Had a nice long ,, Saturday lunch, with Wendy, at one of my favourite Italian restaurant in Seoul, owned by my friend Antonio and Rodolfo from Italy ,,
This is my summary ,,,
She fondly remembers many of you ,, Colebatch to lovely two English ladies, Shannon? An Irish and another woman ,, also the one who has borrowed money from her to buy a flight back home ,, yet to pay ,, she still likes you as you send Christmas cards,,,
In short , she will be charging USD 100 for inbound as well as outbound from here on ,, ,,, understand she has charged something like 50 bucks? Some times nada?
For the 9th largest economy, in the world,, it doesn't even cover a taxi fare from one end of Seoul to another ,,,,
I also showed her how to arrange passenger on a freighter with bikes,, as she gets many enquiries ,,
She also knows about Wallenius Wilhemsen line now ,, ro-ro service to and from USA and Europe vis a vis,, no packing ,, my own freight forwarder charged me bloody USD 350 ,, since it was first time a bike was shipped out of Inchon to Long Beach,, I told Wendy to charge USD 150 ,, she says she will start with USD 100 for now ,,, how much it cost for our lunch today.
So folks ,, you have a reliable source here in Korea ,, Wendy Choi ,, and after I come back from my around the world trip ,, I will be here for you ,, call any time,,
As we travel sometimes we become jaded,, lets not ,, , let us not ,, become jaded,,,let us stay kosher and meet every new trip as if it was the very first one ,,
Thanks all ,,
Yun-Soo PARK

I flatter myself that we are the "two English ladies" referred to above: Sheonagh and Pat - this is just to agree that Wendy does a great job at a very reasonable price and we wouldn't hesitate to use her again and have recommended her to various people we've met along the way.

Can anybody confirm if Wendy also arranges for temporary registration in S. Korea for riding to the ferry terminal in the north east, i.e. Sokcho or otherwise?

I'd prefer riding & sightseeing in Korea over bonded shipping to the ferry terminal.

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Thomas

"Hey, ...I'm just ridin' shotgun"

Yup... She can advise and help arrange for that. But in recent correspondence she did say some nationalities are not allowed to ride / drive there... When I told her I was British she said there would be no issue for me...

But I am not aware which nationalities will encounter restrictions...

Rex ,, yes she can ,, and the process is quite simple.
No Carnet needed.
Many do in fact tour Korea on their way to Dong Hae to catch the ferry,, we have one of the best mountain,, rolling hills and curvy roads than any where ,, yes Seoul is madness but you must see it,, like I said whenever, I am in Korea ,, I would be more than happy to provide any assistance,,,also have many members through out the country if you need emergency assistance,,,
If you look at the map of Korea and look for route 7, 77 or 777,, which goes around the edge of the coast , 2250KM ,, I did it in 3nights and 4 days with 3 other friends,, on Harley Davidsons.. East coast has many wonderful mountain roads as well as 500KM of coast line via old route 7 ,,, middle of the country has many old temples ,,famous mountains,, ancient buildings ,,
West coast ,, flat ,, heavy traffic ,,polluted,, I am not impressed with it..
Your average speed will be around 60KM through towns,, also on foreign license,, cops are very lenient ,, they will just waive you off in case you violate traffic laws,,or even if you use car only roads. Express ways are no no ,,, but some local highways are much more faster and can cruise at 120 - 160KM and cops will never ask for bakshishi.
If you have more specific questions about Korea ,, just post here.
Cheers.

She spoke of you at length,, impressed by your courage and poise. She wished she could one day travel with a bike like you. Understand you stayed in Korea for almost a month?

Chinese ,, Filipinos ,, most of the ASEAN countries ,, so call non oil producing Islamic countries,,, Korean immigration is very wary of illegal immigrants. Our foreign residents, workers and spouses will be 10% of the total population soon... and their children are suffering,, in a homogeneous and largely culturally intolerant society. Meanwhile, our aging society needs foreign workers to do the minial jobs and hard core factory hours.
At same time Korea is one of the easiest countries to get a permanent residency status if you are white.
For me I welcome new people especially if they are black ,, female and from Ethiopia,,,

Wendy has become quite the biker chick!
Tell her I said hello...and that I definitely loved her restaurant choices.
dscn8727.jpg



edde

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edde
93 BMW K75s
www.motoedde.com

OK, ...does anybody have a picture of Wendy???

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Thomas

"Hey, ...I'm just ridin' shotgun"

Motoeddie has one here

http://www.motoedde.com/PicasaAlbums...s/dscn8607.jpg

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http://www.itchystravels.co.uk/Bigone2009.html

... Thank you! I have read and heard so much about Wendy, I was just curious. And, definitely a "biker chick" . Hopefully I will meet her next year on my trip.

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Thomas

"Hey, ...I'm just ridin' shotgun"

Hi, Martin and i are intending to fly the bikes into Korea and then ride to the ferry to Vladivostok, from the thread this seems possible for uk citizens and uk registered bikes , can anyone confirm this also how do we get in touch with Wendy so she can assist us through Korea ?

Mark

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http://2wheelskeeponrolling.wordpress.com

UK reg,, no problem ,, suggest strongly to call wendychoi2(at)gmail.com
Make sure you scan all the documents and EM her before the flight arrival.
Also have your freight forwarder in UK check with Korean Air and Asiana Air cargo people ,, good rates.

I am off tomorrow ,, 12TH ,,,, my bike arrives Long Beach same time I arrive in LA ,, took off batteries on all my cars ,, battened down the boat ,, closed up the garage,,, got a place for dog to stay ,, charging up my phones,,, repacked all the bike gear once more,,, US and Europe better have a warm weather ,, hate the cold ,, gee,,,

Hello

I`m arriving in Seoul with two friends in three weeks time and will travel there before going to Japan. How is it with camping in Korea? Is there camp sites? And how is the rules for free camping?
Last but not least, how do one get third party insurance?

Thanks, Tom

There are lots of great camp sites in the Korean national parks, cheap and with good facilities. Koreans love camping and are incredibly friendly to foreigners - see Korean section of our blog www.horizonsunlimited.com/tstories/dustyoldbags for some of our experiences camping. Google campsites in Korea. We didnt do any wild camping but it was free on the beach on one occasion.

Ref 3rd party insurance we had to buy it on arrival in customs at Busan port (from Japan) before being allowed to leave customs.

Seouljoe - just seen your post of 27 March (!) yes we did spend a month in Korea - see the blog above for the brilliant time we had in your country - people were amazing and your country is so interesting! We loved it! I am now busy helping Koreans (and Japanese) who visit England and rent bikes in July!
Cheers Sheonagh