Back in September 2019, I went on to visit a friend who was studying abroad in Korea. What’s a better reason to travel overseas than to visit one of your best friends? I decided to spend a whole week in Seoul and got to explore the South Korean capital in a lot of detail. Today, I will tell you about the best places to see there.

I travel a lot. And I love to share my travels. But few travels got so much response as my trip to the DMZ when I visited Seoul in September. I received lots of messages of people asking me about my trip and wanting me to share my experiences. It was one of the blog posts that took me like forever to write, and I hope this way I can help anyone of you who is interested in visiting this extraordinary place.

A while ago, I told you everything about the time I spent in Japan. While re-living my adventures, I realized there are many things I either learned along the way or wished I knew beforehand. That’s why in today’s post you’ll hear some tips that should help you enjoy the beautiful land of the rising sun.

We spent our last 48 hours in Japan climbing the famous Mt. Fuji. The idea definitely was not mine, but when my friend suggested it, I immediately said 'yes'. I mean Mt. Fuji? That “hill”? Easily. Well, I couldn't have been more wrong. Even though the Fuji seems small, it is a 3774 m high mountain (the highest one Japan has to offer), closed for hikers during the winter months and still an active volcano. But by the time I realized what I had gotten myself into, it was already way too late. 

On the beginning of this blogpost I have to admit I was not sure how I should write it. Should I keep It quite general, so no one gets offended or thinks it’s too descriptive? Or should I stay true to myself and tell you in detail what I saw and heard, and what changed something inside of me? I want you to know what to expect when visiting these cities, so I decided to stay true and tell you about the most important heart-breaking parts of history we as human being should all be aware of. I can’t tell you about these beautiful cities without talking about the horrors their residents have lived through in the past (also, since we have already written about Pearl Harbor and the other side of the story in Sophie’s Hawaii series). Despite all that, I think it’s important to highlight how much has changed and why they are definitely worth a visit.

Despite falling in love with Tokyo the moment we arrived, we had to move on in order to see more of this beautiful country. We stayed in Japan for two and a half weeks and our plan was, of course, to see as much as possible. We went westward and intended to spend about 4 days in Kyoto and Osaka before heading on to Nagasaki and Hiroshima. Traveling Japan is really easy as they offer various options, including night busses, an excellent railway system (more on that and the Japan Rail Pass later) and so on.

We’re so glad you loved Sophie’s Hawaii-series, so now it’s my turn to tell you all about what, most definitely, can be considered the best trip of my life – so far. On 17th of July 2017 one of my closest friends and I boarded a plane in Munich (because, just like we have already told you, it’s the closest bigger airport to Innsbruck); that’s the beginning of an an 18-hour-long journey, with a quick-stop in Abu Dhabi, that would take us to Tokyo Narita. We have both travelled a lot in our lives and can assure you: Japan’s border control has to be one of the nicest and quickest you’ll ever come across.