the universal conundrum for young travellers: how do you afford your trip on a not-quite-student-yet-not-quite-adult budget? to travel in some sort of style yet be able to buy whatever you want and not come home to an empty bank account?
the first solution: scrimp and save before the trip. the second solution: be very very thorough in your thorough to look for discounts whenever possible. the third solution: compromise.
compromise definitely when it comes to accomodations and domestic travel. in a country like korea where domestic travel is encouraged and youth culture so dominant, there are several options for travelling between cities and no lack of cheap, hip and friendly hostels/guesthouses in every place you visit.
i have already visited two of the three hostels that we will be staying in. they are so wonderful that i convinced the other two we just had to stay there again this year!
SEOUL: BACKPACKERS INSIDE.
Backpackers Inside is a cozy little hostel, located off daehangno, a college shopping & food street.it is housed in a rather shabby little building off the side-street but i promise you it is not shabby on the inside at all. the nearest subway station, hyehwa is only a 10 minutes stroll away. hyehwa station is one stop from dongdaemun, four stops from myeongdong, four stops from insadong, five stops from gyeongbokgung and six stops from seoul station. an all-round excellent location. another location perk, the airport transfer bus station is only 5 minutes away.
the hostel is owned by Min, a really funny, friendly, patient, warm and helpful guy. last year, he switched us to a better room. we agreed to shift our luggages when we got back at night but when we got back, we found out that he had helped us shift everything! another example, one morning, while we were lazing around the computer terminals, a group of older ladies from Hong Kong came to check-in. he asked for their passports to make a copy for security purposes (which i thought is a fairly standard procedure everywhere) but the ladies wouldn't allow him to do it. he must have reasoned with them for at least 20 minutes and the ladies weren't saying very nice things in English or in Cantonese. but when it was all over, he could still turn and laugh, not a single trace of exasperation on his face. well, we were definitely exasperated on his behalf!
i love the coziness of Backpackers Inside. it meant that after a long day of pounding the streets, we can sink happily into the sofas in the living room area, unwind by watching tv, chatting to fellow guests, surfing the internet, reading books or playing board games. there's a full service kitchen and self-service drinks meaning you take the drink you want and put the money in a money cup instead of buying from the staff and laundry equipment.
and it is so so affordable. a single room costs 28,000krw, a double room costs 44,000krw and a dorm bed costs 20,000krw. now, would you stay in a hotel if you could have all this?
Address
2F 112 Myeongryun 2ga, Jongrogu
Seoul, Korea, 110-532
Email: b.inside@hotmail.com
Tel: +82 2 3672 1120
