HISTORICAL-
  CULTURAL TOURS
COMBINED KOREA-JAPAN
  TOUR, Korean Portion
SPECIAL INTEREST TOURS
COMBINED HISTORICAL-
  CULTURAL / MOUNTAIN
  TREKKING TOURS
MOUNTAIN TREKKING TOURS
JEJUDO ISLAND, MT.
  HALLASAN TREKKING(1,950m)
  - 10 hours Trekking
COMBINED HISTORICAL-
  CULTURAL /FESTIVAL TOURS
ROOTS DISCOVERY TOURS
JAPAN EXTENSION
CHINA EXTENSION
HONGKONG EXTENSION
 
   
  
 
  Seoul / Mt. Songnisan / Andong-Home Stay Program / Hahoe Village / Gyeongju / Busan / Seoul
 
 
   8 Days / 7 Nights
 
  Day 1 ¡ª Arrive in Seoul
Arrive in Seoul at Incheon International Airport, where you will be met and transferred to your downtown hotel. After check-in the balance of the day is at leisure. Overnight in Seoul.

Day 2 ¡ª Seoul
 
A full day tour of Metropolitan city of Seoul, where old meets new in modern Korea. Established by the founder of Joseon Dynasty in 1392, the capital of the Republic of Korea has a population of more than 12,000,000 people.Seoul is a city of incredible contrasts which, despite its immense size, make it one of the most fascinating cities in the world. It is the heart of Korea¡¯s culture and education as well as politics and economics.The tour includes Gyeongbok
gung Palace (Palace of Shining Happiness) - the main palace during the Joseon Dynasty - passing by Blue House (Presidential Residence)£»National Folk Museum of Korea - the collections display complete items from every
region of Korea which illustrate all aspects of traditional life£»Namdaemun (South Gate) Market - one of the oldest and largest markets in Korea, with colorful and bustling spots for bargain shoppers£»Changdeokgung Palace (Palace of illustrious Virtue) - constructed in 1405, and is now the best preserved of Seoul's five palaces of the Joseon Dynasty£»Biwon (Secret Garden) - behind Changdeok Palace (illustrious Virtue) are tranquil gardens of unequalled beauty and woodland originally constructed for the recreational area for the royal family and palace women£»Insadong Antique District - called "Mary's Alley" by foreigners, Korea's art and antique district reminds many visitors of a street museum. One hundred-odd antique shops, old bookstores, and art galleries are concentrated in this area£»Jogyesa Temple - it is the headquarters of the Jogye sect of Korean Buddhism, and the regional office of the World Fellowship of Buddhism£»and N Seoul Tower on Mt. Namsan for a bird's-eye view of Metropolitan city of Seoul. Overnight in Seoul.

  Day 3 ¡ª Seoul / Mt. Songnisan / Andong-Home Stay Program
  
  This morning travel to Mt. Songnisan National Park, one of the most popular tourist spots in the central part of Korean peninsular. You will enjoy exploring Beopjusa Temple - Established in 553 A.D. during the Shilla Dynasty, with many famous artworks including 108-foot-high bronze statue of Buddha, etc. Continue to Andong, one of the last living vestiges of old Korea, where still is very conservative and traditional, a stronghold of Confucianism, which has deeply influenced all aspects of the lives of its people. Visit Dosanseowon Confucian Academy¡©founded by Korea's foremost Confucian scholar, Yi Toe-gye during the Joseon Dynasty and was the hub of Korea Confucianism which  
ruled all Koreans in their ethical-moral way and still conduct the ethical behavior in Korean society, and Andong Folk Museum which displays rich folk artifacts collected in variety in Andong and its surrounding county. Continue to Jirye Artists' Colony (Jirye Art Village) for Home Stay Program in Andong - Jirye Artists' Colony is located near Imhaho Lake and a great place to have a unique experience of traditional Korean culture. Every month there are events such as traditional Korean ancestral rites, making rice cake or Kimchi and you can stay  
  in traditional Korean houses. The village is 350 years old and there are houses with rooms of Ondol, Korea's unique system of floor heating with wood.The colony has lavatories, bathrooms with hot water. Because the village has preserved the old customs with small details, it is a great place to experience and
understand Korean traditional culture. Jirye Artists' Colony is a cultural inquiry spot for foreigners and a creative space for the artists to work. It is also used as a traditional life study site and as Confucianism institute. Recently, many Koreans and foreign visitors have been gathering in Ando ng to spend a night in the traditional Korean way in old traditional Korean houses, known as ¡®Hanok¡¯. Dinner at the colony restaurant to taste typical regional food. Overnight at the houses of the Colony in Andong.


 
Day 4 ¡ª Andong / Hahoe Village / Gyeongju
 
A morning tour visits Hahoe Village¡©the best preserved traditional village of the Joseon Dynasty, where residents still live in traditional thatched and tile-roofed houses and one of the few remaining examples of a classical Joseon Dynasty Confucian village layout. Drive to Gyeongju, where was the capital of the Silla Dynasty from 57 B.C. to 935 A.D. and designated by UNESCO as one of the world's ten most historically significant sites with numerous relics of that era,
and is called the "Museum Without Walls".An afternoon tour includes Bunhwangsa Pagoda¡©erected in 634, is considered, with Cheomseongdae, one of the country's two oldest stone structures, and the pagoda was originally 9 stories high, only 3 remain today£»Gyeongju National Museum, which has the best collection of Silla Dynasty artifacts with more than 100,000 pieces£»Anapji Pond - constructed in 674 A.D. as a pleasure garden to commemorate the unification of the peninsula by the Silla forces, used the recreational area for the Silla royal family and banquet garden to entertain royal important guests£»Cheomseongdae Astronomical Observatory - built in 634 A.D., is considered the world's earliest known existing observatory and admired by archaeologists worldwide£»Royal Tumuli Park - a collection of royal Shilla tombs located in the middle of Gyeongju with 20 tombs, of which Cheonmachong (Flying Horse Tomb) is the most famous with its excavation which yielded more than 10,000 treasure-artifacts£»and the 15th century built Family Choi's House. Overnight in Gyeongju.

  Day 5 ¡ª Gyeongju
 
 
A morning tour visits Bulguksa Temple ¡© originally constructed in 535 A.D., the most frequented and best-known temple in Korea, was added to UNESCO's World Cultural Heritage List in 1995£»Seokguram Grotto ¡© dating back to the same era as Bulguksa Temple, one of Asia's finest Buddhist shrines, an attempt to represent physically the highest spiritual aspirations, the crowning achievement of Silla religio-artistic work, was added to UNESCO's World Cultural Heritage List in 1995£»Mt. Namsan - every mountain in Gyeongju area holds abundant historic relics and legends, but Mt. Namsan (South Mountain) is a treasure-house of them and an open-air museum unique in the world. Buddhist legends are still to be found in the valleys and on the slopes of Mt. Namsan£»Golgulsa Temple located at the foot of Mt. Hamwol, is the only temple cave in Korea. The temple was built out of solid rock during the 6th century by Saint Gwang Yoo and some accompanying monks, and was designed according to the architectural structure of India. The topmost part of the temple stands a sculpture of the Maya Tathagata Buddha and surrounding the sculpture are twelve rock caves used as a prayer sanctuary£»Gyerim Forest - in an elm woods on the outskirts of town is a shrine marking the site regarded as the sacred birthplace of Kim Alji, ancestor of the clan which held power the longest during the silla Dynasty£»and Seokbinggo - Seokbinggo
means a freezer made of rocks. It is an ancient refrigerator only in Korea. The floor is slanted to allow melted ice to funnel out. Frozen ice was popular for the upper class. From historical annals, it is assumed that Seokbinggo was made at least 1,500 years ago. Seokbbingo has been designated as National Treasure No. 66. Overnight in Gyeongju.

  Day 6 ¡ª Gyeongju / Busan
 
 

Travel to Busan, the country's principal international port city, second largest city with a population of 4 million, and is the San Francisco of Korea built along the sea at the site of an excellent harbor. En route, visit Tongdosa Temple which was founded in 646 A.D. to house holy relics (a piece of bone from the Buddha's skull, his robe, and begging bowl) of the Historical Buddha brought back from China by the monk Jajang. An afternoon tour visits Yongdusan Park, where provides a pleasant touch of greenery on a hill in the heart of the city and a very popular public park with Busan Tower£»Busan Tower¡©Yongdusan Park crowned with the tower, 120-m-high tower observatory dominates the most of the area of the city, and the sea and harbor views spreading below the tower are spectacular£»Jagalchi Fish Market - Busan's most active fish-dealers' cooperative, the colorful spectacle is also a great attraction for tourists and camera buffs£»and Taejongdae Seaside Cliff Park - the scenery of rugged cliffs dropping straight down to the sea is breathtaking, along with a panoramic sea view from the Park, overlooking the Korean Strait¡©on a very clear day you

can even see the Japanese island of Tsushima on the horizon to the southeast£»and UN Memorial Cemetery where the Korean War (1950-53) dead from the sixteen UN allies rest in honored serenity and is the unique one in its kind in the world. Overnight in Busan.

Day 7 ¡ª Busan / Seoul

Return to Seoul. The balance of the day is at leisure. Overnight in Seoul.

Day 8 ¡ª Seoul / Depart Korea
Transfer to Incheon International Airport for departure.