7 Day - 8 Night Motorcycle Tour of South Korea
We're excited to unique tour of South Korea and Remote Asia Travel is proud to join with Hyosung Motors and S&T Motors of South Korea and feature the best of their fleet for our tour. The tour will begin with a visit to the factory where to pick up the bikes and photo op with staff of Hyosung Motors.Highlights of the tour include an overnight homestay in a traditional village, view into North Korea at along the DMZ, great coastal riding. We'll be taking as many lesser used roads as possible and touring the South Korean countryside as well. Mix in a dose of South Korean culture, tasty food, great scenery and 650 cc road bikes and you've a week to remember.
Upon arrival at Busan International Airport, it is quite easy to get to Changwon, a small city outside of Busan. We'll be staying here as it is close to the factory and a comfortable hotel awaits. Pre-trip information packets will contain a card in Korean for the taxi service. Tonight we have a welcome dinner and talk over the upcoming trip.
Accommodation: Changwon Hotel
Meals: D
Day 1 Bike pick up and ride to Andong Traditional Village
A simple breakfast at the hotel and we depart by car to Hyosong Motors. We arrive at the factory at 08:30 and spend a little time looking over the place and meeting the staff of Hyosong Motors. We'll be taking the bikes after a few promotional photos are taken. We depart and are on the road! We'll be heading to Andong Traditional Village located about five hours away. We'll break for lunch along the way. Tonight we'll be sleeping in a Hanok Village - in a local home. We'll have a traditional dinner and sample some local Soju! In the evening we'll walk the quite village and go to the wishing tree, circle it 3 times and write a prayer to be answered.
Even though the temperature will be cool at night, we'll stay toasty in our rooms, heated the traditional way - Andol!
Accommodation: Local home
Meals: B/D
Day 3, to Sokcho
Breakfast at our home stay and we'll have a short walk along the river to enjoy the cool morning air and
morning life in the village. We ride out and head to the coast and then north over smaller roads to the coast where we'll stop for lunch and enjoy the views. We'll be riding up the east coast all the way from Uljin to Sokcho and stops along the way are easy and you'll be sure to take a few photos. Our arrival in Sokcho should be early afternoon. Lying north of the 38th parallel, the city belonged to North Korea from 1945 until the end of the Korean War,
when the dividing line between the two Korean states was officially
altered. Consequently, many of the population have relatives in North
Korea. There is the possibility that we can push a little more on the bikes today with an early start and get to the border viewing area this afternoon. The process for getting to the viewing platform is a little time consuming and we'll play this one as we feel today.Accommodation: Maermon Hotel or similar
Meals: B
Thursday April 14, DMZ tour and ride to Chunju Lake
Breakfast at the hotel early and we ride about an hour north to the DMZ to have a peek into North Korea! We
are headed to the observatory for our look into North Korea. As the observatory is located closest to North Korea, the road brings
forth a sense of tension due to the barbed-wire entanglements along the
coast, the soldiers working on alert and the checkpoint. The
DMZ in Korea is the only symbol of a divided nation in the world. After a look, we'll stop at the DMZ museum, have a quick - early lunch and hit the road over the mountains. Our ride time today will be somewhat long and arrival time in Chunju is pretty up in the air but late afternoon for sure. In the event the group wants to alter the day's itinerary, I'm open to this but we need to keep the following day on schedule.
Note: We are not permitted to ride all the way to the observation platform. 10 km before, we must take a taxi ride to the border observation point. When we are there, we'll see what we can do but odds are we will not be permitted due to security reasons.
are headed to the observatory for our look into North Korea. As the observatory is located closest to North Korea, the road brings
forth a sense of tension due to the barbed-wire entanglements along the
coast, the soldiers working on alert and the checkpoint. The
DMZ in Korea is the only symbol of a divided nation in the world. After a look, we'll stop at the DMZ museum, have a quick - early lunch and hit the road over the mountains. Our ride time today will be somewhat long and arrival time in Chunju is pretty up in the air but late afternoon for sure. In the event the group wants to alter the day's itinerary, I'm open to this but we need to keep the following day on schedule.Note: We are not permitted to ride all the way to the observation platform. 10 km before, we must take a taxi ride to the border observation point. When we are there, we'll see what we can do but odds are we will not be permitted due to security reasons.
Accommodation: Hotel near the Lake
Meals: B
Day 4 Country ride to the Southwest
Breakfast and we are riding by 08:00. We are headed on country roads most of the day. We'll loop west to the sea and then down small roads to Jeongu. In Jeongu, we'll take a walking tour of the old city and we are here to eat! We are going for Baekban what average local Jeonju residents ate in the past, a serving of rice and side dishes and today it still boasts a large number of side dishes. We ride on to a small provincial park southwest of the town and should have time for a leg stretch along the walking paths.
Accommodation: Provincial Park Hotel
Meals: B - Dinner tonight is at one of Jim's Favorite Korean Places!
Day 5 to Haeinsa Temple area
Breakfast and we're off as you like. We're riding to Haeinsa Temple this morning for our only temple stop of the trip. We'll be taking the long way there and should arrive by lunch. The temple is a vast library and listed UNESCO World Heritage site. We'll be turning around some country roads in the south and have an overnight in a small town near the temple but this night is unreserved and we'll take it as it comes. During the day, this is a country ride day and we'll try to stop at a tea plantation time permitting.
Accommodation: Local Hotel
Meals: B
Day 6 to Tonyeong
We depart and turn south headed in the direction of the port town of Tonyeoung. The route today is a
roundabout ride and the entire route today is a mystery. We should arrive by early afternoon, lunch somewhere along the way. We'll check in and then ride a bit further south to a sunset
lookout point. In the evening, seafood at a local restaurant. Tonyeong is a nice hillside harbour town and the hotel has great views over the inlet. There are several artist locations in town and we'll try to get to see the wall mural artist quarter. This is our last night on the road and Quynh and I have made Tonyeong our last night on previous trips as well, it's a great last night. We'll be sampling some Soju for sure tonight. This is the first night for a while we'll have internet access and the hotel does have Wifi.Accommodation: Napoli Hotel
Meals : B
Day 7 Return to the Factory
We'll be touring to the south of town on a small island and making a loop along the coastal roads. We are trying for an arrival back at the factory by 15:00 to return the bikes. We'll transfer back to the Changwon Hotel we used on the first night and those that are flying out that night can easily transit back to the airport. Showers for transit out riders are available.
Accommodation: Changwon Hotel
Meals : B
This concludes our services for South Korea.
Tour Price:
USD $2,950 Solo Rider
USD $1,895 pp Rider/Pillion
USD $2,950 Solo Rider
USD $1,895 pp Rider/Pillion
Inclusive:
- Motorcycle as available
- Basic Insurance
- Meals as indicated
- Welcome Dinner
- GPS Tracks of the ride
- Post trip helmet cam POV footage
- Fuel
- Taxi fee DMZ
- Road tolls
- Accommodation as noted, all nights twin share except the last night in Busan
- Lead Guide
Exclusive:
- Meals as indicated
- Entry Fees
- Speeding tickets
- Flights
- Airport transfers
- Flights
Tour Information
There are several conditions to the tour that riders will have to agree in addition to our normal terms and conditions:
All riders will be required to obtain a valid International Driver's Permit with motorcycle endorsements of over 650cc. An IDP issued from the AAA in the USA or CAA in Canada is preferred.
All participants will be required to sign a rental contract from S&T Motors.
All participants will have images from the tour used as promotional images for H&S Motors and Hyosung Motorcycles for publication.
Tour itinerary is subject to change and on the fly adjustments will be made - simply put - be ready for anything!
Not all meals are included and on some days, roadside convenience stores may be the lunch. Stores like 7-11 have a fairly good variety of healthy food available.
All riders interested should email Jim if they have not been on a tour with him previously. We are only taking 4 bikes for riders and experienced riders only!
Proper visa and entry documents are the responsibility of the rider. Please check to see if you are visa exempt or need to apply. Passports must have an additional 6 months validity for entry to South Korea.
Bikes have no panniers and riders are limited to a small pack only for the trip. There is no support vehicle on this tour.
Couples going 2 up are fine and please email me for more information.
All participants will be required to sign a rental contract from S&T Motors.
All participants will have images from the tour used as promotional images for H&S Motors and Hyosung Motorcycles for publication.
Tour itinerary is subject to change and on the fly adjustments will be made - simply put - be ready for anything!
Not all meals are included and on some days, roadside convenience stores may be the lunch. Stores like 7-11 have a fairly good variety of healthy food available.
All riders interested should email Jim if they have not been on a tour with him previously. We are only taking 4 bikes for riders and experienced riders only!
Proper visa and entry documents are the responsibility of the rider. Please check to see if you are visa exempt or need to apply. Passports must have an additional 6 months validity for entry to South Korea.
Bikes have no panniers and riders are limited to a small pack only for the trip. There is no support vehicle on this tour.
Couples going 2 up are fine and please email me for more information.
