PyeongChang Korail Pass

Though it's kinda sad that I won't be able to visit my second hometown to witness the spectacular winter sports event in Pyeongchang! However, I've a good news to share which you can save great amount of money on the transportation costs.

To commemorate Pyeongchang Winter Olympics, foreigners visiting Korea between 1 February 2018 - 25 March 2018 are eligible to purchase this special tourist pass and enjoy unlimited times on KTX and Korail trains throughout Korea within their selected pass validity period. Do note that ticket sales will only open until 10 January 2018.

Incheon to PyeongChang Railroad Map (Source)

KTX Wonju Gangneung line is ready and official KTX Sancheon service is expected to be from mid December 2017. Visiting Winter Olympics Games venues in Pyeongchang, Gangneung and Jeongseon will be a hassle-free and comfortable using this Korail Pass. Actually, with this card you can literally explore almost the whole South Korea Peninsula on railroads~! 

PyeongChang Korail Pass types:

PyeongChang Korail 5 Day Pass / 7 Day Pass.

 Adult (Ages 26 and older), Youth (Ages 13-25 or International Student 

Identity Card holders), Child (Ages 4-12), Saver (Groups of 2-5 people).

High Speed Trains: KTX and KTX-Sancheon
 Conventional Trains: ITX-Saemaeul, Saemaeul, Mugunhwa, Nuriro,
ITX-Cheongchun and Commuter Trains.

Tourist Trains: O-train, V-Train, S-Train, A-Train, Westgold-Train and DMZ-Train.

Purchasing process:

* PyeongChang Korail Pass can be purchased through the official website:

   www.letskorail.com/pyeongchang. 

* Ticket sales will be open until 10 January 2018. 

* Ticket sales period is subject to change without notice.

* Seats for the Seoul-Gangneung KTX line during the Olympic period (1-28 February 2018) will be

   available for reservation two months in advance. 

* Please direct all inquiries to the Korail Q&A board. 

* Ticket sales for all trains during the Seollal (Lunar New Year's Day) holiday period 14-18 February 

   2018 will be announced separately on the Korail website. 

* Seat reservation period is subject to change without notice. Refer to the reservation site for updated 

   information.

PyeongChang Korail Pass User's Tutorial.

Additional benefits of PyeongChang Korail Pass:

* Free admission to City Tour Buses in Seoul, Busan, Jeju, Incheon, Gyeongju, and Daegu.

* Commemorative reloadable prepaid transportation card
* 10% discount luggage storage & shipping through Airport Railroad
* Various discounts with connected duty free stores, hotels, museums, etc.
* Please see the BENEFITS menu on the official website for more detailed information:
   www.letskorail.com/pyeongchang.

Remember to bring along the printed Pyeongchang KR Pass

to retrieve your commemorative card at a designated counter.

How to reserve your seat.

I used Korail Pass during my visit in 2012, but that time tourist-themed trains such as O-train, V-train and S-train not operated yet. I wish PyeongChang Korail Pass will be extended to April because I'd like to visit cherry blossoms in other regions out of Seoul. Would love to ride on special trains such as A-train to go to Jeongseon, and visit Dora Observatory and The 3rd Tunnel by DMZ train. 

Related Posts:

 

Korail O-train.

Korail S-train.

Picturesque Pyeongchang and Nearby Attractions.

Must Try Mouth-Watering Foods in Gangwon.

[S-Train] - Scenic Southtern Explorer

Back on Track!!! 

Thanks to Korail for building railways and designed themed-trains routes that run across beautiful Korean peninsula.

S-train added to theme-train family in September 2013. This train runs slowly on S-shaped route along Southern region with scenic sea view, therefore it's named S-Train.

Let's travel to the South with Korail S-Train

 "Turtle ship" S-train looks like vintage locomotive.

Perhaps because of S-train travel to Yeosu, therefore Felix Boukobza (the same art-train designer for O-train) painted it resembled to Turtle ship (거북선 = Geobukseon) to tribute Great Admiral Yi Sun Shin.

Our initial S-train route (Masan to Gwangju) for easy checking 

on the train timetable and transfer.

 S-train Timetable 

S-Train operates two routes that running once a day: 

1. East - West route covering 250 km in 4 hours.
    ~ Train No 4871, depart from Busan at 9:19 am and arrive in Yeosu at 13:04 pm
    ~ Train No 4872, depart from Yeosu at 18:05 pm and arrive in Busan at 21:51 pm

2. West - East route covering 212 km in 5 hours 30 minutes.
    ~ Train No 4873, depart from Seodaejeon at 9:37 am and arrive in Gwangju at 14:58 pm
    ~ Train No 4874, depart from Gwangju at 16:38 pm and arrive in Seodaejeon at 21:27

This slow-speed train lets you experience the best of the Southern regions passing through picturesque mountains, seas, valleys, and countrysides.

The train can carry 218 passengers in it's five carriages, and designed with different interiors and special themes on each carriage.

 

We're sitting at 'family' carriage

Enjoy Korean traditional tea drinking with fragrant tea produced from 

Boseong and Hadong at this unique 'tea' carriage.

Snacks and drinks are available at 'bar' Carriage.

That's the reason why I love to travel by train! It allows you to sit back, relax, and enjoying the view. Buy tidbits and eat or drink whenever you want, as you can go to restroom anytime as you're free to walk around at all time ^^ 

Awesome! You can recharge your handphone,

and hang your coat at your seat. 

Where did we put our 2 big luggage? Yes, for sure they're unable to fit on overhead compartment. We put them at the luggage compartment between two carriages. 

Ok, this video will show you interior inside S-train, and up close and personal with the beauty of Southern Namhae Coast!

to be continued... ^^

Related Posts:

~ [O-Train] - Railroad Trip from Seoul to Punggi

~ [S-train] - Bukcheon Cosmos, Hadong, Suncheon and Deungnyang

Busan Station (부산역)

A taxi ride from Haeundae Hotel For U to Busan station took about half and hour. We arrived at Busan station one hour earlier so we have time to eat breakfast before starting our journey to South.

The morning sunshine at Busan Station.

부산광역시 동구 중앙대로 206 (초량동)

Busy ticket counters and train schedules at Busan station.

We didn't need to join the queue as we had bought our tickets together with O-train tickets at Seoul Station. Yes, it's better to purchase your ticket few days in advance. This is to avoid that ticket sold out on the day you want to travel. That happened to us... we didn't get V-train ticket as these theme-trains are really popular.

Busan has a big station because it's a major stop on all Gyeongbu line express trains (KTX) and general trains. It also has a lot of convenience facilities inside the station, such as restaurants, convenience stores, bakeries, coffee shops, and others shops, ATMs, storage lockers, Korail member lounge, vending machines.

Busan Station Store directory

 It's really convenient as lots of shops sprawled all around! We're really spoiled by choices and hard to make decision on what to eat. 

Hunting food inside this clean Busan station...

Hubby selected  soft tofu stew (순두부찌개 = sundubu jiggae)

Well, I don't have habit to eat rice or noodle for breakfast. I normally have bread, cake, biscuit, cereal and milk for breakfast. 'Picky' me still wandering outside to see what will go inside the tummy to start my day :P

Finally decided to get this Yeongju  Sweet Potato Bread (고구마빵 = Kokumappang).

Then went to convenience store to get banana milk, bottle drinks and some snacks to eat in train....

Chinatown also known as Shanghai Street (상해문 - 상해거리) 

located opposite Busan Station. You can walk through the 

underground passage to reach the street.

Make sure you're standby in front of the track at least 5 minutes 

before departure time as the trains are really punctual!

Ok, let's go to Track no. 1 for S-Train~! 

Thankful Third Trip to Korea

Thank you 11st for return ticket that make this winter trip to Korea possible. 11st is Korea Online Shopping platform which allows you to purchase from few sellers, combine shipment for all your orders to save shipping cost. They provide international shipment for overseas buyers too. Please check this link for my shopping experience with 11st. 십일번가 짱!!!

Hurry and check this month 11st Event / Promotion:
1. Free K-Beauty: [Banila Co]  CC Cream,  or [The History of Whoo]  Soon Hwan Essence, or [Nature
    Republic] Hawaiian Fresh Clay Pack.
2. 50,000 Won Shopping point for 5 best reviews every months.

I just came back from Korea for my Birthday trip with my family in Sep 2013. Yap, this is my 3rd trip in Korea with my hubby. Initially, thought to go with my friends or my sisters, but they're not available. My hubby quite worried if I travel alone, because the chance for me to get lost is about 80%. Therefore, he bought air ticket to accompany me (hhmmm... I think it's an excuse! He likes Korea too!)

It's still winter (Dec - Mid Mar) in Korea that can be bitterly cold, especially for us that so used to tropical climate. I really wish to see snow, but really worry to see the minus degree on weather forecast. I asked my Korean friend whether I can survive the cold in Korea.  He commented: "You are cold-vulnerable South East Asian. You wont make it at all. Give it up". ㅋㅋ

Haiz! Not even encouragement~! But, I didn't give up! And these photos are the proofs that we survived the cold weather, and had pretty much fun and enjoy ourselves in Korea ^^

10 cold but cool days of fun but furry covered from head to toes! :P

 Day 1 - Day 5

Seoul, Incheon Soraepagu, Yeongju, Busan

Day 6 - Day 10

Jeonju, Muju, Suwon, Seoul

Rough itinerary was Korail railroad trip (O-train, V-train and S-train), cultural tours to other provinces that I've not visited yet. And a must skiing experience since it's winter. Seems quite straight forward, but it's actually quite tricky and headache as I need to check on the transportations (Korail, Kobus, Easy Ticket) with time schedules.

I emailed to KTO to enquire on transportation information that I couldn't find such as from Gyeongju to Masan, and Gwangju to Jeonju. They replied me with the Naver Map link (in Korean) with Departure Time, Arrival Time, Bus Type and Ticket Fare.

Initial Itinerary after few changes of places to stop / transfer 

as I couldn't find transportation from one point to the other point.

Gyeongju to Jeonju Bus Information by Naver Map

From there, I tried to explore on how to check on other destinations by bus: Yeongju to Busan and Muju to Seoul. It's really very useful with accurate information on bus timetable, bus terminal address and website.

Final Itinerary 

Well, not too much changes for Final Itinerary as I only knew how to use Naver Map 2 days before my departure date after I received replied email from KTO. There are actually a lot of Intercity Bus (시외)  and Express Bus (고속) connecting every cities.

For accommodations, I booked through Agoda for hotels in Seoul & Busan. And the rest, I reserved online through their websites, but only Muju Kookmin Hotel confirmed my booking. The rest didn't reply on the confirmation though I emailed and tried to message them through Kakao Talk. I understand that you need to pay deposit to secure the booking and they didn't accept credit card. So, it's too troublesome to transfer money to their bank account and I really don't want to bother my Korean friends as they're so busy.

From their booking system, you can actually see which rooms were already booked. Mostly just half full, so I decided to just go there directly, if the room we wanted was taken, we can just change to other room. For the worst case, we'll  just look for motel...

This time round, I reserved WiBro rental from KT Roaming. This Wifi router can support up to 7 devices for wifi. It's important, as for the first day, my hubby will be arrived in Seoul at night only. So, I need to let him know the hotel room number and most importantly I can stay connected in case I lost my way in Seoul :P

I'll be posting the places that we visited in Seoul based on the actual itinerary and update the link here:
* Wintery Seoul
* Beautiful Method Launching show in Seoul @Only Gallery
* National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art
* Samcheongdong has Something for Everyone~!
* Insight into Insadong
* 월매네 Traditional Folk Pub
* Myeongdong Art Theater (명동예술극장)
* Sejong Hotel (세종호텔)
* Fusion Hanbok (by 모란배필) Photoshoot
* Incheon Soraepogu Traditional Fish Market (소래포구 어시장)
* Namdaemun Market - Cutlass Fish (갈치조림) Alley
* [O-Train] - Railroad Trip from Seoul to Punggi
* Yeongju Loess Pension (풍기 황토 펜션)
* Punggi Ginseng Rib (풍기 인삼 갈비)
* Museom Single Log Bridge (무섬외 나무다리)
* Quaint Museom Hanok Village (영주 무섬마을) Part 1
* Quaint Museom Hanok Village (영주 무섬마을) Part 2
* Quaint Museom Hanok Village (영주 무섬마을) Part 3
* Seonbichon Village (선비촌) 
* Sosu Seowon Confucian Academy (소수서원)
* Sosu Museum (소수박물관)
* Korean Buddhist Temple
* Legends of Buseoksa Temple (부석사)
* Treasures in Buseoksa Temple (부석사)
* Buseoksa to Busan 
* 12 hours in Busan
* Busan Station (부산역)
* [Korail S-Train] - Scenic Southtern Explorer
* [S-train] - Bukcheon Cosmos, Hadong, Suncheon and Deungnyang
* Jeonju Hanok Village Hotel (전주한옥빌리지호텔)
* Hanguk Jip Jeonju Bibimbap (한국집 전주 전통 비빔밥)
* [Jeonju] - Evening at Omokdae Pavilion(오목대)
* [Jeonju] - Hanbyeokdang Pavilion (한벽당)
* [Jeonju] - Cheongyeonru Pavilion (청연루)
* [Jeonju] - Gyeonggijeon Main Hall (경기전 정전)
* [Jeonju Sago] - Joseon Wangjo Sillok (조선 왕조 실록)
* [Gyeonggijeon] - Royal Portrait Museum (어진박물관)
* [Jeonju] - Pungnammun Gate (풍남문)
* [Jeonju] -  Hyanggyo Confucian School (전주향교)
* Gain Makgeolli House (가인막걸리) - Drunk in 4 different ways
* [Jeonju] - Sweet Red Bean Soup (단팥죽) @외할머니 솜씨
* [Jeonju] - JIFF Film Street (영화의거리) 
* [Jeonju] - All That Barbecue (올댓바베큐) Salad Buffet 
* [Jeonju] - Hakindang (학인당)
* Slow Walk in Jeonju Slow City (I)
* Slow Walk in Jeonju Slow City (II)
* Slow Walk in Jeonju Slow City (III)
* [Jeonju] - PNB Confectionery (풍년제과)
* Jeonju Intercity Bus Terminal (전주시외버스터미널)
* [Muju Ski Resort] - Zephyr coffee (제퍼커피)
* [Muju Ski Resort] - Mansun House
* [Muju Ski Resort] - Let's hit Ski Slope and Slide down the Snowy Hill~! 
* [Muju Ski Resort] - Fun with White Snow
* [Muju Ski Resort] -  Haejangguk 'Hangover' Soup
* [Muju Ski Resort] - Day / Night at Carnival Street
* [Muju Ski Resort ] - Saint Hue Club Sauna and Jjimjilbang
* Last Morning in Muju Deogyusan Ski Resort
* Muju Bus Terminal to Seoul Nambu Terminal
* [Seoul] - Mogyo Samgyetang (무교 삼계탕)
* Dangui (당의) Royal Court Hanbok Dress
* March 1st Movement at Tapgol Park
* Seodaemun Prison History Museum (서대문형무소역사관)
* Unhyeongung (운현궁) Royal Palace
* Insadong, Dongdaemun and Myeongdong
* Early Morning Food Hunting at Gwanjang Market
* [Suwon City Tour] - Haewoojae Mr Toilet House
* [Suwon City Tour] - Hwaseong Haenggung Palace (화성행궁)
* [Suwon City Tour] - Suwon Fortress, Hwahongmun and Banghwasuryujeong
* [Suwon City Tour] - Experience Korean Archery at Yeonmudae (Dongjangdae)
* [Suwon City Tour] - Hwaseong Museum (수원화성박물관)
* Suwon AK Plaza (AK 플라자 백화점)
* Seodaemun Independence Park Historical Site
* Un-un-un-un-un-Unbelieveable Sinchon Shopping Street
* [Seoul] - 18 Beonji Budae Jjigae (Korean Army Stew)
* Lotte Mart Seoul Station Branch (롯데마트-서울역점)
* [Seoul] - CenterMark Hotel
* Korea Traditional Cultural Experience at Incheon Airport

Please stay tuned for more details~^^