing:

Arriving was not such a big deal as it's not such a big deal to find flights to Georgetown Guyana from Miami. Departing was another story. As of writing this there are no flights from French Guiana to the United States, the tour company suggested two options, one was to take an 8 hour van ride back to Paramaribo, Suriname and fly back from there, and the flights weren't going to be quick or cheap, the other option which one guy in my group actually did was to fly from South America to Paris and connect in Europe to go back to the USA!

Guyana

Georgetown Touring

I arrived unfortunately late in Guyana, but fortunately since this was a tour group a lot of us had arrived late, it helped to sleep in the next day, which consisted of a city tour. We got to visit old and new Georgetown, eat great local cuisine, and feed Manatees in the park!

The beach is the only thing Guyana lacks due to it's position on the ocean the water is super muddy!

No swimming... Yet....

Kaieteur Falls

The next day was honestly one the highlight of the trip, and two the reason it would have been nearly impossible to self tour. Kaieteur Falls. We got up early morning and chartered a small plane to visit the falls. It was a one hour flight on a small aircraft, your seat was based on weight, I got lucky to be in the first row behind the pilot.

The lightest guy was in the front left seat, even better! Make friends with the people on the flight because you will pass the falls once or twice, great to share photos here. The flight was comfortable and fun. There's a cabin there that is dedicated completely to tourism and it was interesting talking to the staff there about life in the cabin during their contracted stay. We did some great hiking to some cool view points and then a delicious lunch after.

Suriname

The next stop on our adventure was Suriname, and this is The Forgotten Corner, so getting there of course was an adventure in itself. After a long ride in the vans we reached the Ferry to cross, there are not many Ferry crossings and may only be one, and as we covered you will not be swimming in these waters! So once again I was glad to be in the organized tour.

Crossing the border by sea

Paramaribo City Tour

Similar to first day in Georgetown, a great city tour. This was our shortest stay of the tour, and nicest hotel of the stay, which I took advantage to do laundry, and also in some downtime I went to a gym near by, paying the one time fee. I love to eat local, but also love to see how the international cuisine is when visiting somewhere so I took a break from South American cuisine and had delicious pizza there.

Fort New Amsterdam and "Pink" Dolphins

The next stop was to visit Fort New Amsterdam, a historic fort from the Colonization periods. We also enjoyed some great local beers here. On the way back we saw met some locals, learning about the plantations, and even introducing us to local wildlife!

After which we went on the hunt to see pink dolphins in the rivers... They are called pink, but don't google pink dolphins, it will show a VERY pink image, the dolphins are pink but not like the photos, but it was great to see them playing boat side, and the tour never said they were pink, that was my own error in google!

The water is still muddy....

And of course delicious lunch that day.....

The next day involved a long drive so I made sure to get some good sleep....

Morning coffee on the hotel steps and one of my favorite photos I took in Suriname

French Guiana

More border crossings:

After a quick breakfast it was a long drive to the Maroni river where we crossed the border at Albina by little boats to Saint Laurent in French Guiana. This was yet another part of the trip that I would have had no idea how to do solo, I mean I guess cash is king once you get to the small boats, but my French is terrible, and I loved the convenience again here of being with the group.

Space Center-Kourou - Cayenne

This was my second favorite part of the trip, visiting the Kourou Space Center! It's one of the only launch sites in the world where you get to visit the control room as well.

As a lover of travel, and a guy who has at this point extensively traveled, this is a level beyond anything I will do, so being able to get close to the launch sites, is as close to space I'll ever get, and I was extremely grateful for it.

Probably had the best dinner that night....

The Salvation Islands:

After spending so much time on the muddy ocean, it was finally time to get a taste of truly beautiful waters. We woke up early but not to early to drive to the port and ship off to the Salvation Islands on a Catamaran. They were originally built for a prison! And you can tour the old cells while there.

The history was nice, but the clear waters, wild life, and beach were certainly nicer. It was a perfect last stop on an amazing tour thru such a remote, and really untraveled place in the world.

Chilling with the monkeys

Finally able to swim!

We returned to the hotel that night and had a great dinner together with the group. I got a good nights rest for the journey the next day to Martinique. The Forgotten Corner is certainly a great nick name for the region, its very untraveled, and certainly not easy to travel, but the 3 countries showed me so much in such little time. The tour total was only 9 days, but 9 days I'll never forget. I don't think I would return ever due to the complexities of the flights, border crossings, and logistics. But as with all trip I am super grateful I got to set foot in this part of the world.

GENERAL TIPS

Like many adventure trips, this is not a roller suitcase friendly trip, with complicated border crossings, short stays, and getting in and out of small boats, pack minimal, and back pack.
The weather was great in March, but the sun is DECEPTIVELY strong as you are on the equator. I don't remember ever being too hot but I very clearly remember looking at group photos and laughing about some red guy then realizing... Oh shit.... Wear sunscreen!
Safety is an issue, was definitely noted in Georgetown where we were strongly advised to travel in groups. But of course common sense goes far.
Plan ahead for laundry, we had the full itinerary of hotels a few weeks before the trip, so I made sure to investigate where I could do laundry as this would coincide with the first tip of backpacking and backpacking light.
This was a master level trip, the people on my tour were surprisingly much older than me, I was 42 at the time and the youngest by a decade or so. So if you are a bit older don't cross this one off the list, we had at least one person over 80. My tour friend also made fun of my lack of travel experience when they learned I had been to less than 100 countries! It's definitely not going to be a trip for the first few stamps of your passport, or even your first passport in general!
Airalo digital eSim helped out for almost every country with cell phone use, some places better than others, but definitely no issues staying connected to the world.
I anticipated language barriers but that really wasn't the case, only place I did encounter one was the gym, but luckily they spoke some Spanish.
Penguin Travel was a great company for the tour, not sponsored, I really enjoyed the tour and the guides all did a great job.
Wear sunscreen.. I said it twice for good measure.