Hello Lynee,

Everything is going well. We are in Busanat the end of a busy day of touring with a good guide, Sarah. Our only wish isthat the weather is warmer and especially that the wind will stop blowing sohard!  But that wish is beyond our control. We have been met by guides atthe planned times. The schedule is working. South Korea is a lovelycountry. 

Our Seoul guide was terrific. His name isYoung. He will meet us again before we leave. We will meet our next guide, JadeKim, in two days.

Thank you, 

Hi Lily,

I just wanted to get back to you regarding our impressions and experiences during our visit to your country.

Itinerary – Excellent

Accommodations – Excellent

Transportation, Bus, Local Trains and Bullet Train – marvelous

Friendliness of the people – very friendly and helpful

Tour Guides – Very knowledgeable and friendly

All the people were very helpful and patient with us when we showed some concern or when we needed further clarification.

And finally LILY – You were so very helpful in helping us plan our trip. Doing this totally on our own would have taken us a great deal of effort.

All of the trip flowed seamlessly from point to point and culminated in Osaka where we paid tribute to my mother by visiting the National Museum and viewing the documentary about my Mother

‘FLORA’. The curators of the museum were very gracious and even treated us to dinner.

Thanks very much LILY,

Dave and Marji Mayo

Hi Emma,

Guides were goodin Osaka and especially in Hiroshima.  

Today is rainingin the Alpine Route and the Snow Wall walk was cancelled.

 But we are stillenjoying the tour.

Regards

We worked with Bruce to book our tours, train reservation, and hotel stays in South Korea (Seoul and Busan). He was exceptional in responding to any inquiries that we had in an expeditious manner. Also, he took great detail in finding out what we were looking for in our trip to ensure that we received what we expected.

The hotel that was booked for us in Seoul was in a good area. The only issue that we were not happy with was the inability to get a taxi from the hotel. However, the tour company that they booked us with addressed the issue of us getting from the end of our tour to the train station.

The tours that we went on in Seoul and Busan were comprised of just a couple. The price was very reasonable. 

We had a different tour guide in Seoul and Busan. Both tour guides in each city knew their cities and were able to provide suggestions to inquiries that we had. Also, we were able to make adjustments on the tours to change places that we decided that we did not want to see or wanted to see. Lastly, we know that the individual tours allowed us to get the most our of our tours versus having a group tour.

The restaurants that the tour guides took us to in Seoul and Busan were great. They really allowed us to experience the South Korean culture that we know that we would not have experienced if we had a group tour.

When we booked with Novaland, we booked a DMZ and JSA tour. However, Novaland was advised that we would not be able to tour the JSA. Thus, they gave us an opportunity to do additional touring in Seoul or change our reservation to go to Busan earlier. For the most part, we were very pleased to find out that we would not be able to go to the JSA and be able to decide what we would like to do to replace the tour, prior to leaving home. Also, they refunded the amount of money that we had paid for the JSA tour, when we arrived in Seoul.

The train accommodations from Seoul to Busan were great. Also, the tickets were delivered to us from our tour guide.

The hotel accommodations in Busan were not the best. We do not blame Novaland for this. Due to the fact, we insisted on having a hotel in the location that our hotel was located in. For the most part, the location that we insisted upon staying in was not a tourist area. Thus, we did not receive the services that we would have received at a tourist hotel. Lastly, since the hotel did not have a breakfast, Novaland had our guide to take us to a restaurant for breakfast each day and on the days not with the tour guide they gave us funds for breakfast.

When we consider another trip to Asia, we will definitely contact this company for their assistance in planning a trip that would provide memorable memories at a great price.