Travel Tips Vietnam and Korea!

[Lyra]

Hello friends,

I am planning on taking a short trip to either South Korea or Vietnam soon and I was wondering if any of you could give me some travel advice

I have very limited time, only approx. 4-5 days, so I was wondering which country would be more suitable for this period of time and if you have any tips on which places there are a must-see.

I am very thankful for any advice!

[Lio]

I'm in South Korea at the moment, visiting my SO. 4-5 days is short but there are many things you could visit, and if not in your first trip, in a future one.

Seoul has some royal palaces that are worth to visit : Gyeongbokgung, Deoksugung, Changgyeonggung.. My favorite one is the last mentioned one. Deoksugung and Changgyeonggung are close from each other, you could walk from one to the other. You arrive at Deoksugung when you get out of the station City Hall (line 1 of the metro).

You could also visit the Korean Traditional Village (한국민속촌) in Yongin - about two hours away from Seoul. That will require you to go to Suwon, then to take a bus in front of Suwon station. Once you're arrived, if you want you can rent a hanbok - traditional dress from Joseon era. It also applies to the places mentioned above.

In Seoul, some streets/districts are nice to visit as well, with many shops and restaurants, and street food. You can go to Myeongdong and Insadong.
In order to enjoy nightlife - clubs, other restaurants, pubs and so on - you can go to Itaewon. You will also find some foreigners. If you enjoy jazz music, there often are concerts at All That Jazz - one of our favorite places. You can eat and drink while enjoying the concert. The entry fee is 5000 won per person (it's about 4 euros).

Speaking about food and drinks, that's not very expensive. You can eat bulgogi, galbi, bibimbap, naengmyeon, mandu, dalggochi, kimbap and so on.. You can even eat North Korean style food in South Korea : I had Pyongyang naengmyeon and Hamhung naengmyeon (noodles) and Gaeseong mandu, all of this in Seoul.
About drinks, beers are cheap. The famous Korean ones are hite, Kloud and Cass (this one is my favorite). Some restaurants may serve 170 cl of beer (usually to share with someone if you don't eat alone), sometimes more. Soju is also very popular in Korea. Beware, it's quite strong : around 18%. Somaek is nice too : it's a mix of soju and beer (maekju) that you do yourself.

Hope these informations may help you I'm sorry I can't help about Vietnam. But if you want to know more about Korea, feel free to ask me.