Korea a draw for TV soap fans and shopaholics
Tertiani ZB Simanjuntak, The Jakarta Post, Seoul
If the beautiful scenes of J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings trilogy attract tourists to visit its New Zealand locales, it is Korean TV heartthrob Won Bin who lured Rini Ichram to the peninsula country.
"I have collected almost 100 compact discs of Korean TV series and movies. Don't tell my daughter, I keep the number a secret because she hates my new hobby. I wish to go to the places I've seen in the movies, or even bump into one of the actors."
She eventually persuaded her reluctant daughter to come with her on a five-night-and-six-day Kamshahamnida (thank you in Korean) holiday trip with Asiana Airlines.
The special fare trip, organized in early May, was in conjunction with the third anniversary of the privately owned Korean airline's Jakarta-Seoul route.
Although Rini and similarly devoted fans of actors Bao Young and Jao Dang Gun only got to see their idols on the TV screens in their hotel rooms, the visit to Korea in the waning days of spring proved one of their best trips ever.
Part of a 100-strong party of holidaymakers -- including couples and groups, as well as the frantic Indonesian and Korean tour leaders -- we had to make some adjustments to cultural and other differences even before we set off.
First, I had to pack shampoo from home. Why? "Because Korean hotels refuse to pollute the earth even by providing sachets of shampoo. They provide a bottle of shampoo in the hotel room, but you have to buy it," said one of the tour leaders in Jakarta.
Oh, how thoughtful.
A cool breeze greeted us when we arrived at majestic Incheon International Airport in Seoul. As soon as we found our buses, we were immediately taken to Gimpo domestic airport, a 40-minute drive away, to take a two-hour flight to Ulsan.
From there, we set off to the country town of Kyungju to visit the world heritage sites of the ancient royal family Baekje tombs, Chomsungdae observatory deck and Kyungju National Museum.
It quickly became clear on each of our stops that our party was true to the Indonesian stereotype of the shopaholic traveler, which led to quite a headache for the tour organizers in trying to be on time.
Our Korean tour leader Philip Han quickly mastered a smattering of essential Indonesian, from Pipis! (toilet stop) and Balik ke bus (Get back on the buses!).
A challenge for us was eating kimchi, the Korean national dish of salted and fermented vegetables, which many of us found smelled awful. The well-prepared had brought supplies of abon (boiled shredded meat) or teri goreng (fried small fish) to survive mealtimes.
Another minor challenge for us was the availability of only two bellboys at Kyungju Kolon Hotel where we spent the night. Still, its excellent service made us wonder how such a small town could have a four-star hotel.
The next day we headed to Suanbo district, where we visited the Kosu Cave, the shooting location of Wang Gun drama -- based on the true story of a man with 27 wives, and took the Chungju Lake Cruise.
It was while on the cruise we met another ferry, mostly full of housewives who had taken a day off from household chores to celebrate springtime. They performed an endless unrhythmic thumping dance to relieve their stress until the ferry returned to harbor.
We spent the night at the spring resort Suanbo Chosun Hotel, again with only two bellboys and a very friendly bartender who doubled as a waiter.
On day three, we packed early to return to Seoul. On the way, we made a long stop at the Everland amusement park, Korea's answer to Disneyland with three amusement parks in one, which was full of young parents and children celebrating Parents' Day.
When we finally reached Seoul, the city was in a festive mood, with a carnival and an open-air stage show, while young executives treated their parents to expensive dinners at the Grand Hilton Hotel, where we stayed for two nights.
Amid the mostly vegetable fare we feasted on, the must-try was samgyetang, stewed whole chicken stuffed with rice and ginseng, accompanied by a small cup of ginseng wine.
Like our Korean tour leader May Chiang said, Korean food may taste a little odd to foreigners, but its excellent for health.
Even if some of us did not find the food to our liking, a bit of retail therapy soon cheered us up.
"Enough of museums, let's go shopping!," shouted a woman from my bus, even though we were still taking turns at a photo session wearing hanbok (traditional ceremonial clothing) at Kyungbok Palace.
And so we went shopping. But two days in Seoul was not enough to do proper price comparisons as we traipsed to Dongdaemun market, Ginseng Shop, an amethyst factory, Silla duty free and Itaewon street, the latter just a few hours before heading back to Incheon airport.
"I've been told that this is the place where we can get A- grade leather bags," one woman said, referring to high-quality imitation bags of major brands.
As a calculator moved freely between us and the shop owners, and we conversed in the language Jane used with Tarzan, we hoped we had made more bargains.
Weighed down by much more luggage than we arrived with, we finally got on board our flight.
"No more kimchi!" a homesick teenager exclaimed in relief.
Ah, not so fast: The unforgettable pickles were on our menu as we headed home.