Strange reactions came up first when I talked about my plans of birding South Korea in winter. But if you just take a look at some recent trip reports and check out the species you are likely to see it's not difficult to get into the idea of visiting this great place. With Gunter, Andreas and Christoph I finally found three companions who shared some great observations with me.
In this report I want to give a basic idea of what a birding trip to South Korea in winter could be like. Which species we saw and where we saw them is the main focus in this report rather than trying to give a cultural or language crash course. I definetly enjoyed being in South Korea. Different people, different life-style, different food — always a great experience!
On the other hand, devastating to see how environment has to pay the price for humans acting irresponsible again. Most importantly — no problems at all. Nial had booked a van for us for 11 days through Hertz — Incheon Airport. There was 4 of us so it didn't hurt that much. It is absolutely necessary anyway as most of the birding areas are very remote. Getting around the country was fairly easy.
Once you get accustomised to the way people drive you'll become a part of it. We had a little accident in the city of Seosan which was annoying because time consuming. Still an interesting experience staying at the Police Office for quite a while arguing about how the accident really happened. In the end the insurance did pay off…. At the time we stayed in Korea, 1 Euro was about Won.
Credit cards are widely accepted hotels, restaurants, gas stations but it's wise to take some money with you as many ATM's do not accept EC-cards.
